Guayaquil City drew 2-2 with Libertad Asunción in the Lliga Pro regular season, round 25, on Friday evening at Estadio Cristóbal Benítez Betancourt. The hosts took the lead through Dany Coronel before Vilington Branda equalised from the penalty spot. Edinson Mero then scored twice for Guayaquil City, but Libertad took enough points away to remain seventh.
Coronel opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, working the ball into the net after a period of sustained pressure. Branda did not wait long to respond, converting a penalty in the twenty-fourth minute to level matters. The visitors had a chance to take the lead themselves when Edinson Mero was awarded a spot-kick, but the VAR decision cancelled it in the forty-second minute — a moment that shifted the momentum back toward the hosts.
Mero redeemed himself shortly after the interval, finding the net in the sixty-second minute to put Guayaquil City ahead again. His second came in the seventy-eighth minute, and it looked like a winner until Libertad held their nerve to salvage a point. The visitors had little possession — 34 per cent — but they were second to nothing in the box, making their defensive clearances count.
Statistics told a familiar story of control without dominance. Guayaquil City registered 157 attacks and six hundred and eight passes, while Libertad managed forty-four attacks and three hundred passes. The hosts created two big chances and kept the ball better, but the visitors' goalkeeper made six saves and their defenders won twenty-seven clearances. Shots accuracy sat at 62 per cent for the hosts against 42 per cent for the visitors — not the sort of numbers that guarantee a result.
Guayaquil City remain tenth on twenty-nine points from twenty-nine games, while Libertad move up to seventh with forty-one points. Both sides have been inconsistent of late — the hosts drew two of their last five, while the visitors won three and lost one. This draw ends neither team's run, but it keeps the gap between them in the table at twelve points.