Santa Fe beat Millonarios 3:2 in the Clausura round 16 of Colombia's Primera A at the Estadio Nemecio Camacho El Campin on Wednesday. The hosts took an early lead through D. Ruiz in the sixth minute, then saw H. Rodallega's effort cancelled by an offside decision just before half-time. Millonarios responded before the break when J. Torres found the net in the 45th minute plus two.
And here's the thing — the match really opened up after the restart. F. Fagundez restored Santa Fe's advantage in the 50th minute, but Millonarios came back through E. Rodriguez in the 71st. A. Estupinan then scored the winner with seven minutes left, and by then the game had already turned into something else. Millonarios lost H. Palacios to a red card in the 86th minute, which tightened things further.
To be fair, the statistics tell a different story from what happened on the pitch. Millonarios held 54 per cent possession and created 1.3 expected goals, while Santa Fe managed 46 per cent and just over a point. The visitors had nine shots on target to six, but Santa Fe were more clinical with their chances. Three big chances created for the hosts against one for the visitors says much about how they pressed.
Millonarios did more work in the air and threw in 23 crosses, but Santa Fe's 16 successful aerial duels matched their opponents. The visitors completed 297 passes to 313, yet Santa Fe's goalkeeper made seven saves compared to three. There were 15 tackles from the hosts against 12 for the visitors, and the red card meant Millonarios had to defend for the final quarter.
The result keeps Santa Fe in seventh place on 29 points from 19 games, while Millonarios remain tenth on 26. The hosts have won seven, drawn eight and lost four this season, and this breakends a run of four matches without defeat. Millonarios sit on seven wins, five draws and seven losses, and the loss snaps a streak of four games unbeaten.
