Técnico Universitario and Deportivo Cuenca met at Estadio Bellavista in the Liga Pro regular season, with the hosts claiming a 3-1 victory on Friday. The result leaves Técnico in fourteenth place with 29 points after 27 games, while Deportivo Cuenca remain twelfth on 32 points. Deportivo Cuenca took an early lead through L. Mancinelli, who converted a penalty in the seventeenth minute. Técnico responded with D. Armas finding the net in the twenty-eighth, before Johan Bocanegra restored the lead just before the break. J. Majao sealed the victory with a goal in the forty-eighth minute. And here's the thing about that twenty-minute mark — it's where the momentum shifted, not through any tactical change but through response. Técnico had been chasing the game since Mancinelli's spot-kick, but they kept their side in it through the opening quarter, waiting for their moment to strike back.
The statistics tell a story of efficiency over territory. Deportivo Cuenca controlled 60 per cent of possession and created two big chances, but they could not convert them. Técnico managed just 40 per cent possession and one big chance, yet they scored three goals from three shots on target. Both sides registered seven shots off target each, so the difference came down to finishing. By then, the visitors had already seen their attacking numbers go unrewarded. They completed 384 passes compared to Técnico's 244, but passes into the final third were almost even — 59 for Deportivo versus 63 for Técnico. The extra possession meant nothing without the final ball finding its target. The result does not move Técnico out of the bottom half, but it ends a run of four defeats in five matches. They had lost 2-3 to Guayaquil City, 1-2 to Elémelec, 0-3 to Mushuc Runa and 0-5 to Universidad Católica before that solitary 1-0 win against Manta. Deportivo Cuenca's recent form has been steadier — a 2-1 victory over Elémelec among their last five results — but they could not hold onto their advantage at Bellavista.