Unión Cocle and Alianza played out a 2-2 draw in round six of the Apertura stage of the Liga Panama de Fútbol on Sunday evening. The visitors took the lead twice before the hosts fought back to salvage a point at home. Both sides remain level on the standings, though Alianza sit above on superior results.
D. Hunt opened the scoring for the hosts in the sixth minute, a strike that settled the early nerves. The match grew scrappy around the break, with B. Walters and D. Hunt both booking for their teams. The third substitution window brought three changes for Unión Cocle at the start of the second half, all at once.
J. Lynch restored parity for Alianza in the forty-ninth minute, capitalising on the momentum the visitors had built. The game opened up after that, with both sides testing each other. G. Chiari and M. Rodriguez came on for Alianza in the fifty-fourth minute, while J. De la Espada and B. Walters replaced players for the hosts.
Y. Ortega put Alianza ahead again in the seventieth minute, but the lead lasted only a few minutes. D. Guevara and A. Gallardo collected yellow cards in the same period as the hosts pushed forward. C. Rodriguez found the net in stoppage time, ninety-fourth minute, to complete the comeback. By then, Alianza had already made three changes, including J. Lynch's replacement.
Alianza controlled the statistics throughout, with 55 per cent possession and 99 attacks compared to 86 for the hosts. They registered 19 shots on target against 13, yet the scoreline did not reflect that dominance. Both sides kept clean sheets on offsides, and each received three yellow cards.
The result keeps both teams in second place after sixteen games. Unión Cocle move to 23 points with five wins and eight draws, while Alianza sit on 27 points with six victories and nine draws. Neither side extended their recent form, with both sides having lost two of their last three games before this match.