Cartaginés came from behind to beat Puntarenas 3-1 in the first division's Apertura round seven. The match at the Puntarenas stadium finished with the visitors taking all three points after a game that changed direction twice. Puntarenas had opened the scoring early, but a series of incidents turned the contest against them.
and here's the thing about that opening goal — A. Hernandez scored in the seventh minute and left Puntarenas feeling they could control the game. Cartaginés responded through H. Munoz in the 35th minute, but just three minutes later W. Cortes received a red card and the visitors found themselves down to ten men. Cortes had already picked up a yellow in the 17th minute, so the dismissal was the second booking of the night for him.
by then Puntarenas had doubled their advantage through G. Castro in the 65th minute. The midfielder found a way through the weakened Cartaginés defence and gave his side a cushion they should have protected. Castro struck again in the 72nd minute to seal the result, and Puntarenas were left to manage a two-goal deficit with only ten men on the pitch.
the statistics tell you everything you need to know about how the game unfolded. Puntarenas managed 39 per cent possession and registered just one shot on target from seven attempts. Cartaginés, despite playing with ten men for half the match, saw 11 shots on target and converted four of them. Shots accuracy of 14 per cent for the hosts compared with 48 per cent for the visitors says it all.
and here's the thing about those numbers — Puntarenas had 94 attacks and 74 for their opponents, but the quality of chance creation told a different story. Cartaginés earned five corners to the hosts' four, and their shots off target of ten versus three suggests they kept coming at the goal.
Puntarenas remain in sixth place with eight points from six games, while Cartaginés stay third on twelve points. The draw brought them together in the table, but the gap between them has not closed. Cartaginés have now extended their unbeaten run, while Puntarenas' recent form of two wins, two draws and two losses looks more fragile after this defeat.
