The champion is me: with a Polo as a perfect ‘9’ and a solid team, the U wins the classic and leads in League 1 I Bet You

F: I don’t know, you tell me, I’m always there for you.

Q: You owe me a goal pass three months ago, huh.

F: I pay you in the classic and in the National. And we won.

Q: Let’s go with everything.

*This conversation has been modified for the convenience of the happy cream reader who on Sunday will buy the tastiest bread from the bakery.

How many times has Andy Polo dreamed of this moment. How many times has Edison Flores wanted to feel like this. Proof that only emotion lasts. The children who became friends in Vidú are the men who today build the path step by step in the centenary of Universitario. The lifelong brothers created the goal that muted a Nacional dressed in blue and white, but that exploded with happiness in every home of a merengue fan. 1-0 and nothing more, so that the joy of the final won in November 2023 continues to be celebrated in February 2024.

We are realizing how studious Fabián Bustos is. The coach worked on an idea during the week and it worked for him regarding the grass of the National Stadium. He pigeonholed Cabellos between Murrugarra, Concha and Gonzáles, and put Portocarrero in front of Kevin Serna to equal the speed on the wings. The two blue and white bets stopped from the board.

We are confirming how brilliant Corzo, Riveros and Di Benedetto are playing together. Compact, impregnable and unbreakable to add another battle won to the defensive line. Now, with Sebastián Britos in goal, the guarantee remains: 270 minutes without conceding goals in League 1.

And we are warning that the bet on Diego Dorregaray, so far, has not had great results. The pressure is a lot, the opportunities are clear, and within a day Alex Valera will return to fight for the center forward position.

hot classic

An intense classic in every measure. Fighting on all four sides of the court. With a taste of revenge for some, and with the desire to continue celebrating for others. The blue and white took the initiative and, when they felt better on the field with Arregui’s contention and Rodríguez’s play, Polo’s goal came in complicity with Jairo Concha and Edison Flores, and with the responsibility of defender Aldair Fuentes and goalkeeper Franco Saravia, who gave the first post of his goal for the definition of the merengue.

With the result in his favor, Fabián Bustos moved pieces, he did not despair his team, he knew how to stop them in case the momentum overflowed (Murrugarra and Concha were cautioned in the first 45′). Instead, coach Alejandro Restrepo went for the tie with everything he had at hand: Costa for Cabellos and Garcés for Fuentes at 46′. And then, Zanelatto, Lagos and Humán with the same order to find the goal. The centers and attacks always met with the defensive wall of the ‘U’.

Fallen in despair, infected by the uncontrolled push, the blue and whites were overcome by vehemence. Jiovany Ramos kicked Calcaterra to the ground and saw the red. Goalkeeper Saravia stopped Rivera’s attack with a foul and also went to the showers.

On the other hand, referee Diego Haro’s hand did not shake. He got six yellow cards in total in the ‘U’, two more in Alianza Lima, and used the VAR to annul a goal by Hernán Barcos in stoppage time and with 9 men. That goal would have meant an agonizing draw for the blue and white fans who filled the Nacional.

It was, then, a cream triumph as a reward for Bustos’ approach, the defensive solidity and the effectiveness of the Flores-Polo duo, the good guys who illuminate the centenary merengue.