Ecuador's Match of the Week #2 Aucas-Emelec
Jonathan Moncayo a football scout and Ecuadorian Football Expert breaks down the action between Aucas and Emelec in Ecuador's Match of the Week.
Starting Line-ups
Aucas
Emelec
Formation Analysis
Aucas and Emelec came into Matchday 2 after winning in their debuts against Mushuc Runa and Deportivo Cuenca respectively. Aucas, the team from Quito, had not been beaten at their home ground of Chillogallo since February 15th, 2020 when they were beaten by Delfín.
Darío Tempesta set-up his starting eleven with some changes with regards to his first
match of the season last week in Echaleche. First, hedecided to play with Ignacio Herrera as a left sided wide player and with Francisco Fydriszewski as a right-winger, which is a position where the Argentine has not been able to showcase his best performances. The Chilean Herrera, who generally plays on the right-hand flank, was deployed on the left flank in order to dissuade Emelec’s greatest offensive threat, Romario Caicedo, from causing havoc. Meanwhile, the former Liga de Portoviejo striker, Fydriszewski was positioned on the wing to stop Ángel Gracia. In spite of making these modifications to make Aucas a stronger defensive outfit, the team from Quito still showed the same structural problems as in the previous match.
On the other hand, Ismael Rescalvo presented a surprising formation with 3 midfielders sitting in front of his back four (he generally plays with 2 midfielders, Sebastián Rodríguez and Dixon Arroyo). The inclusion of Jefferson Orejuela responded to a need for both the Fullbacks and the wide attacking players to have more depth in attack and to create a numerical superiority on the wings. Additionally, this formation would present the Uruguayan midfielder with more space on the pitch and allowed him to have more freedom as he wouldn’t have to cover as much ground as he usually does when he plays with only one defensive midfielder next to him.
Match Action
First Half
Early on in the match, the home team had the ball and a lot of volume of play. Both Jhonny Quiñónez and Víctor Figueroa were able to progress into the oppositions penalty box and attempted to dictate the play in each advance. This is precisely how Aucas scored their first goal, with Ignacio Herrera running down the left flank (which is Emelec’s weak side defensively) and delivering a cross which was met by Quiñónez who had marauded into the penalty area surprising the opposition. 1-0
After a chaotic 25 first-minutes for the visitors, Rescalvo’s men began to cause problems by beating the home team’s fullbacks. Both Romario Caicedo and Bryan Cabezas generated chances which were controlled well by Frascarelli. When it appeared that the first-half was coming to a close with an Aucas 1-0 lead, Carlos Cuero committed an amateur penalty which was converted from the spot by Sebastián Rodríguez. 1-1
Second Half
The second-half began in the same manner as the first-half had finished: with both teams trying to generate attacks and leaving spaces in behind the defense. This meant that it was not a good day for Aucas’ best player, Víctor Figueroa. He was sloppy in his passing and also missed some clear-cut scoring opportunities that would’ve changed the way the team would’ve handled the match and tempo. However, Cuero was able to amend for his previous mistake by running down the wing and latching on to a long goal-kick delivered by Frascarelli to score Aucas’ second goal of the night. 2-1
Upon conceding, Emelec brought on José Francisco Cevallos, who was able to change the whole outlook of the match by positioning himself closer to Barceló and creating more spaces for the Uruguayan striker. A mere 2 minutes after coming on as a substitute, Emelec scored the equalizer. Ángel Gracia lofted in a beautiful cross which was met by Barceló who calmly slotted it past Frascarelli. 2-2
Neither of the teams were comfortable with the draw and they threw caution to the wind looking for the winner. It would be Emelec who would ultimately find it thanks to a Richard Mina own goal, when he attempted to send the ball out for a corner but unfortunately for him was only successful in diverting the ball into his own net. 2-3Match Thoughts
The substitutions made by the Spanish manager, Rescalvo, were crucial to improve his team, first with the introduction of Cevallos and then with Bryan Sánchez. The latter proved to be a wide player who generated plenty of one-on-ones and provided Romario Caicedo with the offensive tools necessary for him to thrive.
On the other hand, Tempesta did not produce changes in his team to strengthen the midfield, recover possession, and allow for Stiven Tapiero to not have to cover so much ground which is a difficult task for him due to his lack of pace.
Emelec still has weaknesses, particularly defensively, to correct, however, they have managed to collect a total of 6 points in two matches played which is positioning them as one of the teams that will be in the mix to win the First Stage of the Serie A in the Ecuadorian LigaPro.
Man of the Match
Ángel Gracia
**This article was written by Jonathan Moncayo. Jonathan is a football scout and Ecuadorian football expert who shares his fantastic analysis on twitter. Follow him @MoncayoJonathan**