For the first day of the new tournament, ‘celestes’ and ‘entrepreneurs’ tied one. The duel pitted the teams of two champion coaches in the highest category of Peruvian soccer
At the premiere of Roberto Mosquera In his third stage at the helm of Sporting Cristal, the Rimense team rescued a 1-1 draw on their visit to FC Merchants for the first day of Group J of the League Cup 2026. With a lineup made up mostly of youth, the ‘celestial‘They faced one of the most solid teams in League 2, leader of their group and led by the experienced Pablo Bengoechea, in a duel between two champion coaches of Peruvian soccer.
The whole ‘Bajopontino‘ showed order for much of the first half and managed to take the lead in the 42nd minute. Duham Ballumbrosio overflowed on the right wing after a good clearance by Catriel Cabellos and generated an action that ended up being taken advantage of by Jair Moretti, who capitalized on a double rebound from goalkeeper Leonardo Silva to make it 1-0. Before that, Comerciantes had generated some dangerous approaches and even scored through Jefferson Valdeblanquez, although the action was invalidated due to an offside position.
The reaction of the locals came as soon as the complement began. At 49 minutes, Antonio Acosta appeared unmarked after a stopped ball play and overcame Bautista’s resistance to establish the tie. From then on, Bengoechea’s team took center stage and was close to coming back, especially with two clear opportunities wasted by Maximiliano Lemos. Cristal also had chances to widen the gap, highlighting an unbeatable wasted situation by Cristian Benavente just beginning the second half.
The situation became even more complicated for the Rimenses at 65 minutes, when Yamir Del Valle was expelled for a dangerous entrance. However, despite playing more than twenty minutes with one less man, Mosquera’s youth resisted the local pressure and even generated some isolated arrivals in the final stretch. Thus, the commitment ended equal 1-1 in the Entrepreneurial Villagewith goals from Jair Moretti and Antonio Acosta, in a result that left positive feelings for both teams at the start of the competition.
