This weekend saw plenty of football, relatively speaking, as COVID-19 holds most of the football world hostage.
While most of the action focused on Belarus and Tajikistan, Nicaragua had some great stories before the playoffs.
Nicaragua Primera Division
Remember Real Estelí and their no-win streak that got them in trouble?
La Vida es Una tómbola, said once Diego Maradona, and boy was he right in the case of Estelí’s rollercoaster.
After their draw with Juventus Managua last week, Estelí set out for a trial run with an away match at Chinandega, before their big battle next weekend with Diriángen.
Estadio La Veranera was an excellent stage for the best match of the weekend in Nicaragua. Despite a 1-1 score after the first 45 minutes, in the second half, Estelí decided to start pressing and playing aggressively. It paid off, two goals that secured the victory and sent Estelí to the second place, only a few days before the match of the season against the third-place ranked Diriángen.
Diriángen themselves were those to lose precious points this time around, after a 0-0 against Municipal Jalapa. Now, they are behind Estelí in the table, thanks to the latter having a better goal difference.
Open your calendars and mark Thursday night: Real Estelí against Diriángen, el clásico de Nicaragua, in a direct match for securing the semifinal spot of the Nicaraguan Clausura playoffs.
The match between Juventus Managua and Real Madriz was halted at the 71st minute, with the scoreline being 2-0 to Juventus. Madriz players left the pitch in protest of the second goal scored by the hosts: After a through ball, the linesman raised the flag for an offside, and the Madriz defense totally froze. However, the referee ordered to play on, allowing Allan Mercado to easily score. Bizarre scenes.
After the match, the league announced that 2-0 will remain the final score, and it will be interesting to see whether the side from Somoto will be punished for their actions.
Other notable results:
Las Sabanas vs Managua 0-1
Deportivo Ocotal vs Walter Ferretti 0-1
Belarus Veysheshaya Liga
After a weekend bombarded with great matches, broadcast live here at BabaGol website in partnership with MyCujoo, Monday’s fixture gathered Slaviya Mozyr and Ruh Brest.
Not much to write about for this one as it ended in 0-0, and the most exciting moment happened in the second half when Abdoulaye Diallo was booked twice in 12 minutes and saw the red card after hitting an opponent.
The rest is in the broadcasts: