Source: Deportivo Saprissa

The final games in the regular season of the Summer Tournament were exciting due to the different permutations that would have allowed the champion Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA) to advance to the semifinals, or Club Sport Cartagines (CSC) to get a new shot at a championship title that has eluded the team since before the middle of the 20^th century.

Neither LDA or CSC made it past the regular season, which left four teams in Costa Rica to fight for the title. The strongest teams going into the semifinals, Deportivo Saprissa and Municipal Perez Zeledon, played their respective opponents over the weekend. Fans were not disappointed in either Saprissa or the Southern Warriors of Perez Zeledon, but they were left mostly unimpressed with the performance of their teams.

Club Sport Herediano (CSH) 1 – Perez Zeledon 1

Playing at the Eladio Rosabal Cordero stadium in downtown Heredia, CSH enjoyed the support of many fans, but could not secure a valuable victory. The visitors were the number-one ranked team in the league until Saturday, when they were barely recognizable as they faced CSH. The home team was swift in opening the scoreboard with an opportunistic shot by Enoc Perez just seven minutes into the game.

Perez Zeledon made a great effort to tie the score, but the defense of CSH had no problems deflecting the attacks. The second half saw desperation by the Southern Warriors, who took a chance of deploying defenders to the attack. The strategy worked, as Roberto Wong tied the game at the 68′ mark. CSH then copied the strategy with as many as five players attacking at once, but they ran out of time. CSH will travel to Perez Zeledon for the second game.

Deportivo Saprissa 1 – Santos de Guapiles 0

Playing at the Lair of the Purple Monster in Tibas should have been enough for Saprissa players to impose themselves on Santos, a modest team that unlike Saprissa is not a favorite to take the championship. A penalty kick executed by Minor Escoe at the beginning of the game was the only goal scored earlier today.

Saprissa was bolstered by the early lead and went on the offensive, but they soon realized that they were taking chances against Santos. They retreated and were pretty much forced to defend Victor Bolivar’s goalposts for the rest of the game. Santos looked resolute but not desperate, and had many chances to even the score; alas, that was not the case. Saprissa takes the lead of the semifinals but its fans wish for improved performances in the future.

Source: everardoherrera.com