Liga Deportiva Alajuelense tied 2-2 against the reigning champion, Club Sport Herediano, and was eliminated from the semifinals of the 2019 Clausura Championship in Costa Rica with one fixture remaining.
Saturday’s match took place in the National Stadium of La Sabana, in San José, because playing at Alajuela’s stadium, Alejandro Morera Soto, was vetoed by the Disciplinary Tribunal for disturbances after the clásico nacional (Costa Rican classic) against Saprissa two weeks ago.
Herediano will have to wait for the closing date, next Sunday, to try to earn the last ticket to the next phase of the tournament; Club Sport Cartaginés and Municipal Grecia are the other two semifinal aspirants. San Carlos, Pérez Zeledón and Saprissa are already classified.
Alajuelense hurt its own cause through an own-goal by Daniel Villegas (21). However, they responded with a penalty from Honduran Róger Rojas (42). Herediano went ahead thanks to the 2014 Brazil World Cup and Russia 2018 participant, Yeltsin Tejeda (60). When everything seemed resolved Rojas scored his second, taking advantage of a mistake from goalkeeper Daniel Cambronero to equalize (89).
The closing Clausura fixtures will decide the four semifinal teams and their order in the table. They will also determine the regular-season winner.
With all teams having played in 21 games, and only one date left to be played, San Carlos and Pérez Zeledón have 36 points, Saprissa, 35; Herediano, 33; Cartaginés and Grecia, 31; Alajuelense, 29; UCR, 28; Santos, 27; Limón, 26, Guadalupe, 18; Carmelita, 11.
Matchday 22, last of the classification phase:
Alajuelense-Guadalupe
Carmelita-San Carlos
Cartaginés-Santos
Grecia-Saprissa
Herediano-Pérez Zeledón
Universidad de Costa Rica-Limón
Posiciones Pts. GP W D L Gf Ga.
San Carlos 36 21 10 6 5 33 19
Pérez Zeledón 36 21 9 9 3 35 27
Saprissa 35 21 10 5 6 36 27
Herediano 33 21 9 6 6 31 24
Cartaginés 31 21 8 7 6 32 27
Municipal Grecia 31 21 8 7 6 32 27
Alajuelense 29 21 7 8 6 30 27
UCR 25 21 7 7 7 33 38
Santos 27 21 8 3 10 32 37
Limón FC 26 21 7 5 9 22 30
Guadalupe FC 18 21 4 6 11 20 34
Carmelita 11 21 2 5 14 18 37
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