Deportivo Saprissa beat Liga Deportiva Alajuelense 2-0 at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto on Saturday night, taking the Clásico Nacional in Alajuela for the first time since 2023 and stretching its lead at the top of the Apertura 2026 to seven points. The win leaves Saprissa on 18 points from seven matches. Alajuelense drops to fifth on 11.
The home side had the better of a scoreless first half, pressing forward and creating the clearer openings without finding a finish. Play was halted around the 43rd minute when two floodlight towers went out, leaving part of the stadium dark before the match resumed. Whatever rhythm Alajuelense had built did not survive the interval. Orlando Sinclair opened the scoring for Saprissa in the opening minutes of the second half, forcing the ball home after a sequence of rebounds inside the area.
Sebastián Acuña doubled the lead moments later, around the 51st minute, capitalizing on an error by Alajuelense goalkeeper Washington Ortega. Two goals in the space of a few minutes settled a match that had been evenly balanced through the first 45. Alajuelense could not find a way back. The home side finished with ten men after young midfielder Kyan McDonald was shown a second yellow card in the 84th minute.
By then, sections of the crowd had turned on their own bench. Chants of “Fuera Rescalvo” rolled around the stadium, directed at Spanish coach Ismael Rescalvo, who has yet to win over a support that has grown impatient with what it sees on the field. For Saprissa and coach Hernán Medford, the result closes a gap that had been open for more than three seasons.
The club had not won at the Morera Soto since April 2, 2023, when Luis Javier Paradela and David Guzmán scored in a 2-0 away victory. Alajuelense had gone eleven clásicos unbeaten at home against its rival before Saturday. Saprissa now carries a seven-point cushion into the second half of the tournament with the one result that had been missing from its record. Alajuelense, twenty-one points behind the leaders at the halfway mark of the group phase, faces a longer set of questions than the scoreline alone suggests.
