Division Profesional Wrap: Sol de America hold leaders Libertad

Division Profesional leaders Libertad were held by Sol de America on Sunday as four of the six matches in Paraguay ended in draws.

Libertad had to come from behind to draw 1-1 at 10-man Sol de America but they were not made to pay for failing to claim a sixth straight win, as their closest rivals Nacional Asuncion and Guarani had already missed out on victories on Saturday.

Sol struck early thanks to Ignacio Mino’s header but were pegged back 10 minutes before half-time when Libertad’s leading marksman Rodrigo Lopez converted a penalty.

Lopez’s 10th league goal of the season was enough for Libertad to move to 20 points in the Apertura campaign, maintaining their four-point lead on Nacional Asuncion, who have a game in hand.

Guarani are two points further back, while Sol moved up to 11 in fifth, just behind fourth-placed Olimpia (12 points).

A long goal-kick led to Sol’s opener in Asuncion with the home side playing just six passes to get the ball from one end to the other before Mino headed into the net from six yards.

But Sol’s hopes of victory were dealt a severe blow in the 35th minute as defender Aureliano Torres was red-carded for blocking Lopez’s shot on the line with his hand, before the visitors’ Uruguayan striker slotted the penalty.

Libertad dominated possession (66 per cent) and finished the match with 16 shots to Sol’s six but were unable to find a winning goal.

Nacional Asuncion were held to a scoreless draw at home on Saturday by General Diaz, while Guarani had to come from behind twice to claim a 2-2 stalemate at 12 de Octubre, with Marcelo Palau scoring the second equaliser in the 90th minute.

The other draw from the weekend was on Friday with Cerro Porteno versus Sportivo Luqueno finishing 0-0.

Deportivo Capiata and Olimpia were the two clubs to claim victory with the former thrashing Rubio Nu 4-0 to register their first win of the season.

Francisco Garcia got Capiata going four minutes before half-time, while Derlis Ortiz, Fabio Escobar and Oscar Ruiz all added goals after the break as the home side stunned Rubio Nu.

The win took Capiata above 12 de Octubre in the table, while in the late kick-off on Sunday, Olimpia crushed 3 de Febrero 5-1 to leapfrog Sol into fourth, thanks to a first-half brace from Derlis Gonzalez.