Paraguayan Division Profesional Review: Luqueno rise to second, Cerro draw again

Sportivo Luqueno moved second in the Paraguayan Division Profesional at the weekend, as Cerro Porteno were held for a fourth straight time.

Luqueno’s 2-1 road win over General Diaz on Saturday was followed by Cerro Porteno’s inability to convert a lead into three points, as they were held 1-1 by Olimpia.

Cerro’s slip up saw Libertad move three points clear at the top, after a 4-1 thrashing of Guarani.

Luis Mino’s penalty and Rodrigo Teixeira’s goal prior to half-time built Luqueno a commanding 2-0 lead at the interval at the Estadio General Adrian Jara in Luque.

Roberto Gamarra pulled a goal back for General Diaz from the penalty spot with 15 minutes to play, but Luqueno held on to post a third straight win.

Cerro Porteno fell four points behind Libertad, after Christian Ovelar’s second-half goal cancelled out Jose Ortigoza’s effort on the stroke of half-time.

Libertad were typically ruthless in chalking up their fourth consecutive win – they have scored 15 goals in that run – as they broke through twice in each half.

To put Libertad’s goals into perspective, they had scored 20 in 13 games before exploding to life of late.

Ismael Benegas and Nestor Camacho struck inside the first 35 minutes, before Gustavo Mencia added Libertad’s third on the hour-mark.

Guarani pulled one back via Marcelo Palau with eight minutes to play, but Jorge Recalde added a 90th-minute bonus for the hosts.

Nacional Asuncion needed only Julian Benitez’s seventh-minute goal to deal 12 de Octubre a 1-0 defeat – the strugglers’ fourth straight loss.

Asuncion are fourth, three points behind Luqueno.

Sol de America climbed above 12 de Octubre into 10th, with a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 win over 3 de Febrero.

Sol railed 2-0 after 16 minutes – having conceded a first-minute own goal – but were level at the break thanks to Claudio Correa’s double.

And Aureliano Torres converted a penalty at the death to make it two wins in Sol’s past three, and five games unbeaten.

Deportivo Capiata are also unbeaten in their past three, and they stayed ahead of Sol in ninth place courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over bottom club Rubio Nu.