San Lorenzo were ineffective and went down on penalties in their first friendly of the summer

The ball began to roll for Ruben Darío Insua’s San Lorenzo in 2023. But in the first game of the year and with no new faces he could not unbalance Boedo’s cast, who drew goalless against Independiente del Valle de Ecuador to Maldonado, Uruguay in the 90 minutes and fell on penalties 5-4. The Cyclone once again proved solid defensively, even though it lacked a gap in the front arc.

El Gallego used this first summer test to test the base of the starting team that he will use in the season and see substitutes for some positions where he lacked big names. Because DT no longer has Sebastián Torrico, Néstor Ortigoza, Cristian Zapata and Juan Ignacio Méndez, the victims of this suspension. Neither could Agustín Giay (with the Under 20 national team), nor Federico Gattoni, who entered the preseason on Saturday after a trip to Italy to decide on European citizenship.

So, Insua caught up. She flew to Gonzalo Luján in right lane, Diego Calcaterra as a stopper, Gastón Campo as a libero and Nahuel Barrios as a double five alongside Jalil Elías. What the Barça coach doesn’t change is the scheme. The 5-3-2 remains unchanged and will continue in 2023.

The premise is also to sustain the intensity and pressure in a San Lorenzo which last year characterized itself as an annoying team for rivals of all kinds. For this he had clear situations against the Ecuadorians, who have always tried to start from the bottom and have been hindered by the men in the rossoblù.

Ezequiel Cerutti was the most restless of the left. El Pocho was on that side as Andrés Vombergar was on the right. Cerutti had the two clearest for the Cyclone in a first fraction that had everything, even pushes and fights between the protagonists for a strong leg.

But on the other hand, Independiente del Valle is an oiled cast that raises the clear game flag with collaborations and touches to reach the front area. With the experienced Cristian Pellerano pulling the strings in the centre, those led by Martín Anselmi also entered the target zone and could have scored.

For example, Pellerano himself missed a goal under the arc. Previously, Lautaro Díaz squandered an unbeatable situation after a poor start from Augusto Batalla from goal. Mateo Carbajal, towards the end of the first stage, failed to connect with his left foot when he had everything to convert.

On the other side, Malcom Braida had sent a climb up the road to the left and with a diagonal he tramples the area, hooked and finished from the right over the crossbar. Fun was guaranteed, even if obviously there were no goals.

Objectives that unfortunately did not appear in the plugin, which was disfigured by numerous changes. Insua has been looking for alternatives. He put Francisco Perruzzi in the center and freed Perrito Barrios, who made his debut in the 10 jersey. And he put in the quick Iván Leguizamón, who came in connected but was unable to make the most of his speed.

Thus, everything was defined in the shootout where Batalla saved Agustín García but Kleber Pinargote held off Barrios and Calcaterra and gave victory to the Ecuadorian team. San Lorenzo will face Peñarol on Tuesday.