Marathón’s 0-1 loss to Alianza at Estadio Morazán left the club with no room to breathe in the Copa Centroamericana. The result means the team now needs a victory next week against Real Estelí to keep its qualification hopes alive.
Silvio Rudman said the match split cleanly in two. Marathón, he said, played well in the first half and created three or four goal chances, but after the break it could not hold the same level and finished without a shot on goal. Alianza, by contrast, found its only clear opening and made it count before closing the door.
That is why the loss hurts now. It did not come from a dominant opponent or a long stretch of pressure. It came from one chance, taken. Rudman accepted responsibility for the second-half collapse and denied that excess confidence had crept into the squad. He also said the team will have to turn the page quickly, because the calendar gives it little room to dwell on the result.
Marathón also had to manage absences and setbacks around the match. José “Pajarito” Aguilera was left out after a resonance test confirmed a muscle problem that needs two weeks of recovery, while Moreno asked to come off after taking a blow. Rudman said Carlos Argueta did a good job on the right side, and he added that the squad is already carrying several injuries, including Nairobi, Elis and Aguilera.
The next stretch leaves little margin. Marathón is set to turn first to the Clásico Sampedrano against Real España before facing Real Estelí, but the situation in the Copa Centroamericana is now simple: anything less than a response in the next match will leave the campaign hanging by a thread.
