Envigado spoiled Teófilo Gutiérrez's return to Junior: triumph in Barranquilla; the goals

The celebration of Teófilo Gutiérrez's return to Junior was spoiled by an Envigado that played without fear and took a key victory from Barranquilla, in its fight to maintain its place in the first division.

With Monday's 1-2 defeat at the Roberto Meléndez stadium, Junior lost the opportunity to go to bed as the leader of the BetPlay League 2025-I and once again raised doubts about the process of Venezuelan César Farías.

Teo, at 39 years old, entered the field in the 57th minute, amidst one of the many ovations that the stands at the Roberto Meléndez stadium gave him: there was one in the 29th minute, the number on his shirt, and another when he came out to warm up.

But before the arrival of 'Perfume', Junior had been suffering a lot against a very brave Envigado, without prejudices, who forgot about the relegation table in Barranquilla and came out to play one on one.

Even the orange team, who on Monday debuted a black shirt with decorations in their usual color, recovered from a goal down before the two minutes: Yimmi Chará skillfully made his way through and put Bryan Castrillón on the ball, who then sent in a cross that Carlos Bacca headed past goalkeeper Rubén Escobaar.

There were still Junior fans celebrating Bacca's goal when Envigado hit back: a Neymar Uribe rebound led to a long pass for Bayron Garcés, who surprised Santiago Mele with a long-distance shot. The ball bounced in front of the Uruguayan before going into the goal, on a pitch affected by Shakira's concert and the rain.

Envigado continued on, scoring one more goal against Junior and missing at least a couple more times: the goal that gave the visitors the lead at half-time was scored by Geindry Cuervo, a player who has almost always been a full-back since his debut for Bogotá FC, and has now become a winger: he dropped into the area to collect a pass from Édison López and beat Mele in the 42nd minute.

Teo's was not the first change for Junior. The first thing that César Farías, his coach, tried to do was to reorganize the defense with the departure of Jhon Navia, who had a poor performance, and the entry of Carlos Cantillo.

After referee Luis Delgado forgave Jhomier Guerrero a red card, despite the fact that the VAR, in charge of Jenny Arias, called him to review the play, Farías ordered the second round of substitutions, with Teo replacing Castrilllón and Yani Quintero replacing Jhon Vélez.

Junior continued to struggle, even though the game was now only being played in the southern half of the Metropolitano. Envigado had nine shots in the first half, but none in the second. Delgado also did not consider Cuervo's handball as a penalty.

In the end, the 'Tiburón' opted for the formula that has been the miracle of many games, with the entry of Steven Rodríguez for Bacca. But the forward, who has saved so many points for Junior and Farías, could not solve the problem this time. Junior, who could have been the leader and had a party, ended up bitter.