Ecuador League Roundup

Thankfully, a little less extracurricular activity this weekend in Ecuador’s top flight. The headline match of the week was LDU Quito’s trip to play El Nacional, pitting the league’s top two teams against one another. A full rundown after the jump.

The weekend began with Cuenca’s impressive 3-2 win over Aucas. A hat trick from Walter Calderon allowed Cuenca to take all three points. Cuenca, once the league’s bottom dwellers, now sit eighth, while Aucas are now in seventh. Maybe now Cuenca will get that new stadium.

Macara surprised hosts D. Quito 2-0 behind goals from Mauricio Ruiz and Marwin Pita. Hey, at least Macara are no longer at the bottom of the table this week. Quito dropped to fifth.

Emelec continued its nice recent run with a 1-0 victory over Espoli. Nothing spectacular, but sometimes a little less excitement is a good thing. Emelec have now climbed into fourth place, while Espoli have dropped to the bottom.

Olmedo missed a chance to keep up with the leaders when it lost to Barcelona 0-1. The match, originally scheduled for Guayaquil, was held in Machala as punishment for Barcelona’s fan unrest last weekend. Barcelona remain in sixth place, while Olmedo stay in third.

In the week’s marquee matchup, hosts El Nacional drew 2-2 with LDU Quito. The visitors were paced by goals from Ecuadorian internationals Edison Mendez and Augustin Delgado. Good to see El Tin get back on the goal-scoring path. With 30 points each, El Nacional remain in first with LDU Quito second. The two teams are separated by just one goal in the tie-breaking goal differential category.