Alex Valera Heads Universitario Past Coquimbo Unido 1-0 — Coquimbo Unido - Universitario
Alex Valera put Universitario ahead 1-0 against Coquimbo Unido in Chile during coquimbo unido - universitario, turning a tight Group B match in the Copa Libertadores 2026 before halftime. The forward finished a rebound sequence with a header at the Estadio Francisco Sánchez.
Estadio Francisco Sánchez pressure
The move started from a corner kick and kept going after Anderson Santamaría headed the ball and Caín Fara hit the crossbar. Valera arrived in the scramble and sent in the opener for Universitario.
Juan Cornejo had already forced Universitario to defend early with a free kick that tested the Peru club first. That opening threat made the response at the other end sharper, because the visitors had to absorb pressure before finding the first clean finish of the night.
Group B margins
Universitario entered after beating Nacional 4-2, while Coquimbo Unido came in off a 3-0 loss to Tolima in Colombia. Those results set up a match where both sides arrived with different momentum, but the first half still stayed close until the set piece broke it open.
The lineups showed both coaches willing to start from familiar shapes, with Universitario listing Miguel Vargas, Caín Fara, Anderson Santamaría, Matías Di Benedetto, Andy Polo, Martín Pérez Guedes, Jorge Murrugarra, Jairo Concha, José Carabalí, Edison Flores and Valera. Coquimbo Unido named Diego Sánchez, Bejamín Gazzolo, Manuel Fernández, Francisco Salinas, Juan Cornejo, Sebastián Galani, Alejandro Camargo, Benjamín Chandía, Cristian Zavala, Guido Vadalá and Nicolas Johanse.
Universitario’s set-piece edge
Valera’s header was the one action that changed the score line, and it came from a sequence that needed multiple touches before the ball crossed the line. In a fourth-round away match, that kind of finish leaves Universitario with a lead to manage and Coquimbo Unido with work to do in a group that still has room to move.
For Universitario, the goal answered the early free kick and rewarded the pressure built from the corner. For Coquimbo Unido, the task shifted immediately from testing the defense to chasing the game after giving up the first goal in Chile.
