Deportivo Cuenca and SD Aucas faced each other on the fourth matchday of the second stage in the Ecuadorian Liga Pro. Both teams played in a five at the back formation, with Deportivo Cuenca dominating possession and creating most of the chances. However, it was SD Aucas who opened the score early on in the game through the experienced Roberto Ordoñez. Francisco Fydriszewski scored the 2-0 from the penalty spot, after goalkeeper Hamilton Piedra fouled his opponent after saving the first penalty from Victor Figueroa. Deportivo Cuenca managed to pull one back late in the game through another penalty kick, but failed to create any clear cut chances in the remainder of the game. SD Aucas now have 10 points in 4 games, while Deportivo Cuenca have 5 points out of 4 games, only scoring three goals.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Vilinton Branda
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 23/11/2001
- Club: Deportivo Cuenca
- Career: Barcelona SC (Y), CD Municipal Cañar (Y), Independiente del Valle (Y), River Plate ECU (Y), Duros del Balon (Y), Duros del Balon, Atletico Porteño, Deportivo Cuenca
- Position: Right-Wing
- Secondary position: Left-Wing
- Preferred foot: Left
Vilinton Branda played on the left wing against SD Aucas. After showing good signs against Guayaquil City, I was curious about his next performance. Vilinton Branda is a very opportunistic winger who will go for a shot from long range in as many situations as he possibly can. The Ecuadorian winger always sees a chance to attempt a shot from distance and often hits the ball pretty well. His shooting technique is good when composed, but sometimes he seems a bit uncontrolled in front of goal. Branda is capable of cutting inside from both the right and left wing and goes for goal with both feet. His left foot is his stronger foot, but his right foot is pretty decent too. The winger took some set-pieces for Deportivo Cuenca but mainly went for a short pass before receiving the ball back and going for goal.
Branda sometimes seems to struggle when dribbling, especially in the counter-attacks when he does not have many passing options. The Ecuadorian should stay composed in those particular situations and recycle possession, instead of running into congested areas where he is likely to lose the ball. His technical ability is okay, but not great. His receiving skills are inconsistent, as he sometimes fails to keep the ball close to him when dealing with aerial passes. His passing technique is pretty good, but he sporadically failed to keep the ball in play with his first-touch passes towards the wing (in one-two’s). When he set up a one-two himself, he looked smooth and quick, getting past his marker. As mentioned, Branda always has his eyes on the goal. He has great anticipation and movement in the box, getting close to scoring in two situations where he made a great run towards the far corner and just fell short to an inswinging cross from the right wing.
The winger mostly operated in the half-space in settled possession, but in transition he often provided width for Deportivo Cuenca. From there, he always made diagonal runs into the half-spaces. He is not a creative player and often went for an easy pass. Out of possession, he can close down opponents quickly and aggressively as he has very good speed. His athleticism is okay, he is not super agile but also not slow on the turn.
Rating – A2
Vilinton Branda is a very opportunistic player and I quite like him, just because his shooting is not terrible and his movement in the final third is great. I think that there is some work to do in the technical and athletic areas, but he has proved against both Guayaquil City and SD Aucas that he always poses a threat to the opponent. He also averages an xG of 0.45 per 90 minutes.
Ronny Biojó
- Nationality: Ecuadorian
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 20/07/1999
- Club: Deportivo Cuenca
- Career: LDU Quito (Y), Emelec (Y), Guayaquil City (Y), Guayaquil FC, Deportivo Cuenca
- Position: Central Defender
- Preferred foot: Right
Ronny Biojó played on the right in a three-man defence. The Ecuadorian defender saw a lot of the ball in this game around the halfway line, but looked uncomfortable on the ball against Aucas and made a few mistakes in defence as well. Biojó had quite some time and space to progress the ball onto the opposition’s half, but was too passive and cautious on the ball. He liked to take the ball forward cautiously before eventually forcing an inaccurate medium-long pass over the ground or playing a good sideways pass. In some moments, Biojó attempted to play these line-breaking passes, but his passes were not good enough. I am not sure how tall Biojó is, but he looked around 1.85 meters with a normal build. He did not seem that quick, but was pretty mobile.
Defensively, Biojó defended on the wrong side of Ordoñez when the experienced striker scored the 0-1 for Aucas early on in the game. His defensive positioning in that situation was average and he could not prevent Ordoñez from scoring. The Ecuadorian defender liked to lean into his opponent in aerial duels, which on the one hand helped him to win some aerial duels, but on the other hand it led to Biojó giving away fouls. He lost a race to the ball against 37-year-old Ordoñez two times, which implies that Biojó is not fast. In the defensive 1v1 duels, Biojó did well to look at the ball and he managed to block shots and win the duels. He scans well when dealing with crosses, helping him to cover runs and not get surprised by blindside runs. The defender did not step up that often, but when he did he looked good and he did not hesitate to join the attack with good runs, which was surprising considering how passive he was with the ball on his feet.
Rating – B2
Ronny Biojó does not have a great technique, while also not having that much potential in the physical and athletic areas. I think that he could become a good player for Deportivo Cuenca at best, but I don’t think he will ever be an interesting player for top Ecuadorian sides. However, this was my first time watching him so I will probably watch him more often.