Aguascalientes.- Guadalajara pulled back a screamer over Rayos del Necaxa in Aguascalientes, thanks to an outstanding second-half performance by Alexis Vega who recorded one assist and the late winner for El Rebaño Sagrado who is still on the hunt for a spot in the playoffs of Guard1anes 2020 and full of confidence before next week’s Clásico Nacional.
At first, Necaxa started strong with a 15 minute full press dominating ball possession without much danger. The first chance for Chivas came in the 15th minute as Alexis Vega unleashed a long-range shot way above target. Two minutes later, Macías shot from the center of the box, blocked. Minute 24, ‘JJ’ again let one loose, a powerful right-footed shot, a bit high of Fassi’s goal. In the 38th minute, Necaxa went down 10 players as Delgado was sent off following a VAR review after a vicious foul on Cristian Calderón, which turned the tides for the remainder of the game.
Chivas started off the second half with a more offensive stance while Necaxa changed tactics. In the 47th minute, Brizuela crossed but the ball was deflected by Fassi. Brizuela was unstoppable, and three minutes later crossed a ball to Alexis Vega, his header missed the goal. ‘El Chiverío’ continued the onslaught and in the 53rd minute, Antuna, off the bench for Ángulo, dribbled straight into the box to let go of a wide shot, in minute 57 it became clear that ‘Cone’ was on track, as he fired a shot from outside the box again saved by Fassi .
Eventually, the game became a fierce back and forth, with plenty of hustle in the midfield from both teams, in the 64th minute Necaxa took the lead after Gudiño left a loose ball after a scorcher from outside the box, deadball for Ian González to slam ball into the back of the net. However, Chivas answered back quickly with a clinical header from Antuna, following a brilliant dribble and pass from the right side by Alexis Vega. From then on, ‘El Rebaño’ pushed forward for the win while Necaxa seemed comfortable with one point.
At last, hard work paid off as Chivas found the game-winner in stoppage time when Alexis picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box to out maneuver a defender and lace it home to give Chivas a flashy last-minute win and a confidence booster prior to next Saturday’s ‘Clásico Nacional’ when Chivas will face América at 9:00 pm CT.
Necaxa 1-2 Guadalajara
(Ian González 64’)
(Uriel Antuna 66’ and Alexis Vega 94’)
Referee: Erick Yair Miranda Galindo
Estadio Necaxa
Line ups:
Necaxa: 1 Sebastián Fassi, 22 Ricardo Chávez, 26 Julio González, 3 Unai Bilbao, 2 Idekel Domínguez (YC 60’) (33 Mario de Luna 70’), 23 Claudio Baeza, 8 Fernando Arce (7 David Cabrera 74’), 15 Juan Delgado (RC 39’), 21 Alejandro Zendejas, 10 Maximiliano Salas (17 Martín Barragán 63’) and 24 Ian González (19 Jhoao Rodríguez 74’).
Coach: Guadalupe Cruz
Guadalajara: 1 Raúl Gudiño, 17 Jesús Sánchez (23 José Juan Vázquez 64’), 21 Hiram Mier, 3 Gilberto Sepúlveda, 26 Cristian Calderón (YC 58’) (16 Miguel Ponce 64’), 5 Jesús Molina (24 Oribe Peralta 67’), 6 Dieter Villalpando (20 Fernando Beltrán 81’), 11 Isaac Brizuela, 19 Jesús Angulo (15 Uriel Antuna 46’), 7 Alexis Vega and 9 José Juan Macías.
Coach: Víctor Manuel Vucetich
