As expected, being the first leg of the Quarter-Finals both teams started at a low pace, to some extent, as a couple of heavyweight fighters analyzing the other’s intentions & weaknesses.
Nonetheless, in minute 2, Antuna showed a good effort as he ran down the line and then crossed the ball into the box, but Ochoa caught it. In the 8th minute, Dos Santos entered the box and fired a powerful shot that went above Gudiño’s goal, a minute later, Dos Santos once again shot from long-distance and Gudiño saved without problems.
In minute 25, Miguel Ponce tried his luck from long-distance; however, his shot went wide to the right. Three minutes later, Raúl Gudiño showcased his fantastic goalkeeping skills with a brilliant save to Martin’s close-range header. In the 34 minute, there was a very polemic call by the referee as he decided not to award a PK for Chivas following a dubious handball. Gudiño proved to be ‘El Chiverío’s first-half hero as he saved, once again, a shot by Martin who was just in front of the goal in minute 36.
The second half started at full throttle and just five minutes in Gudiño saved a violent ball from Dos Santos who shot from long-range. A couple of minutes later, Miguel Ponce got the best chance for Chivas, so far, as he received a great ball inside the box; however, his header went a bit above the woodwork.
In minute 59, Jesús Angulo crossed the ball from the corner kick, but unfortunately, Oribe’s header went wide. In the 68th, a great collective play by Antuna, Calderón & ‘Cone’, the latter crossed the ball into the box and ‘Pocho’ Ponce almost cashed; nonetheless, the ball went a bit wide.
At last, in the 80th minute, Cristian Calderón gave Chivas the lead with a goal from another galaxy as he unleashed a rocket shot past Ochoa to burst in flames all ChivaHermanos’ hearts.
El Rebaño Sagrado will try to seal the deal next Saturday in Mexico City during the second leg of Guard1anes 2020 Quarter-Finals.
Guadalajara 1-0 América
(Cristian Calderón 80’)
Referee: Jorge Isaac Rojas
Estadio Akron
Lineups:
Guadalajara: 1 Raúl Gudiño, 17 Jesús Sánchez, 21 Hiram Mier, 3 Gilberto Sepúlveda, 16 Miguel Ponce, 19 Jesús Angulo (56 Eduardo Torres 72’), 5 Jesús Molina, 20 Fernando Beltrán (26 Cristian Calderón 53’), 11 Isaac Brizuela, 15 Uriel Antuna (14 Antonio Briseño 83’) and 13 Ángel Zaldívar (24 Oribe Peralta al 53’ (YC 78’).
Coach. Víctor Manuel Vucetich.
América: 13 Guillermo Ochoa, 8 Alonso Escoboza (11 Andrés Ibargüen 82’), 2 Luis Fuentes (22 Paul Aguilar 82’), 19 Emanuel Aguilera, 4 Sebastián Cáceres, 3 Jorge Sánchez (YC 51’), 5 Santiago Cáseres (YC 35’) (25 Rubén González 70’), 20 Richard Sánchez, 10 Giovani Dos Santos (24 Federico Viñas 62’), 21 Henry Martín (14 Nicolás Benedetti 71’) and 17 Sebastián Córdova.
Coach. Miguel Herrera (AM al 71’).
