The Rebaño could not have had a better celebration of its 116th anniversary. Tonight, Guadalajara was at one with its fans, whose support helped the most beloved team in our country to give another superb soccer exhibition and beat Pumas 4-1 in the Reclassification match at the Akron Stadium, which made it five wins under Ricardo Cadena's guidance; it will now play the Clásico Tapatío as part of the Quarter-Finals of the 2022 Closing Tournament.
Chivas came out convinced that they had to open the scoring as soon as possible and, at minute 11, they did just that, when Gilberto Orozco sent a long shot from their own half that Santiago Trigos tried to protect inside the box, but Cristian Calderón took advantage of a slight gap to tap the ball in just before Talavera took it with his hands and sent it into the net. However, the joy was short-lived, as the visitors equalized six minutes later, after Diogo De Oliveira controlled a pass in two stages, withstood Gilberto Orozco's fierce marking and, with some luck, pushed the ball into the goal, just when 'Wacho' had come out to save. At 24', Roberto Alvarado reached the back line and looked for Alexis Vega at the near post, but the back line burst before our 10 could hit the ball.
'Nene' Beltrán put on his magician's hat at 29', as with a few 'little steps' he shook off a couple of opponents, then opened up to the wing with 'Charal' Cisneros, who was supported in the center by 'Piojo', who received with his back to the goal, turned and filtered for 'Canelo', who appeared unmarked in the area, but Talavera made a good save; After the action, the goalkeeper fell on the red and white player, who had to leave the game with an injury to his left ankle. At 42', Talavera was in goal, withstanding the shots from 'Chicote' and then the rebound from 'Piojo'. In the next play, Alexis left his marker at speed and, on entering the area, shot, but into the goalkeeper's net.
In the second half of the match, the Tapatío team showed more hunger and desire to reach the Quarterfinals. At 49', 'Piojo' escaped at full speed, but was robbed of the ball as he entered the area, although Alexis recovered it and, after slipping between two defenders, shot at Talavera, who managed to deflect the howitzer with his shoulder. The Rebaño regained the lead with a goal from another match, when 'Nene' Beltrán left opponents in his wake with a couple of one-twos, first with Pável and then with Alexis, and when he crossed the ball in front of the goal, he scored low and across, close to the base of the right post. At 76', JJ Macías, who had been on the field for a few minutes, stole the ball at the start of the match, but his shot did not have the desired power.
Chivas sealed the game in the final stretch of the match. First, at 86', Alexis made a change of play to set up Pável, who realized that JJ was alone in the penalty area and simply gave him the ball to push it into the net, and 3 minutes later, Alexis put the final nail in the university coffin, after Sergio Flores set him up with a pass from midfield, he escaped unmarked and, on entering the area, deceived Talavera by coolly finishing, touching the ball to the base of the right post.
Guadalajara 4-1 UNAM
(Cristian Calderón at 11', Fernando Beltrán at 50', José Juan Macías at 86' and Alexis Vega at 89')
(Diogo De Oliveira at 18')
Referee: Marco Antonio Ortiz Nava
Akron Stadium
Lineups:
Guadalajara: 23 Miguel Jiménez, 33 Carlos Cisneros, 3 Gilberto Sepúlveda, 21 Hiram Mier, 53 Gilberto Orozco, 26 Cristian Calderón (AM at 45'+2') (16 Miguel Ponce at 81'), 29 Eduardo Torres, 20 Fernando Beltrán (30 Sergio Flores at 81'), 19 Jesús Angulo (50 Pável Pérez at 32'), 25 Roberto Alvarado (7 José Juan Macías at 71' (AM at 80')) and 10 Alexis Vega.
Coach Ricardo Cadena.
UNAM: 1 Alfredo Talavera, 47 Ricardo Galindo, 25 Arturo Ortiz (AM at 70'), 23 Nicolás Freire, 18 Efraín Velarde (AM at 8'), 194 Santiago Trigos, 17 Leonel López, 10 Favio Álvarez (48 at 71'), 33 Diogo De Oliveira (31 Washington Corozo at 39'), 198 Jorge Ruvalcaba (AM at 46') (19 at 71') and 9 Juan Dinneno.
D.T. Andrés Lillini.
