Tijuana.- With a tremendous performance by the birthday boy and Olivas' first goal in Liga MX, Guadalajara beat Xolos 1-2 away in a match corresponding to Day 13, making it 6 matches without defeat and boosting the team's confidence for the final stretch of the Apertura 2022.
The first 20 minutes of the match did not look good for Chivas, as they struggled to string together 5 passes in the opponent's field, which meant that Jonathan Orozco was not challenged by El Rebaño Sagrado's attackers. However, it was decisive at the right time.
The first half highlights:
- At 21', Chivas settled on the edge of the area defended by Xolos and after several combinations looking for a space, Cristian Calderón attempted a cross from the left that narrowly missed the target.
- In spite of the stalemate, El Rebaño generated a very dangerous play at 33' thanks to Fernando Beltrán, who filtered a good pass for 'Piojo' and, after a series of rebounds, Cisneros appeared in front of the Xoloitzcuintle goal, where he opted to perform a self-pass on the goalkeeper, but was not able to catch up to the ball.
- Xolos first threatened at 39', when Edgar López aged to outmaneuver and get behind 'Tiba' to then try to lob the ball over the red and white goalkeeper, but 'Wacho' pulled out all the stops and made a big save stopping Lopez in his tracks.
- El Rebaño had a miraculous save at 42', as López headed a shot inside the six-yard box, but it went wide of the visitors' goal.
The best of the second half:
- Chivas started the second half with a bang, with just a few seconds on the clock, 'Piojo' Alvarado scored the 0-1 after an excellent combination with 'Charal', which was capitalized by number 25 with a right-footed cross.
- Tijuana's response came at 57', when, in a controversial play due to a foul on Cisneros at the start of the action, Renato Ibarra sent a cross to the far post that was well headed by Franco Di Santo to level the score.
- Despite the psychological blow, El Chiverío regained the lead almost immediately through Luis Olivas, who, at 67', appeared inside the box and volleyed a left-footed shot into the top corner of the goal defended by Orozco.
- Miguel Jiménez was again the hero at 70', when he made a spectacular save to stop a mid-range shot from Lucas Rodríguez.
- The home team came within a whisker of equalizing in the final stretch of the match; at 86', Fabián Castillo was undefended at the far post, but his header went wide.
- At the end of the game, 'Checo' Flores had an apparent hand-ball inside the area after a fast rebound off his outstretched right, first hitting his foot and then bouncing off his arm, the referee reviewed it in the VAR and called for the game to continue.
Xolos 1-2 Chivas
(Franco Di Santo at 57')
(Roberto Alvarado at 46', Luis Olivas at 67')
Referee: Guillermo Pacheco Larios
Caliente Stadium
Lineups:
Xolos: 1 Jonathan González, 3 Ismael Govea, 5 Federico Lertora, 6 Nicolás Díaz, 10 Joaquín Montecinos (9 Franco Di Santo at 54'), 21 Francisco Contreras (11 Lucas Rodríguez at 65'), 23 José Juan Vázquez (30 Renato Ibarra at 54') (AM at 73'), 25 Pedro Canelo, 27 Jair Díaz (AM at 65'), 29 Edgar López (7 Fabián Castillo at 76'), 34 Víctor Guzmán.
D.T. Ricardo Valiño
Chivas: 34 Miguel Jiménez, 2 Alan Mozo (11 Isaac Brizuela at 67'), 3 Gilberto Sepúlveda, 15 Luis Olivas, 13 Gilberto Orozco, 30 Sergio Flores (AM at 75'), 20 Fernando Beltrán (AM at 57') (10 Alexis Vega at 80'), 25 Roberto Alvarado (28 Rubén González at 73'), 26 Cristian Calderón (16 Miguel Ponce at 80'), 24 Carlos Cisneros, 14 Santiago Ormeño (AM at 59') (9 Ángel Zaldívar at 67').
D.T. Ricardo Cadena