When it comes to facing Pumas in the Perla Tapatía, Guadalajara is an expert. Tonight, they proved it once again by beating UNAM 3-1 at the Akron Stadium, which was a hive of activity when it came to cheering on the Rebaño Sagrado. With this result, the Guadalajara side moved into sixth place in the table with 15 points.
Fernando Gago's men got back on the winning track with character and intelligence to unlock a match that started turbulently for both sides, but which the Chiverío controlled as the minutes went by. In addition, the Rojiblanca Nation witnessed the official return of 'Chicharito' Hernández to his home, he came on at 86' to the overflowing ovation of more than 40 million ChivaHermanos from all over the world.
El Rebaño Sagrado will have its first long week after almost 30 days, as it will visit Cruz Azul at the Ciudad de los Deportes Stadium next Saturday, March 2 at 9 PM.
The Goals
- It was at 52' that Cade Cowell scored his first goal against the Chiva Nation, with a precise finish after service from the right by Alan Mozo inside the box.
-At 67', the Akron erupted again, this time thanks to 'Pollo' Briseño. On a corner kick from the left, Guadalajara's 4 appeared at the far post and crossed the goalkeeper with a solid header, which he exchanged for Chivas' second of the match.
-Pumas scored at 73' from the 11th penalty spot, with Eduardo Salvio's shot that 'Tala' Rangel guessed right, but couldn't stop.
-Everything returned to normal at 79' in a masterful triangulation by the red-and-white team on the right, where 'Piojo' left several opponents stranded and served diagonally for 'Pocho' Guzmán to send the ball into the net.
The dangerous ones
-At 21', a cross by Alan Mozo looked for Cade Cowell in the penalty spot, but the capital goalkeeper blocked the ball before it could reach its destination.
-At 32', he had the clearest chance of the first half, with a bouncing service at the entrance of the area, which he hit with his left foot at the near post before the rival goalkeeper's shot was blocked.
-A minute later, it was 'Piojo' Alvarado who tried a mid-range shot when he recovered a rebound outside the feline perimeter. The player from Irapuato let his left-footed shot go just over the crossbar.
-At 39', it looked like Rebaño's goal might come through a carom in Pumas' six-yard box that no red-and-white attacker was able to push in.
-At 45+1', 'Pollo' Briseño won a corner kick from the right looking for a second contact to send the ball to the back of the net, but he didn't find a receiver and the ball went to the back line.
-The first of the second half came from 'Piojo' at 56', who read perfectly a pass from Cade Cowell and unleashed a left-footed volley that went over the opponent's goal.
-A magical back-heel by Ricardo Marín left Alvarado alone at 62', who in turn looked for the diagonal with Cowell but could not convert the second for Chivas.
-At 79', Cowell had a chance to score his brace when the goalkeeper hesitated to come out. Cade tried to beat him with a lob that missed by inches and hit the top of the net.
Guadalajara 3-1 Puebla
(Cade Cowell at 52', Antonio Briseño at 67' and Víctor Guzmán at 79')
(Eduardo Salvio at 73')
Referee: Oscar Macías Romo
Akron Stadium
Guadalajara: 27 Raúl Rangel, 2 Alan Mozo, 4 Antonio Briseño, 13 Gilberto Chiquete, 43 Leonardo Sepúlveda; 20 Fernando Beltrán (14 Javier Hernández at 86'), 15 Erick Gutiérrez, 5 Víctor Guzmán (C); 25 Roberto Alvarado, 16 Cade Cowell (50 Mateo Chávez at 86') and 19 Ricardo Marín.
Coach Fernando Gago
Pumas: 1 Julio González; 3 José Galindo (16 Adrián Aldrete at 62'), 6 Nathanael Ananias (AM at 91'), 13 Pablo Monroy (22 Robert Ergas at 62'), 189 Jesús Rivas (11 Carlos Gutiérrez at 74'); 7 Rodrigo López (8 Christian Tabó at 74'), 10 Eduardo Salvio (C), 15 Ulises Rivas, 27 Piero Quispe (12 César Huerta at 45'); 32 Leonardo Suárez, 9 Guillermo Martínez.
D.T. Gustavo Lema
