América
1 Guillermo Ochoa
4 Oscar Rojas (AM 81′)
2 Ismael Rodríguez (AM 37′)
6 Juan Carlos Valenzuela
15 Édgar Castillo (Andrés Chitiva 77′)
13 Pável Pardo
5 Enrique Vera
18 Ángel Reyna
21 Enrique Esqueda
11 Robert de Pinho (Daniel Márquez 85′)
29 Jean Beausejour
DT Jesús Ramírez

America had the first chance of the game in the 3rd minute when Reyna came in with a high ball. Michel managed to get in his way and veer the ball off course to prevent them from scoring.

The rest of the time, up to the 15th minute, Chivas had many chances. In the 10th Arellano was going through on a long ball, but it extended too far and he was unable to keep up with it. Had he been able to, he could have been 1v1 with Ochoa. The next didn’t take too long, and in the 11th Morales crossed a great ball, but there was no one to meet it. Medina then in the 12th went in flying to a ball. Ochoa touched it by about a fraction of a second to prevent the goal.

Then in the 15th Arellano came up on the counterattack. He hit the ball with a little angle, but without too much direction. His ball went a little wide of the goal, but had Arellano crossed it more towards Medina who was coming up, Medina would have had an open goal.

Medina had a shot in the 32nd. He came up to the area surrounded by 2 defenders. He managed to shoot the ball, but it went straight on to Ochoa who took control.

Chivas had scared towards the end of the game. America got into the area and came close to scoring many times. After much jostling near Michel, Mejia managed to finally clear the ball.

At the end of the first half Arellano came close to goal. He rounded a defender and got the ball on his left foot. His shot went a tiny bit wide, but it would have been a great goal.

Chivas were dominating the first half with attack after attack. America was badly positioned and their title of best away team wasn’t holding up.

Back for the second half Chivas finally scored in the 68th. Ponce got on the end of a cross by Medina. He had no defender on him and managed to head the ball into a tight space between the post and Ochoa to put Chivas up 1-0.

In the 75th Arellano provided a good build-up. He rounded up the America defenders and left the ball for two other Chivas players, which was wasted.

One of America’s best opportunities came in the 78th. Michel stopped the ball, but his effort landed in front of Rodriguez. He managed to get through defenders and shot the ball with a lot of force, but it ended up going just wide.

After that not much happened really.

In the first half Chivas dominated, and had they tried a little harder their shots would have made the score higher. America were lost without their hitman Cabanas. They’re not even remotely the same without him. He is their Salvation(he should change his name to Salvacion instead of Salvador…).

Overall, I liked the team today. We played better than America and despite the change of Manager the team didn’t seem lost. Arellano played like a true professional despite the dismissal of his father. Morales did really well and provided alot of creativity but was taken off. The defense played well cutting off everything cleanly. Definitely need to work on the finishing though.

Unfortunately, Magallon came out injured and will miss the game against Pumas. He came back from injury in the Jornada 4, and this is the 2nd time he’s gone out injured in a game against America.

The win puts Chivas ahead of America and 2nd place of group 2 with 19 points making qualification into the Liguilla very possible.

The next game is against group leaders Pumas on Sunday, April 26. A win wouldn’t see us go top, but it would put us 2 points behind.

If my kid turned out like this, he(or she) would get a stern talking to. There’d be no other team nonsense in my house.

Remember, El Classico is this Sunday.

The Classico’s area always filled with passion. Things get heated up and punches are thrown sometimes. While I don’t approve of fights they’re a favorite part of mine during games. The fight in ‘83 is one of my favorites that I’ve seen(although not live) between the two teams. There’s crazy punches, karate kicks, and short shorts! What more can you ask for?

And more news on the club. Omar Arellano has made the choice to leave as assistant manager of the club, and will no longer be on the technical staff.

Vergara justified himself in letting Arellano go, saying that the deal had been made for Arellano to be on board as an interim manager.

The premise is this. “Just by seeing us their skin turns into Chicken skin.” So basically, just by seeing us, they turn into Chickens. That’s right America. Go run and hide. You’re eagles no more. Chivas are about to clip your wings(although, you haven’t really had any for the past few seasons).

Remember, EL CLASSICO is on Sunday.

Basically a father and his blind son go to a Classico and get their seats in an America section. America ends up scoring a goal and the father doesn’t want to tell who scored. An awesome America fan tells the little boy that it was Chivas and he’s happy…and awww. Despite the hatred between the teams in the end it’s things like these that make it amazing.

Guadalajara

1 Luis Michel
17 Amaury Ponce
33 Mario de Luna
4 Héctor Reynoso
20 Édgar Mejía
11 Ramón Morales (Francisco Mendoza 87′)
5 Patricio Araujo
18 Xavier Báez
8 Marco Fabián (Gonzalo Pineda 52′)
10 Alberto Medina (Sergio Ávila 72′)
27 Carlos Ochoa
DT Efraín Flores

Atlas

21 Pedro Hernández
30 Darwin Chávez
16 Hugo Ayala
53 Néstor Vidrio
23 Eduardo Rergis
19 César Ibañez
18 Darío Botinelli
8 Lucas Ayala
9 Gonzalo Vargas
17 Jorge Achucarro
11 Bruno Marioni
DT Darío Franco

It started out with our rivals/roomates Atlas. Previously we had come from a 1-1 draw with America that had left us on level terms with our old rivals and it was necessary to win the game to keeps hopes alive to qualify for the next round of the Interliga.

We had done well in the pre-season and now it was time to get the ball rolling.

In the 20th minute we saw ourselves up in the scoreline after an Atlas defender stuck his had in the are. Ramoncito Morales neatly put the ball into the back of the net for the 1st goal of the night. He had a great game.

Unfortunately, in the 75th Atlas equalized via Marioni after Michel had pushed away a previous shot. They were equal.

The 77th minute gave us excitement. “Gaucho” Avila has ups and downs but this play was a high. He came from the right, took two defenders off his back, and gave to Ochoa to score. Exciting, exciting! Hopefully he keeps that level and we will have a killer player. And remember, he’s still young.

In the 83rd Avila again made his way with Ochoa and gave the assist for the 3rd goal. Ochoa took it, saw the keeper on his own and coolly shot the ball into the goal as if he were doing it just for fun.

This a good start to a new season. I think our team is working well together and the defense seems at ease. Michel has been performing well despite his long absence, although we’ve got Hugo Hernandez and he is a good back up.

Our next game is against Tigres on January 9th at the Home Depot Center, home of our sister team Chivas USA / The LA Galaxy.

1-1 against America and 3-1 against Atlas…not bad for the first Classico’s of the early, early season.

And yes, the kid is blind. Basically, America scores a goal against Chivas in El Classico and the kid asks whose it was. The America fan tells him that it was a Chivas goal even though it wasn’t. The kid is happy. Football fans should really be more like this. Even if you don’t understand the words you get the idea through the gestures. This commercial is pretty old but I just found it today.

With Morales coming back injured we said goodbye to our captain and perhaps the most experienced player for this match. Luckily, it didn’t seem like we missed him too much. A win at the Azteca stadium seemed a bit daunting especially since we were away from home. A win would give us 3 much needed points, but a draw wouldn’t have been too bad either. A point is a point and it would have helped on the table. Anyways we started with
Guadalajara

30 Hugo Hernández
6 Omar Esparza (Alberto Medina 56′)
20 Édgar Mejía
4 Héctor Reynoso
19 Jonny Magallón
16 Édgar Solís
5 Patricio Araujo
18 Xavier Báez
8 Marco Fabián (Gonzalo Pineda 52′)
9 Omar Arellano
21 Sergio Santana (Sergio Ávila 64′)

and America with
1 Guillermo Ochoa
15 Jesús Sánchez
2 Ismael Rodríguez
5 Enrique Vera
6 Sebastián Domínguez
4 Oscar Rojas
20 Alejandro Argüello
25 Juan Carlos Silva (Juan Carlos medina 46′)
8 Federico Insua (Juan Carlos Mosqueda 79′)
7 Alfredo Moreno (Enrique Esqueda 68′)
9 Salvador Cabañas

Up to the 10th min we constantly attacked and troubled America’s defense. Solis also came down on the edge of the area and we were awarded a free kick which flashed across the goal.

In the 11th Arellano scored a goal which could have gone in as easily as not. It came off a cross/shot from Santana and we were up 1-0.

During the 24th minute Arellano and Fabian had a good combination up front but the moment was wasted by Fabian who fired a weak shot, one that could have done more damage.

The 26th min saw danger in our area. An America player played the ball in to our area with so much pace that as it rebounded off the top corner of the post, the “crack” was clearly heard. In the process Hernandez hit his jaw and had to be treated but was luckily able to continue.

Unfortunately, bad luck landed in our area when a corner headed by Dominguez went into goal. He had two defenders on it but our tallest, Reynoso, was overcome by him anyways. Hernandez dove the right way but was unable to get to the ball. It was the 32nd min and we were level 1-1.

In the 39th Araujo received a yellow for a foul on Insua.

Another scare in the 40th as Salvador Cabanas rounded the goalkeeper and scored but he was offsides. Still, it scared me.

So, half time came and the game was exciting. The constant attacking by Chivas had been welcomed although America slightly leveled after their equalizer to make it more of an even game. Despite the young age of the squad they were coping in the big game.

In the 2nd, the line up stayed the same for our side.

In the 5th min there was a great build up by Fabian and the shot rebounded and was shot by Santana. He was offside and he sent it over goal but it was a good effort.

The 7th min saw a HUGE mistake from America in which they missed a goal due to bad communication. Or confusion. It seemed like they were defending on the wrong side of the pitch.

11th min and Esparza went out injured and Medina came in.

The same minute saw an incredible save by Hernandez on a shot by Magallon which could have easily been an own goal.

19th min Santana came off for Avila.

In the 26th we saw an incredible goal again by Arellano. He ran and shot the ball over Ochoa for a spectacular shot and the 3rd goal this week.

The 44th we saw Magallon go out injured and it seemed like he hurt his arm as he was carried off in the little ambulance car. We had no more subs left and we were down to 10 men for the remainder of the game.

So, the game ended and we won 2-1. A great win away from home and a good addition to our points tally. Arellano scored both and it seems like its become a tradition to scored in the Classico’s for his family(both his grandfather and father did as well in their day). Hernandez didn’t have as great as a performance as he did in Argentina but then again America didn’t have as many great of shots. I was impressed with this game as I usually am with all the other classico’s but hopefully this week was a turn around to a winning streak.

The only bad thing, terrible thing actually, is that Johnny Magallon fractured his arm in a Michel-esque way. So he’ll be about for 2-3 months. Out of La Liga, Sudamericana, and El Tri. I wish him speedy recovery because he is a player that we’ll definitely miss. A rock that one.

An update on the Nery Castillo saga. It’s not only the players who don’t want him to come, it is him as well. At the time he has no desire to play in the America’s. My message to him: If you were regularly playing in Europe with Man City great. But unfortunately my friend you are not. It doesn’t seem like the time to be picking and choosing where you want to play. Wherever you can get minutes seems adequate. But perhaps Vergara will stop seeing as how Arellano has had some great performances this week. You missed out and we will gain from it.

Lineups
Guadalajara

30 Hugo Hernández
6 Omar Esparza
20 Édgar Mejía (Sergio Santana 56′)
4 Héctor Reynoso
19 Jonny Magallón
16 Édgar Solís
5 Patricio Araujo
18 Xavier Báez
11 Ramón Morales
9 Omar Arellano (Omar Arellano 74′)
10 Alberto Medina (Marco Fabián 67′)
Manager Efraín Flores

Atlante

3 Federico Vilar
2 Javier Muñoz Mustafá
4 Luis Venegas
6 Gerardo Espinoza
8 Alan Zamora
15 Arturo Muñoz (César Fragoso 85′)
19 Mariano Trujillo (AM 89′)
28 Fernando Herrera (Ismael Valadez 67′)
18 Christian Bermudez
11 Luis Gabriel Rey
17 Daniel Guerrero (Raymundo Torres 42′)
Manager José Guadalupe Cruz

We won against Atlante 1-0 thanks to a goal by Sergio Santana in the 60 min. Overall we did quite well and after the first half the score was 0-0. Despite it being a goal less draw it was still very entertaining as Chivas was constantly attacking and looking very threatening.
I didn’t get to watch most of the 2nd half due to a school function but I did see the goal and having become a rarity, I say it was spectacular. I didn’t watch much after that to be honest,

Four players did get yellow cards. Edgar Ivan Solís (20′)
Héctor Reynoso (45′)
Xavier Ivan Báez (87′)
Ramón Morales (90′)

Now, during midweek we get to play River Plate down in Argentina for the Copa Sudamericana. River are coming off a 1-0 defeat to Boca Juniors so it will be interesting to see how this game goes down.

And Sunday night EL CLASSICO. Come on boys, clip those eagles’ wings!