Meow

By: Andrea | November 2nd, 2008

The game wasn’t played like the last time PUMAS visited el Jalisco but a point turns out to be a good reward. Currently, we share the top spot in group 2 but some of the teams have yet to play. The game ended a 1-1 with a spectacular strike by Pato Araujo and it seems like we’re on our way to the Liguilla.

Guadalajara

30 Hugo Hernández
18 Xavier Báez
20 Édgar Mejía
4 Héctor Reynoso
29 Juan Ocampo (Alberto Medina 59′)
16 Édgar Solís
5 Patricio Araujo
7 Gonzalo Pineda (Marco Fabián 66′)
11 Ramón Morales
9 Omar Arellano
21 Sergio Santana (Antonio Salazar 82′)
DT Efraín Flores

UNAM

12 Sergio Bernal
2 Efraín Velarde
3 Marco Palacios
4 Darío Verón
5 Israel Castro
6 Efraín Juárez
13 Jehu Chiapas
14 David Cabrera
18 Fernando Morales (David Toledo 32′)
11 Juan Carlos Cacho
20 Ismael Iñiguez (Dante López 72′)

Within the first minute we had a chance. Arellano made an excellent run and crossed to Santana who missed by a bit. Already we were looking dangerous.

During the first 10ish minutes of the game it was obvious that Pumas had come with a defensive line up and the night was looking to be hard. Pumas kept everyone on their half of the field absorbing attack after attack.

In the 9th min Arellano had a tousle with Marco Palacious on the edge of the box. As Palacious tried to take down Arellano, he went down himself and in the process was stepped on by the Chivas player. A step on the face wasn’t too nice and the small little incident would lead to more trouble during the game.

Overall the first half was boring. Chivas was doing the attacking and Pumas was just waiting for their chance at goal.

Finally in the 52nd something happened although unfortunate for Chivas. Jehu Chiapas scored from a corner by a header. There was nothing that Hernandez could do and the defense did a terrible job covering the man. During the celebrations Pineda and Palacious got into an argument. Palacious went right in front of Pineda and did an airplane imitation. Out of anger Pineda quickly went over to the player and pushed him to the ground. Luckily, the ref didn’t see the incident, but everyone else did.

In the 64th Pumas came and attacked and it seemed like they would go 2-0 up as Ismael Iñiguez came up alone against Hernandez. He shot and the ball came off the post. A mistake that would cost them the game and a sign that we would not lose.

The 71st minute turned to be our salvation. Arellano took the ball and crossed it to Xavier Baez who then left it to Pato Araujo. Araujo shot the ball straight into the net from outside of the area. A wonderful goal that put us level at 1-1.

Then the game was over and Pineda came off the bench looking for Palacious. He was still angry over the previous incident and was looking to get even. Personally, I like soccer fights because it shows the commitment of each player, their love for what they’re doing. Unless they’re Joey Barton, but that’s a different story.

Overall it was a good game. It was somewhat boring but bearable. I expected more from Chivas after last week’s win over America but a point is a point and now we share the top spot in group 2 and our chances of qualifying for La Liguilla are getting better every week. But come on boys, would a win have been too much to ask for? Here’s one thing:

A pass onto the next round against River Plate on Thursday.