The Flock Moves on In the Sudamericana

By: Andrea | November 7th, 2008

Congratulations to Chivas. We managed a win when it all seemed impossible. Now come the real problems.

After the first leg in Argentina, we seemed comfortable lead of 2-1 with the away goal rules. Yes, there were still 90 minute left in the game but Chivas was in the mindset to win and advance.

Guadalajara

30 Hugo Hernández
6 Omar Esparza
4 Héctor Reynoso (YC 56′)
20 Édgar Mejía
16 Édgar Solís (Marc Fabián 46′)
5 Patricio Araujo (YC 39′)
7 Gonzalo Pineda (Alberto Medina 46′)
18 Xavier Báez
11 Ramón Morales (Antonio Olvera 71′)
9 Omar Arellano
21 Sergio Santana
Efraín Flores

River Plate

1 Juan Marcelo Ojeda
4 Paulo Ferrari (Rodrigo Archubi 76′)
2 Gustavo Cabral
16 Raúl Quiroga
3 Cristian Vallagra (YC 74′)
8 Matías Fernández
5 Oscar Ahumada (YC 6′)
11 Matías Abelairas (YC 24′)
10 Diego Buonanotte (YC 53′) (Gustavo Bou 62′)
9 Radamel Falcao
13 Sebastián Abreu
Diego Simeone

The game finally started with much anticipation. From the very opening seconds of the game River let Chivas know what they were there to do. Quickly they set themselves up for the attack and Chivas gave away a free kick. Reynoso should have received a yellow for the foul but since it was early in the game the ref let it slide. The River free kick was sent out by the wall and now Chivas had to worry about a corner. Unfortunately, they did not worry enough because it was only the second minute and Chivas were down 0-1. With this scoreline they would advance due to they away goals rule but they had to be very cautious now.

The game continued with River looking dangerous. In the 9th min Pato Araujo had to leave the field to get his head bandaged.

Our right side looked weak and River soon noticed and they got us again. It was the 20th minute and we were 0-2 down at home. There was absolutely nothing that Hugo Hernandez could do about Falcao’s shot to the lower right side of his goal.

The 28th minute showed a small fight break out between players as Buonanotte fouled Esparza and the latter retaliated. Somehow the whole group got involved and the already dirty game became more tense.

In the 42nd we had what should have been a penalty. River’s Ojeda clearly held on to Santana as he went into the area and wrapped his arms around him preventing Santana from getting the ball into the unattended goal. The ref didn’t mark this and tension mounted again.

The first half showed a bad Chivas. They constantly fouled, were overtaken by a River side, and were not working as a team. It was bad, bad, bad.

For the second half Edgar Solis and Gonzalo Pineda were taken out for Alberto Medina and Marco Fabian.

During the 59th we showed some signs that we were going to continue fighting for our place in the semi finals. We scored by a nice effort by Omar Arellano who received a long ball, looped it over defender, which fell to Marco Fabian who slotted it in. 2-1 and we were going to penalties.

Minutes later we again achieved what we were meant to do. It was the 64th and we tied 2-2 thanks to a play by Arellano to Medina who scored. With this score we were guaranteed to go through and we only had to endure the time that was left.

The rest of the time Hugo Hernandez became confident again and his performance was elevated. Time after time he made saves that kept us in the game. Any other scoreline would not have meant penalties. It was do or die. River continued to look dangerous and with 4 minutes of extra time it was worrying. The back line of the Chivas players seemed tired and let go of ball after ball. Finally it all ended.

We were lucky enough with the result because at any time, River could have easily made it 3-0, 4-0, etc. Fortunately, in the second half their finishing went down and Chivas played a bit better. Overall, it was down to luck and for a while Hugo Hernandez.

The game had definitely been tense and it showed all the way to the Managers. Both Efrain Flores and Diego Simeone were sent away during the course of the second half and on the field it was not much better having foul after foul.

Now, we face Internacional de Porto Alegre during the semi finals of the Sudamericana. Scheduling changes however pose a problem. With our possible qualification into the Liguilla we face squad depletion because of the short time in between games. Add in our international players that are sure to be called up for the games against Ecuador on Nov. 12 and the ever important World Cup Qualifying match for Mexico at the end of the month and we’ve got a problem.

A match report from a different perspective is also up here.