It was a night of emotions to the limit at the Akron. Guadalajara was patient, worked the match and never tired of looking for the goal that would give them the win against Cruz Azul, and in the last minute they found their just reward for their effort to win by the minimum difference, thus securing their ticket to the Liga MX Liguilla for the second consecutive tournament under Veljko Paunovic.
Special mention must go to the ChivaHermanos, who were the real player number 12 in the stands and gave El Rebaño the necessary strength to fight until the end, THANK YOU Fans!
El Rebaño, who retained fourth place overall with 27 points, will visit Pumas at CU on the last day of the Apertura 2023 Regular Season.
The Goal
- Piojo' Alvarado received the ball with his back to goal and was supported on the left flank by 'Pocho' Guzmán, who headed into the box and then played back to set up Yael Padilla, who cut back his marker and shot past the goalkeeper to send the ball ¡Pa'la jaula!
The dangerous ones
- At 3', 'Cone' Brizuela put in a cross, which 'Piojo' Alvarado headed for Ronaldo Cisneros at the far post, but his shot went just over.
- At 34', 'Guti' tried his luck from mid-distance with a low shot that the defense deflected slightly, but the goalkeeper was able to react and kept the shot.
- At 57', Brizuela reached the back line and put a delayed pass in search of 'Nene' Beltrán, who controlled in two stages and shot, but smashed the ball against the crossbar.
- At 70', the Red and White defense built a wall around the goal, as 'Wacho' first held a shot by Sepúlveda at point-blank range, but the ball was left alive and 'Tiba' appeared on the line to save the counterattack.
- At 78', 'Lalo' Torres received a rebound a few meters from the area and fired the ball as it came, but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
- At 80', 'Cone' put in a cross that the goalkeeper cut out before 'Pocho' simply pushed the ball into the net, but left it at the feet of Yael who attempted a lob that went over the goal.
Guadalajara 1-0 Cruz Azul
(Yael Padilla at 90'+5')
Referee: Adonai Escobedo González
Akron Stadium
Lineups:
Guadalajara: 23 Miguel Jiménez, 2 Alan Mozo, 3 Gilberto Sepúlveda, 45 Raúl Martínez, 26 Cristian Calderón, 28 Rubén González (29 Eduardo Torres at 75'), 15 Erick Gutiérrez (AM at 38') (5 Víctor Guzmán at 55'), 11 Isaac Brizuela (4 Antonio Briseño at 90'), 20 Fernando Beltrán (6 Pável Pérez at 90'), 18 Ronaldo Cisneros (207 Yael Padilla at 55') and 25 Roberto Alvarado.
Coach Veljko Paunovic.
Cruz Azul: 30 Andrés Gudiño, 4 Willer Ditta (AM at 90'), 24 Juan Escobar, 3 Carlos Salcedo, 15 José Rivero, 18 Rodrigo Huescas (29 Carlos Rotondi at 82'), 14 Alexis Gutiérrez, 5 Kevin Castaño (AM at 41')(29 Diber Cambindo at 77'), 19 Carlos Rodríguez, 9 Ángel Sepúlveda (AM at 67') and 7 Uriel Antuna.
Coach Joaquín Moreno.
