Fansided

Monday night Liga MX play roundup

By Nestor Esquivel

MAZATLAN, MEXICO - JULY 27: Detail of the stands of team Mazatlan prior to the 1st round match between Mazatlan FC and Puebla as part of the Torneo Guard1anes 2020 Liga MX on July 27, 2020 in Mazatlan, Mexico. (Photo by Alejandro Avila/Jam Media/Getty Images)
MAZATLAN, MEXICO - JULY 27: Detail of the stands of team Mazatlan prior to the 1st round match between Mazatlan FC and Puebla as part of the Torneo Guard1anes 2020 Liga MX on July 27, 2020 in Mazatlan, Mexico. (Photo by Alejandro Avila/Jam Media/Getty Images) /
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What was great play through the opening weekend for Liga MX, turned into some lackluster games for Monday night soccer.

This Monday in Liga MX America took on Pachuca, Atletico San Luis took on Juarez F.C, and Mazatlan debuted against Puebla. Don’t forget Monterrey takes on Toluca tonight the 28th of July for their season openers, the game was postponed due to Hurricane Hanna.

PACHUCA, MEXICO – JULY 27: Miguel Herrera, Head Coach of America reacts during the 1st round match between Pachuca and America as part of the Torneo Guard1anes 2020 Liga MX at Hidalgo Stadium on July 27, 2020, in Pachuca, Mexico. (Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images)
PACHUCA, MEXICO – JULY 27: Miguel Herrera, Head Coach of America reacts during the 1st round match between Pachuca and America as part of the Torneo Guard1anes 2020 Liga MX at Hidalgo Stadium on July 27, 2020, in Pachuca, Mexico. (Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images) /

America 2-1 Pachuca: The score says the game was closer than what actually happened. Pachuca looked to be the better half in the first half but they both didn’t look that good. America’s Roger Martinez had the best chance at goal in the dying minutes of the first half, but it was taken care of by Pachuca’s keeper no issue. Pachuca ended the game with 53% possession but with only 3 shots on target compared to America’s 7. The second half is when the game kicked into gear with Pachuca was down to 10 ten men when Jorge ‘Burrito’ Hernandez was sent off for a bad tackle on Rodger Martinez.

Less than ten minutes later Roger Martinez heads into the box and attempts to shoot it when it’s blocked by a Pachuca defender, then Federico Vinas gets possession and finished beautifully passed Pachuca’s keeper, now America was up 1-0. Literally, after the goal America’s Santiago Caseres gets sent off with his second yellow. Then in the 87th minute, Sebastian Cordova goes down in the penalty box and it gets called a penalty that he finished well, America was up 2-0. The minutes after Pachuca got a penalty that they converted but it was too little too late to make the game 2-1. The biggest thing here for America is injuries. Players like Emmanual Aguilera and Andres Ibarguan injuries are worrisome for America but they managed to get the win but at what cost?

Atletico San Luis 1-1 Juarez F.C: Juarez played an amazing game and how they didn’t win when they had 14 shots with 5 on target compared to Juarez 7 shots in total and Juarez having almost 60% possession doesn’t seem like stats from a tie. Quality-wise the teams matched one another but the goal Atletico San Luis scored shouldn’t have been a goal, Juarez was slow and late to clear the ball and the goalkeeper looked like a deer stuck in the headlights giving the attacker a second chance at the same shot after fumbling the first attempt in the 9th minute by German Berter he didn’t miss the second attempt. Making the game 1-0, other than that the Juarez keeper was probably the man of the match.

Juarez managed to tie the game up in the 70th minute making the game 1-1 after a Bryan Rubio goal and they were looking like a threat to score for the whole second half. How Juarez didn’t score in the 77th minute was beyond me, but it looked like at any minute they would be up 2-1. Atletico did not look ready for the start of the season and was lucky to get one point out of it.

Puebla 4-1 Mazatlan F.C: Alright this final score is misleading. It’s almost like a team left their original home in another state and moved and put together a few players from that previous team gave them new uniforms, a new home in a majority baseball-loving state, and called it a day. Wait that is exactly what happened. Jokes aside it wasn’t that bad up until the 89 minute the game was 2-1. Mazatlan’s loan player Cesar Huerta had a great goal in between three Puebla players in the box and with his back turned to goal delivered maybe the best goal of the week. tieing the game up at 1-1 in the 36 minute. This was Mazatlan’s inaugural game in their home stadium “El Kraken”.

Afterwords Mazatlan gave up a penalty after the second half started and Puebla’s Daniel Arreola converted it. Puebla up 2-1 in the 56th minute and it wasn’t until the 89th and 92nd minute when Mazatlan would concede again and on that goal from the 89th minute the defending and goalkeeping was atrocious on the goal by Osvaldo Martinez from Puebla easily converted, it’s like Mazatlan didn’t even try and gave up. This led to the last goal in stoppage time in the 92nd minute by Amaury Ruiz. Further emphasizing this team has a long way to go before it catches up to its social media accolades and that’s something someone never wants to hear about their team, but it needs to be said.