Pumas got back to the victorious road after defeating Atlante by a 2-1 score. In a lively match, Pumas overcome some defensive mistakes to get victory in more than a month and temporarily climb to 9th place in the Liga MX standings. Pumas will travel north for their Wednesday clash against Santos Laguna in Torreon while Atlante will travel even further north as they face off against FC Juarez.
The 1st half started with Pumas coming out with Alan Medina taking the place of suspended Cesar Huerta. A great cross into the area from Eugenio Pizzuto was just cleared by Pablo Bennevendo before Eduardo Tercero could have had a close range header. A cross into the area would be cleared into the path of Jhojan Julio, who got off a right footed shot that forced a good save from Pumas’ goalkeeper, Keylor Navas. Rodrigo Lopez got off a right footed shot from way outside the area that went well wide. A great thru pass from Adalberto Carrasaquilla would get to Uriel Antuna, who got off a bad left footed shot that went wide, wasting a great opportunity. Luis Calzadilla got into the area and got off a right footed shot that went wide. A great run by Luis Puente ended with the ball getting to Julio, who got off a right footed that was brilliantly saved by Navas. Because of protesting, the referee would give a red card to Atlante’s coach, Miguel Herrera. A cross into the area was headed by Robert Morales into the path of Juninho, who volleyed the ball from close range past Atlante’s goalkeeper, Oscar Jimenez to score and give Pumas the 1-0 lead. A couple of minutes later, Luis Calzadilla was given time and space to get off a right footed shot in the area that went past Navas to score and tie the match at 1-1. Calzadilla would get off a right footed shot from outside the area that Navas would make another great save off. The 1st half ended as the match was tied in a very lively match.
The 2nd half started with neither team making a change so far. Pizzzuto got off a great left footed shot from outside the area that forced another save from Navas. Off a counter, the ball got to Antuna, whose right footed s hot was well saved by Jimenez. Pumas subbed out Alan Medina for Victor Arteaga. A cross into the area was headed well wide by Julio. Atlante subbed out Edgar Jimenez for Diogo Bagui. Off a counter, a great run from Carrasquilla ended with a wonderful pass to Juninho, who got off a left footed shot past Jimenez to score and give Pumas the 2-1 lead. Atlante subbed out Aaron Quiros for Christian Bermudez. A cross into the area was deflected into the path of Pedro Vite, who whiffed on his volley and wasted a chance. A cross into the area was deflected terribly by Ruben Duarte, forcing Navas to make a great save to prevent the own goal. Pumas subbed out Juninho for Alvaro Angulo. Atlante subbed out Eugenio Pizzuto and Eduardo Tercero for Joaquin Moxica and Jairon Charcopa. A longball looked like a good chance for Morales but Jimenez was able to clear the ball before he had a 1 vs 1 chance. Pumas subbed out Uriel Antuna for Santiago Lopez. The time ended and Pumas got a very important result to get back to their winning ways.
Pumas got a key victory after defeating Atlante on Friday night. The return of the clash between Mexico City teams had Pumas being at times lucky as although they had a lot of the possession, their defensive mistakes meant that Atlante had a lot of opportunities that goalkeeper Navas prevented from going to the scoreboard. Pumas showed some life at offense, something they had already done in their 3-3 tie on Sunday against Cruz Azul. A couple of dangerous counters by Carrasquilla showed that Pumas is bouncing back on offense but the same can’t be said about defense. Pumas will have another road match midweek when they travel north to face the fast improving Santos. Atlante will also go north as they play their first ever Liga MX match against FC Juarez in Ciudad Juarez on Tuesday.