Towards the duel for the title of the Concachampions, Rayados suffered their fourth consecutive defeat by falling 1-0 in compensation time against Necaxa, on matchday 15 of the 2021 Apertura tournament. The Monterrey team also missed the opportunity to return to the top four places by staying in the sixth place with 20 points. , while the Rays climbed to 12th place with 17 units.
With their eyes set on the final of the Concacaf, on Thursday against América, the Rayados went to the Monterrey stadium with an alternate squad, where the main reference in the attack was Duván Vergara, while Rogelio Funes Mori started, in an unusual way, On the bench.
The Rayados pressed at the beginning, although it was difficult for them to overcome the rear of Necaxa and on several occasions they lost the ball inside the rival area. The hydrocalids suffered a little more on offense and tried to take advantage of the set pieces.
The controversy came before the emotions, when Rodrigo Aguirre kneed Duván Vergara in the back. The locals demanded the expulsion, but after a review with the VAR, the whistling Luis Enrique Santander only showed the yellow card.
The Monterrey squad suffered a significant loss after Vergara left the game due to a concussion, so coach Javier Basque Aguirre sent Jacobo Reyes, who made his first division debut at age 21.
The VAR reappeared in the 66th minute when the Rayos requested a penalty for a foul by Alan Montes, but in the review the whistler marked a previous infraction by Facundo Batista on Stefan Medina.
When the duel seemed finished, Rodrigo Aguirre appeared with a header and in a corner kick he sealed the goal that gave the victory to Necaxa, leaving the basement.
Due to an error, Puebla fell 1-0 to León, who approached the direct qualifying zone. The emeralds reached 22 points to climb positions while the poblanos remained in the 10th place with 18 units.
León took the initiative at the Cuauhtémoc stadium, but his plays were cut off by the defense of the locals. In contrast, the poblanos bet on the counterattack and Maximiliano Araujo sent a shot that was saved by Rodolfo Cota.
The duel was tough and the clearest play of the emeralds was when Osvaldo Rodríguez swept away to send a shot, but the ball passed by one side of the goal. Ángel Mena missed an opportunity by rescuing the ball in front of the nets and launching a high shot.
León’s squad was insistent and Ángel Mena sent a cross that Víctor Dávila finished off with a popcorn to reach the nets, but after an order from the VAR the goal was annulled out of place.
However, the goal would come soon. Omar Fernández sent a cross, Juan Segovia failed in an attempt to steal the ball and sent it to his own goal to give the rival the advantage, in the 66th minute.
The duel worsened for the poblanos, after Lucas Jaques was sent off at minute 79. León continued to stalk and was close to the goal, but goalkeeper Silva was attentive.
