MEXICO CITY (proceso.com.mx).–The Atlas received the Chivas at the Jalisco Stadium, this for the second leg of the quarterfinals of the 2022 Closing Tournament of the MX League. And, despite drawing 1-1 in this match, the Rojinegros took the series on aggregate 3-2 and settled in the semifinals.
The Sacred Flock fell 1-2 in the first leg, so a return match with great intensity was expected. However, in duels like these, mistakes are expensive, and goalkeeper Miguel Jiménez made one when at minute 15 he cleared a ball that fell in midfield and was recovered by midfielder Aníbal Chalá. The Ecuadorian found Julian Quiñones, who received with his back to the goal and initially enabled Julio Furch. The athlete attacker did not think twice and shot at goal, but the shot was contained by Jiménez.
Just four minutes after the locals’ first danger, the visitors had theirs. Roberto “el Piojo” Alvarado took advantage of a set piece after a foul in favor of his team to shoot at the fence protected by Camilo Vargas, unfortunately for the rojiblanco team, the ball hit the crossbar.
In addition to the post denying Chivas the goal, another problem added to his afternoon, as goalkeeper Miguel Jiménez had to come off the bench at minute 34, due to muscle discomfort. His place was taken by Raúl Gudiño.
Chivas continued looking for the rival goal and, at minute 43, José Juan Macías shot just outside the red and black area. His shot managed to be deflected by a sweep of the defense, however, this caused the ball to rise and dislodge Camilo Vargas. But again the crossbar prevented the goal. The rebound fell to Alvarado, who could not control it and lost a frank opportunity against the Colombian goalkeeper.
At minute 45+5, Aldo Rocha recovered a ball on the edge of the Flock area that the defense cleared poorly, and released a right hand that Gudiño managed to deny. Once again, the Chivas defense was unable to clear adequately. The ball returned to Rocha’s feet, the red and black captain filtered it to Chalá, the Ecuadorian defined with his left foot and scored the first goal of the match.
Throughout the complement, Chivas did not give up and tried to get the ball to end up in the rival nets, although their shots were unsuccessful. At minute 66, in a dispute over an aerial ball, Jeremy Márquez elbowed Sergio Flores, in the first instance the whistler admonished the Atlas footballer but, after reviewing the VAR, he sanctioned him with a red card.
It was until minute 88 when Guadalajara got the discount goal. This came when Macías managed to control a ball inside the small red and black area, the attacker managed to turn on his own axis to shoot with his left foot and leave Vargas without any option.
Despite the goal, Atlas prevailed 3-2 on aggregate and moved into the semi-finals of the tournament. With this result, only one more team is missing to complete the table for the final part of the contest. So America will face Pachuca and Atlas will play Tigres.
