Pumas suffered more, but rescued this Sunday the important 1-0 victory against the Xolos de Tijuana, a result that catapulted them to the playoff zone, in a duel corresponding to matchday nine of the Apertura 2024 tournament of the Liga Mx, held at the Olympic University stadium.
The goal for the gold and blue team was scored by Ignacio Pussetto, in the 88th minute.
In this way, the feline squad added 16 points and rose to fifth place in the general classification. The team from Tijuana, on the other hand, remained in ninth place, with 14 points.
During the first part of the match, which was attended by the former player and coach of the auriazul team, Bora Milutinovic, as well as the current coach of the national team, Javier Vasco Aguirre, the home team threatened in the first minutes of the match with a header from Guillermo Martínez from the centre of the area, which was saved by the visiting goalkeeper, the experienced Jesús Corona.
Piero Quispe also tried to invade the goal line with a right-footed shot, but his shot went wide of the goal.
The team led by Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio responded in the 20th minute with a long-distance shot by Kevin Castañeda, which went just wide of the right corner; moments later, Domingo Blanco unleashed a shot from the left that also failed to cross the goal line.
Pumas did not lose heart and continued to stalk the goal of Chuy The match ended with a left-footed shot from Ángel Rico, a close-range shot from Nathan Silva that went just wide of the left post, and another powerful shot from Robert Ergas, but neither found the back of the net, meaning both teams went into the break without opening the scoring.
With the task of achieving victory at home at all costs, the feline team, led by the Argentine Gustavo Lema, began the second half of the match with great intensity.
A shot by Rogelio Funes Mori from the centre of the area, a header by José Caicedo and another shot by Memote Martínez was the first sign that the gold and blues would go all out on the attack in search of winning the three points that were up for grabs.
At the same time, the visitors were unable to trouble the university goalkeeper Julio González, as they were unable to create dangerous plays to approach the opposing area.
Given the vulnerability shown by the Tijuana team, Pumas continued to press in the opposing area, but their lack of forcefulness prevented them from taking the lead.
Memote Martínez had two clear goal opportunities in the 80th and 81st minutes, but he was unable to score. In the final stretch of the match, the Xolos coach was sent off, which disconcerted his players, who saw their goal fall moments later.
In his last attempt to get the victory, the feline coach brought Ignacio Pussetto onto the field to replace Quispe, in the 85th minute.
The change had the expected effect, as just three minutes later, at 88, the newcomer took advantage of a corner kick and headed the ball from close range into the right corner, thus finally, and to the relief of his fans, opening the scoring (1-0).
In stoppage time, the players and 12,000 fans of the gold and blue team, who were still celebrating the goal, received a scare: a shot by Xolos seemed to have entered the feline goal; however, the goal was not scored and the Pumas took the long-awaited victory.
#Pumas #suffers #rescues #victory #Xolos
– 2024-09-23 21:36:17
