The azulcrema team suffered a goal from Pumas during the first minutes, as well as the wall they built over their area during the rest of the duel.
America fell 0-1 to Pumas at the Ciudad de los Deportes Stadium, with a lineup that included a couple of important absences, little understanding between the lines and that was surprised by an auriazul wall that resisted its few offensive variants.
America Imago7
The azulcrema goalkeeper recorded three saves throughout the game and made no mistakes, but was ‘punished’ for the errors of his own defense in the play of the only goal.
The defender occupied the position as center back on the right in a line of three center backs and constantly suffered from the offensive presence of Robert Ergas, who took his measure and used said flank as an avenue to progress towards the azulcrema goal.
The axis of the defense was portrayed by Pumas on repeated occasions due to poor coordination with the rest of its line, late arrivals and errors in marking that impacted the scoreboard, in addition to being more concerned about fighting with César Huerta than rebuilding the game in the individual item.
The left back was enabled as a center back on said flank and suffered from this role, with defective rebounds and little harmony with his teammates to organize marking, such as the one that ended in Pumas’ 1-0. He came out for the second half and his place was taken by forward Brian Rodríguez.
The defender served as the right flanker and was responsible for controlling the extremes of the field, as he provided spaces in defense that Pumas exploited to constantly reach the last third of the field. In attack it did not generate much difference either, as it fell short in the routes and did not make any plays.
As the only interesting feature during the duel, Espinoza colorfully cut off a speed attack by César Huerta into the area on the left lane that showed hints of danger.
The midfielder carried out containment work across the width of the field to project Fidalgo forward and left a good feeling on the field, thanks to the fact that he gave both cadence and width to his team in the center of the field.
The midfielder evoked efforts to generate offensive play on the left side of the field, however, he was surprised repeatedly by the junior Ángel Rico, who matched him in the individual area and prevented him from developing his game comfortably.
The left winger spent 45 irregular minutes in that position, with momentum to face in the final third but little brilliance to execute. In the complement he was withdrawn in defense to give play to Brian Rodríguez and he did not do it in a good way either, as he missed even the simplest passes for the Uruguayan.
The offensive midfielder stood between the lines to look for spaces throughout the width of the field, however, the Auriazul defensive block behaved correctly, both in pressure and height, and remained in constant collision, as well as without spaces to execute with ease.
The forward provided little contribution in the progression of plays and, although he had two opportunities to finish with a goal, his definitions were poor. He gave arguments to be taken into account as a catalyst instead of a starter.
The attacker fought until the last ball with the opportunity to progress and tried for goal on a couple of occasions, however, the goal was denied during this match to one of the best azulcrema players on the field.
Substitutes
Brian Rodríguez (7) – Calderón
(46′) The forward entered the complement to correct Cristian Borja’s errors in attack and. Although the team improved substantially, it was impossible to break the Auriazul defensive solidity.
Kevin Álvarez (6.5) – Espinoza
(66′) The right back was also committed to correcting the spaces in that area of the field and Espinoza’s shortcomings against the rival attack.
Alejandro Zendejas (6.5) – Dávila
(67′) In just over 20 minutes, the attacker appeared sparingly on the pitch and only showed one deflected shot on goal.
Henry Martín (6.5) – Aguirre
(72′) The attacking axis touched the ball six times and went blank in front of goal.
Richard Sánchez (4) – Araujo
(73′) The midfielder entered to generate superiority in the center of the field and try to equalize, however, he lost his head in the final stretch of the duel and was sent off.
