Mexico City. Each Pumas-Cruz Azul is a riot of color, noise and energy. It has a greater meaning than other smaller matches, because its consequences leave a mark on the future of any team, much more so in a league. La Maquina took a firm step towards the semifinals today: they won 2-0 in the first leg of the Liga Mx quarterfinals and left the UNAM team almost on the edge of the precipice at the Olimpico Universitario stadium.
In the midst of an atmospheric environmental contingency due to ozone, the entire display of fireworks, sets of lights and flags of the same color showed the essence of this type of scenario. “It is recommended to postpone outdoor, sporting, cultural events or mass shows,” the Megalopolis Environmental Commission reported in a bulletin, although very few of the 40,418 fans who gathered found out.
Ignacio Rivero scored 1-0 at 26 minutes, in a play in which goalkeeper Julio González went wrong for the ball, collided with Adrián Aldrete and allowed the Uruguayan to hit the first post, in the middle of a lost university defense.
If Mexico City set a record for maximum temperature by registering 34.3 degrees Celsius, Rivero’s goal was a huge box of ice for Pumas. Half an hour into the game was about to end when La Rebel, the Auriazules’ main entertainment group, began to shout loudly, “Daaale, Puuumas, come on, come on, ooooh!” Coach Gustavo Lema listened to him as well as his team, but La Maquina, who defended without any entanglements or bad tricks, did damage again at the right moment.
This time what made the difference was the talent of Rodrigo Huescas, who with his speed left at least three university elements behind and, right on the edge of the crescent, delayed the ball so that Lorenzo Faravelli defined the 2-0 right (57). The Uruguayan midfielder had the complicity of a deflection by young Jesús Andrés Rivas, with which goalkeeper González could not follow the trajectory of the ball.
The Machine was able to make the first leg a consecrating night in the final minutes. However, the failures of Uriel Antuna, Ángel Sepúlveda and Nacho Rivero allowed the cats to stay alive in the tie, although forced to win by more than two goals on Sunday at the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium.
“You have to have a lot of moderation”: Anselmi
Amid the joy over the result, Cruz Azul coach Martín Anselmi stressed the risk his team may take by assuming that the tie is resolved ahead of time.
“You have to have a lot of restraint. Pumas has very quality players,” he said at a press conference. “We have to be in the present. If we go out to play a game thinking about the clock, in the future, we are going to do things wrong. The result does not determine anything in that sense.”
On the other hand, Pumas helmsman Gustavo Lema considered that the difference in the game was made by mistakes. Despite the obligation to win by three goals in the second leg, he stressed that his players do not need any extra message of motivation to achieve it.
“We made mistakes and we paid dearly for them. Later, Cruz Azul forgave us. We are there, with all the enthusiasm. Very soon we will have revenge, we are alive. The players are eager, that motivates me. There is no need to pick them up,” he concluded.
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– 2024-05-19 11:14:09
