Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente squandered a lead in front of their fans at Estadio Claiente and were beaten for the 10th time this season.
Pumas UNAM arrived at Estadio Caliente as the league leader and beat the Xolos 2-1.
Pumas forward Eduardo Herrera had three opportunities in the first 20 minutes, all of them were almost identical when time after time he found himself free and was able to send dangerous headers into Tijuana’s area. In the 25th minute he had another opportunity but goalkeeper Federico Vilar stopped his shot. In the 30th minute the Xolos surprised their rival when Chivas defender Jose Carlos Van Ranking made an error and this resulted in a free kick opportunity for the locals.
Midfielder Juan Arango executed the free kick and made it 1-0 when he sent a shot from almost 30 yards, the ball sailing above the wall of defenders and into the keeper’s unprotected right post to make it 1-0. In the 36th minute the Xolos could have increased their goal difference but striker Dayro Moreno missed a great opportunity when Arango sent his shot wide.
Club Tijuana let its opponent get back on it’s feet and six minutes later they paid the price when Herrera tied the game, he caught the defense off guard and jumped in front of a defender to send a header past Vilar for the 1-1 tie.
In the second half Moreno could have given his team an edge when he missed another considerable chance when he sent another shot just off target to everyone’s disbelief.
Minutes later Vilar almost surrendered another goal when he miscalculated the ball and the dangerous Herrera sent a cross inside the six yard box but his teammate, forward Victor Sosa, was unable to reach the ball to put it inside the goal.
In the 13th minute of the second half Sosa would put the final score to 2-1 in favor of Pumas when he sent a powerful shot to the keeper’s right for an excellent goal.
Later on the Xolos could have tied the game but the crossbar and the left post did not allow the team to make it even.
Interim coach Raúl Chabrand said that it would be very irresponsible to say it’s unfair that they lost since in this case they were unfortunate to score.
“There are of course some details that were not ideal but the attitude of the players, the intention, and the desire to want to succeed in this difficult situation for me is the most rescuing,” he said. “Right now it is a feeling of bitterness and disappointment but also ahead, are six points.”
