After making a trip by land and avoiding major mishaps due to COVID infections-19, the Chivas de Guadalajara succumbed against a Pachuca that showed flaws and lack of adjustments in the rojiblanco team.
Marcelo Michel Leaño decided to line up the same players from day 1 after beating Mazatlan 3-0, however, in Hidalgo, things did not go as planned and Guillermo Almada sent his players to block all kinds of attempts from the start of the match.
With the defensive errors, the Tuzos were able to take advantage of a bad departure of Gilberto Sepúlveda, where Nicolás Ibañez stole the ball and assisted Víctor Guzmán to open the scoring for the 16′ minutes of commitment. From there, the locals blocked any attempted attack by the herd and kept them at bay.
Nervousness took over the Chivas. Minutes after the error in Sepúlveda’s exit, the central defender made another mistake in complicity of a hesitant Raúl Gudiño, who could not control a return of the defender and the goalkeeper himself could not avoid the herd’s own goal, making it 2-0 for the Tuzos at minute 36′.
The second half was less disastrous but insufficient in Michel Leaño’s plan in search of equality, after changing several players and giving entry to Roberto Alvarado officially debuting with Chivas, in addition, they entered Fernando Beltrán and Jesús Angulo, to give the rojiblanco team another face.
The team improved, even the first 15′ minutes of the second half were he noticed the technician’s change of mind. Ángel Zaldívar took advantage of an entry into the area and ended up causing a penalty that, at the time, was not sanctioned by the main referee, until the VAR He called for consultations and after the review he ended up decreeing the maximum penalty for Chivas.
Zaldivar himself was in charge of discounting the score and placing the match 2-1, after the cross shot to leave Óscar Ustari without an option. After the goal, the Chivas began to corner Pachuca, even at 79′ they were able to match the actions but could not score the tie.
By the end of the match, Guillermo Almada, Pachuca’s coach, was expelled for complaining to the referee and causing some discomfort in the Tuzos during the final stretch.
Las Chivas suffered their first defeat of the season after a debut that raised the expectations of all the Atletico fans. On the other hand, Pachuca achieved their second victory in the Clausura and on the next day they will visit Club León, while the herd will receive Querétaro on matchday 3.