América defeated Cruz Azul 1-0 on matchday 9 of Liga MX in a match that for André Jardine should have ended 3-0 in the first half and which had several goals disallowed.
“I liked the way we won, but in the first half we should have finished at least 3-0, we should have killed the game in that first period, although we failed several of the options we created,” said the Brazilian coach.
Julián Quiñones scored the goal in the 4th minute and opened the scoring. In the 7th minute, Quiñones increased the difference and then in the 22nd minute, but both scores were disallowed due to offside.
Jardine highlighted that Cruz Azul improved in the second half thanks to their coach and they had to withstand the attack of the Cement Machine.
“In the second period Cruz Azul improved, I congratulate Anselmi because he is doing a very good job, but we, With the counterattack as a weapon, we remained dangerous and at the back we were very organized with a solid defensive approach,” he explained.
The victory against one of the Águilas’ bitterest rivals, the Brazilian pointed out, is important because it strengthens the confidence of his team and that of the fans.
“They had doubted us, that is why this victory is important. It’s not an excuse, but we have worked with a lot of work, with injuries and illnesses of several players, but America is here,” he noted.
With the victory, América reached 18 points and climbed to fourth position in the Clausura. In the tournament they have five wins, three draws and one loss.
Martín Anselmi is proud of Cruz Azul despite the defeat
The Argentine Martín Anselmi, coach of Cruz Azul in Mexican soccer, stated this Saturday that he was proud of how his players put pressure on the champion América despite the fact that they fell 1-0 on the eighth day of Clausura 2024.
“America has very high-ranking players and despite that we went out to press them, to look for the goal. “I feel proud of my players because we always went forward, we created everywhere, but we didn’t find the goal,” said the coach at the end of the game.
Anselmi acknowledged that his team was outmatched in the first half of the game, but praised the way he corrected to get his rival into trouble.
“We had to take risks because we have a somewhat short squad, that caused us to leave heads-up behind, but we had to take risks and as soon as we settled in we took over the game and we didn’t stop going forward,” he explained.
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