For Cruz Azul it will be worth seeing the glass half full or quite the opposite, because at first glance the 0-2 with which they defeated the UNAM Pumas at the university students’ own home, It makes one think that the league series is almost defined, however after seeing how the sky blue missed at least three more very clear goal options, the score seems very poor, especially remembering the four-goal comeback that the cats made against the cement workers themselves in the semifinals of the Apertura 2020 tournament.
Cruz Azul really should have torn apart the cats led by the Argentine Gustavo Lemabut he practically missed three clear goal options generated by the Uruguayan Ignacio Rivero, Uriel Antuna and Ángel Sepúlveda, which allowed the Pumas goalkeeper, Julio González to become the hero of the match, washing away his mistake in the first goal of the match scored by Uruguayan Rivero himself.
The cement producers really had their rivals in their grip. First they tied them up with their constant pressure on the field of playgiving them the initiative of the match, but launching dangerous counterattacks to take the lead in the 25th minute that gave them control of the actions.
Pumas, for their part, were never able to find themselves as a team on the field of play and wanted to win individual battles that made César Huerta, Rogelio Funes Mori, Piero Quispe and the Argentine Leonardo Suárez, did not have the necessary impact to cause damage.
Cruz Azul played the game in the style that suited him, with touches, without pressing the accelerator and containing the cats, who struggled to reach the goal of Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier, but without causing damage, above all for that defense armed by Carlos Salcedo, Gonzalo Piovi, who, upon reappearing after dislocating his right clavicle, reaffirmed the sobriety of the defense, complemented by the Colombian Willer Ditta.
The machine failed at the right time
While it is true that in the second half, instead of seeing a furious reaction from Pumas, the game continued to be controlled by Cruz Azul who reinforced his control of the actions with the 0-2 scored by the Argentine Lorenzo Faravelli, that practically broke the game and generated a change in the felines’ style on the field.
Especially because they had to take risks up front and left gaps for the cement players. They should have taken advantage like Uriel Antuna, Ignacio Rivero and Ángel Sepúlvedawho had the great opportunity to increase the score, but their arrivals caused Pumas goalkeeper Julio González to wash away his mistake of the first goal by saving the three dangerous actions.
Pumas, instead of being “killed” by a rival who surpassed them in everything, were left dying and with the light of hope to repeat the history of the Apertura 2020 tournament when they lost the first leg of the semifinal 4-0 at the Azteca Stadium and in the second leg at CU they returned the dose to the cement producers with the same score for advance to the final due to their best position in the table.
Now to move forward in the league, the Pumas will have to score three goals, since Cruz Azul in the event of a 2-2 tie on the aggregate scoreboard would be the team that manages to move forward.
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