El Clasico Capitalino Ends In A 1-1 Draw

America and Pumas faced each other in The Clasico Capitalino (Capital Derby) during the final Saturday match of Apertura 2019, week 9.

A game that promised to create a great show on and off the field and it did not dissapoint. Within the first 15 minutes, both teams threatened with opportunities on goal the clearest coming from Pumas in the 11th minute off a free-kick that fortunately for Piojo Herrera’s team, Guido Rodriguez was able to clear the ball right in front of the goal.

In the 17^thminute Las Aguilas found themselves in early trouble and down one man after Sebastian Cordova went in for a very hard challenge that could have broken the ankle of the pumas player and Cordova was shown a red card.

For the rest of the first half Pumas would try to capitalize on their extra man advantage but could not penetrate the Aguilas’ defense, and both teams ended the half with a scoreless draw.

At the beginning of the 2nd half, America began as if they were the team with an extra man on the field as they pressured Pumas. In the 53rd Renato Ibarra was able to dribble his way into the box and found himself with a one-on-one opportunity to break the tie but send a shot straight to the chest of Pumas goalkeeper, Alfredo Saldivar.

In the 78^thminute America’s newest player Federico Viñas entered the game and not even a minute after stepping on the field he gave Las Aguilas the 1-0 lead. 

Just two minutes later in the 80^thminute Pumas equalizes the score after Bryan Mendoza sends a shot from outside the big box and it seems that Guillermo Ochoa miscalculated his dive and the ball goes underneath his body and into the net.

The final 10 minutes of play saw both team with opportunities to score what could have been the winning of the game but unfortunately neither team was able to convert and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Notes: Giovani Dos Santos entered as a sub in the 60th minute, his first game in since Aug, 11th.