Leon beats lowly Veracruz and remains at the top of the table
Round 11 of Liga MX concluded as the hottest team in the league hosted the second-worst team in the tournament in Estadio Leon Sunday night. Leon is riding a seven-game winning streak while conceding one goal in that stretch looked to stay at the top of the standings as it played a Veracruz who had not won a match in Liga MX in their last 20 games.
Coming into the game, Los Tiburones had the worst offense in the league; scoring only four goals all season and were about to battle a defense who had only allowed six.
Las Panzas Verdes came out as the superior team showing their dominant style of play from the start. A dangerous cross into the box in the ninth minute gave midfielder Jean Menenes an opportunity to head it back towards Ángel Mena, who kept it in play, gave it back to Menenes and he placed it beautifully to give the home team 1-0 lead.
Leon continued to keep the pressure on Los Tiburones Rojos defense. In the 16th minute, Joel Campbell receives a dangerous cross in the penalty spot, but Sebastián Jurado, Veracruz’s keeper, was there to protect the net without any trouble. Joel Campbell came up the left side in the 32nd minute, crossed it to Menenes, but the midfielder couldn’t control it, and it deflected off the defender, but it would not get passed the Veracruz goalkeeper Jurado.
Ambriz men kept the pressure and would not let up. Fernando Navarro put the ball into play in the 41st minute giving Jose Macias the opportunity to jump up between two defenders and headed it into the goal marking his sixth goal of the tournament and gave the home team a comfortable 2-0 lead at the end of the first half.Los Verdiblancos dominated the first half having 68 percent of the possession with eight shots attempts, four on target. Los Tiburones Rojos tried to answer back, but the best defense in the league was too much as it held them to only one shot on goal.
As the second half got underway, Siboldi’s men tried to answer back and apply pressure on Los Panzas Verdes defense. The effort was there; they created opportunities trying to put the ball into play via crosses but failed to get anything going. The second half belonged to the dominant and superior Club Leon. A set play in the 53rd minute for Leon put the ball into play that went over the defense, but 21-year-old Jurado cleared it out of harm’s way. Campbell came down the right of the field in the 56th-minute, cut into the middle and struck a shot on goal, but the young keeper blocked it as a defender cleared it out of danger.
Campbell, the most valuable player of the match and J.J Macias, set up a beautiful give-and-go, Campbell got it back just outside the box and blasted it to the goal but went wide right in the 60th minute. Mena who assisted in the first goal controlled a ball down the left side in the 68th minute with plenty of time to create a chance but settled on a direct shot on goal where Jurado saved the road team from going down three goals. In the final minutes, Los Verdiblancos played as if they were the team that was down 2-0 giving Los Tiburones defense no rest. They kept the pressure on but failed to tally their third goal of the night.
With the loss Los Escualos have lost 21 straight league games and is the only team this season to not see a victory. Under the old format of La Liga MX Veracruz would be among the teams to descend into the second division. The fact that they can pay 120 million pesos to avoid relegation to the second division is a disgrace to the league, pointing out organizations like Veracruz that show no urgency to improve their season as they technically are no longer playing for anything.
