Leon completes second-half comeback extends win streak to 9
Monarcas Morelia hosted league-leading Leon to start the 12th week of play in the 2019 Liga MX Clausura. Monarcas could not have imagined a better way to start the first half as they took the early 1-0 lead against Leon in the fifth min of the game. After Morelia defender Alberto Acosta received a throw-in, he sent in a cross to the box from the right side of the field, and Leon defender Andres Mosquera slid to try to clear the ball but ended up miss-timing his slide and pushed the ball into his net for an own goal.
Morelia gained confidence after the first goal and in the tenth-minute shocked Leon as they developed a beautiful triangle play that left Carlos Ferreira in front of the Leon goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota, Ferreira then sent a sliding shot that makes it past Cota to extend the 2-0 lead for the team from Michoacan.
Los Panzas Verdes tried to find their footing the rest of the half but looked shocked as Morelia continued to play an incredible first half for a team who had not had a victory in the last five weeks of league play. Javier Torrente’s men continued to play a perfect game against the league leaders for the rest of the half containing most of the action in the midfield until the referee blew the whistle for halftime.
Leon sought to avenge their atrocious first half of play, and they started the beginning of the second half on the right foot. In the 53rd minute, Leon defender Fernando Navarro chipped a cross into the box, and Morelia goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa miscalculated his sliding challenge and saw the ball go past him and into the back net cutting the Morelia lead down to one.
Morelia tried to answer back in the 57th min as Morelia Defender Gabriel Achilier levitated over everyone during a corner kick and headed the ball with full force towards Cota’s left goal post, but the left foot of Navarro saved the goal and helped keep Leon’s deficit at one goal.
After their first goal, the league leaders controlled the game and did not want to let their foot off the gas as they seemed eager to get the tying goal and even the go-ahead goal. In the 64th minute, Leon was able to find their tying goal via a penalty kick was awarded after the referee was told to review the play at the Video Assistance Review (VAR). League-leading goalscorer Angel Mena was the man in charge to kick the penalty, and he sent a thunderous shot to the mid-upper area of the goal moving it past Sosa and tying the game at two apiece.
A visibly shaken-up Morelia could not generate the same plays they were able to in the first half and had not troubled Cota’s goal. That was until the 76th minute in which Rodolfo Vilchis sent a dangerous cross the from the right side of the field into the 18-yard box that Leon defender tried to clear but hit it back towards his goal over his goalkeeper and is luckily cleared away at the goal line by Mosquera keeping the game tied at 2-2.
Leon was finally able to claw their way back and complete the full comeback. Angel Mena received a pass which he was not able to control at first but then sent a shot from inside the half circle of the big box and sends it past the outstretched hands of Sosa to complete the comeback for Leon and take the lead 3-2 in the 82nd min.
Morelia could not generate any more clear opportunities towards Leon’s goal, and ultimately the league leaders showed their dominance as the referee ended the game after 94 minutes of play and Nacho Ambriz’ men take home the victory in the Estadio Morelos with a final score of 3-2.
Next week Morelia will seek to finally win their first game since the third week of play as they head out to Puebla to face Los Camoteros on Friday evening. The league-leading Panzas Verdes will head back home as they host to Necaxa next Saturday. Leon forward, Angel Mena added two more goals to his stats for this season putting him at a total of 10 goals as he remains the top scorer this season.
