Morelia split points with 10 man León

Monarcas Morelia drew 1-1 Sunday night against sixth seated Club León at the Estadio León. Two first-half goals from both sides saw the game be a high pace, back and forth affair until the second half where no one could put away their chances. Even with León going a man down with 10 minutes to play, Morelia could not take advantage. As the Apertura regular season comes closer to its end, a draw leaves both Morelia and León with a bittersweet taste as an opportunity to move up the table was lost.

Morelia would open the scoring in the 19th minute after some early pressure from León in the opening minutes. A deflected, low, driven shot from Edison Flores would find its way to Gabriel Achilier as he headed the ball into the open net. 1-0 to the Michoacanos.

Monarcas looked dangerous after they scored as the ball would not leave León’s half. However, the home side wouldn’t go down without a fight as they equalized in the 34th minute. A Jean Meneses golazo from the edge of the box that beat Morelia keeper Sosa would bring the home side back in it. It was 1-1 with everything to play for in the second half.

It was truly a tale of two halves as both teams bunkered down defensively in the second half compared to the high pace action of the first half. Both sides still created half chances throughout with the clearest chance falling to León’s Jose Macias in the 71st minute. 

A red card in the 77th minute given to León midfielder Jown Cardona would put the home side down a man after the initial foul was reviewed on VAR. Still, with a little more than 10 minutes to play, Morelia would not take advantage. The game would end 1-1 after both sides unsuccessfully pushed for a winning goal.

León is back in action Saturday as they take on Toluca at home. Morelia returns home to face Puebla on Friday.