Pumas defeats leader Santos in Mexico City

In a rainy Sunday morning, Pumas, who had the least goals against, faced off against a first place Santos who, opposite to the home team, have the most goals against. The game was expected to be entertaining due to the stakes for UNAM who had the opportunity to climb up into a play off position if they won, while Los Laguneros came off a victory where they scored five goals.

Michel, who is the head coach for the felines, made some changes in his starting lineup, which caught a few people by surprise. Juan Iturbe, who is always an important sub, was in the starting eleven which made it clear that Michel was searching for the victory right as soon as the game began. Los Universitarios struggled at first with a few opportunities that the team from Torreon made, but Alfredo Saldivar was solid in the back stopping any ball that came his way. It took awhile for Pumas to get into the rhythm of the game but when it finally happened, they were able to create opportunities that came close to ending in a goal. The first half ended with a 0-0 tie but with the promise of a good upcoming second half.

The second half started good for the Mexico City team who had a few opportunities with a cross from Pablo Barrera that Carlos Gonzales almost headered into the net. The first-place team was lost on the field and was not showing the same quality soccer they had been showing in past games. The only clear opportunity that Santos created was when Bryan Lozano hit the post in a shot that looked like a bad cross that almost ended well. UNAM’s hard work was rewarded in the 67^th minute when Juan Iturbe assisted Carlos Gonzales who executed the play with a powerful left footed shot that ended inside the goal. Michel’s squad kept attacking and came close to scoring again a few times, but Jonathan Orozco was able to block the shots. During the 4^th minute of overtime, Martin Rodriguez dribbled around Jose Vazquez who tackled him inside the penalty box, however the play was not clear for the referee right away and had to check VAR. In the 5^th minute of overtime the ref called a penalty kick that David Cabrera was able to score. The game ended in a 2-0 victory for Pumas who managed to beat the leader of the tournament and climb to 8^th place.

Next Saturday UNAM will visit Chivas, who is not in a good spot mentally and physically. Santos on the other hand visits Tigres in a complicated game.