Game 7: Pumas 0 - 1 San Luis

 

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After the break for international games Pumas lost their unbeaten record in CU, losing to a first-half penalty from Tressor Moreno.

In an even encounter in the Olympic Stadium the 'gladiadores' (gladiators) of San Luis belied their poor away record to sneak past Pumas in Pedregal on Sunday. A good fifteen minute spell in the first half was enough to earn the points, with neither side showing any particular attacking flair throughout the game.

In the month when the UNAM is celebrating its 100th birthday, the afternoon began with one minute's applause for two Pumas stalwarts who died this week. Firstly Mauricio Peña, a member of the 1980-81 championship winning side and a coach with the youth teams in the 1990s. And secondly journalist, historian, man of letters and lifelong Pumas fan Germán Dehesa.

Pumas began with Dante López and Palencia up front with Cacho left on the bench. San Luis left out Peruvian Wilmer Aguirre due to an injury sustained on international duty. Both teams began with a supposedly solid 4-4-2 formation, but in the early moments Pumas were jittery at the back, with Fuentes nervously clearing to Arroyo in the first minute only for the referee to give a corner. In fact there were to be three San Luis corners early on as Palacios and Fuentes adjusted to the pace of the game.

In between times Dante contrived to miss what was to be the best chance of the game. Jehu Chiapas put in a nice cross from the left to the far post, where Palacios popped up to head across goal. Dante got to the ball first but spooned it onto the crossbar from a couple of yards out.  

Apart from this opportunity neither side was creating much, but after around 20 minutes San Luis finally began to apply a bit of pressure and for the next ten minutes they created havoc down Pumas's left flank where Fuentes continued to be at sea. Correa was able to put through ball after ball for Arroyo and Arce, and Arce forced a save from Bernal from a left-foot volley, while the veteran keeper also produced a magnificent one-handed stop to deny Moreno.

The Pumas centre-backs were drifting too far apart, principally because Fuentes was upfield too much, and finally the space was exploited. Arroyo got in behind Fuentes and the Pumas full-back challenged clumsily in the area. Tressor Moreno thumped the resulting penalty emphatically into the top corner and San Luis were ahead.

The away team tried to keep the pressure on after the goal, but little by little Pumas began to get back into the game. Leandro was playing wide left and he managed to get in a couple of decent crosses although the service to him was poor. Similarly Verón was providing attacking threat by pushing forward from defence at every opportunity. It was these two players that carried most threat, and Leandro hit just over after the ball fell to him on the edge of the area, while Verón headed straight at keeper César Lozano after a long cross from Jehu. The Potosinos keeper also did very well to keep out a Leandro shot on the stroke of halftime after the naturalised Brazilian was put through by López.

Nevertheless Pumas were lucky to get through to the break without conceding again. On the break Medina got away in the inside right channel and Bernal had to be quick to close down the angle.

Guillermo Vázquez clearly believed that the attack needed revitalising and he brought on Martín Bravo for Jehu Chiapas. The young Argentinian started in lively fashion down the left, as Leandro moved to a more central position. Once again it was movement from Verón and Leandro which was causing most difficulties. Palencia and Dante were disappointing and Cortés invisible. It was no surprise when Palencia and Cortés were withdrawn just ten minutes after the break as Cacho and young Oscar Rojas came on.

While the game was opening up in midfield, neither side was able to create clear chances. In the San Luis defence Alcántar, Hernández and Matellán were marking tightly and were well organised so that Pumas found space at a premium. The tone was set for the rest of the game, with Pumas edging forward without much conviction, and San Luis happy to sit back and take any opportunities that might arise on the break.

As it happened there were very few chances either end, with the only one of note falling to the diminuitive Bravo, who was unable to climb high enough to get over a header after a neat flick on from a Rojas corner. The nearest to incident involved Arroyo who managed to get himself booked for kicking at Fuentes and then taken off injured after twisting his ankle stepping on the ball.

Pumas were ultimately unable to get through a well-marshalled defence and so fall to their first defeat at home in this championship. They remain on 10 points, 4th in Group 3 and 9th overall. San Luis also move to 10 points and go 8th on goal difference.

Pumas: Bernal, Fuentes, Palacios, Verón, Velarde, Cortés (Rojas 56), Castro, Chiapas (Bravo 46), Leandro, López, Palencia (Cacho 56). Manager: Guillermo Vázquez

San Luis : Lozano, Alcántar, Hernández, Matellán, Medina (González 68), Ponce, Torres, Correa, Arroyo (Mares 85), Moreno (Maya 79), Arce. Manager: Ignacio Ambríz.

Goals
Tressor Moreno (28th minute, penalty) 0-1

Cards
Pumas: Yellow: Verón (for making a tackle, undeserved)
San Luis: Yellow: Arce (poor tackle), Arroyo (for kick on Fuentes)

Pumas Player Ratings

Bernal 8: Did nothing wrong and made a couple of fine saves, particularly one left-handed from Moreno.
Fuentes 4: Added nothing to the attack and was a liability in defence. Gave away the penalty.
Palacios 7: Did fairly well covering for Fuentes, and Verón when he went forward. Good header across for Dante's chance.
Verón 8: Possibly the best attacker and best defender on his team. A lot of movement going forward.
Velarde 5: Very little attacking flair, and looked out of sorts.
Cortés 5: Was completely anonymous. When he made a run he invariably cut inside into trouble.
Castro 5: Pretty quiet, and his partnership with Chiapas doesn't seem to work.
Chiapas 6: What you get from Chiapas: one or two sublime moments and quite a few errors.
Leandro 7: A lot of movement, but he was wasted on the left wing in the first half. Central to Pumas's best attacking efforts.
López 6: What you see is what you get. Clumsy but willing. One or two nice touches, but should have scored early on when he put Palacios's cross against the bar.
Palencia 5: Lacking in movement and didn't seem fully fit. Distant from most of the action.
Bravo 6: Enthusiastic participation but with very little end product. Worth a try down the middle with López, Cacho and Palencia all off form.
Cacho 5: Poor. Pumas fans gave him a break after his two goals against Puebla, but they may well be on his back again soon on this evidence.
Rojas 6: A promising player but like Chiapas can be mercurial.

Memo Vázquez 6: Has to be applauded for trying to instill a little more attacking flair into the team, and having faith in the young players.

Elsewhere in Mexico
After Mexico's 1-0 win over Colombia in Monterrey on Tuesday (thanks to Elías Hernández of Morelia's last minute goal on his debut), thoughts turned back to the local championship.

The surprise of the weekend was Querétaro's 5-2 thrashing of leaders Santos, Sergio Blanco the key figure with a stylish hatrick. Necaxa salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Toluca on Friday evening with a quality strike from Obed Rincón two minutes from time. Jaguares hammered Puebla 4-0 in Chiapas with a brace from Carols Ochoa, while Monterrey claimed the Monterrey derby against Tigres with a 1-0 win in the Estadio Universitario, Humberto Suazo grabbing the winner.

Chivas gained a 1-1 draw with Pachuca in the Estadio Hidalgo. Araujo opened the scoring for Chivas and Franco Faustino headed the equaliser in the second half. Cruz Azul continued their good run and moved to the top of the general table with a hard-fought 3-1 victory in Guadalajara against Atlas. Atlas are now bottom of the relegation table. Another club in trouble, Atlante, lost 1-0 in Cancún to Estudiantes in a game where both sides missed a penalty, the winner from Alberto Ramírez coming 5 minutes from time. Finally América gained their first win in 5 years in Morelia, as Guillermo Ochoa in the América goal found his form after a disappointing year. Vuoso and Layún got the goals in a 2-0 victory.

Cruz Azul top the general table from Santos and Monterrey, Cruz Azul heading group 3, Santos group 1 and América group 2.

Next up
Pumas play Estudiantes in Guadalajara on Friday night. Cruz Azul welcome Querétaro after their heroics against Santos, while Sunday's big fixture sees América travel to the Bombonera to take on Toluca.