By Edgardo Avelar
The UNAM Pumas They were unable to exploit their great football power in the first leg of the semifinals of the Clausura 2026 tournament, but in the end they reduced the damage to a minimum during their visit to the Hidalgo stadium by allowing Pachuca could only win with a goal difference.
In this way, the return duel is open for next Sunday in Ciudad Universitaria, in where the cats led by Efraín Juárez must overcome the goal disadvantage to be able to advance to the grand closing and that is where the interesting part of the second duel between gophers and felines lies.
Because so far the goal of the Dutch naturalized Moroccan Oussama Idrissi has Eduardo Solari’s team with one foot in the final, but the key will be to stop the high volume of offensive play by the Pumas team, which in this tournament demonstrated great power in its stadium.
Idrissi made the only score of the match, after a short corner kick, in which they made a prepared play and with a great right-footed shot from outside the area, which was deflected along the way and Keylor Navas could not react.
Pumas did not hide from the beginning that they preferred to wait for the game with a more reserved approach than the one they used against América by leaving Uriel Antuna and the Brazilian Juninho on the bench, using Pablo Bennevendo and Antonio Leone.
It could be said that this way of defending did not correspond to the philosophy of the Pumas, but in the end the end justifies the means, although it could not be said that Pachuca is already ruled out of advancing to the final, especially because it has offensive men capable of changing the destiny of any game.
In this Thursday’s match, Kennedy and Oussama Idrissi were the generators of the greatest danger options, but in the end the flirting cThe danger came cheap for the Pumas for the return duel on Sunday in CU.
At minute 38 came the reward for the Tuzos’ pressure on the university students. First, Pablo Bennevendo gave away a corner kick, and Keylor Navas later did the same; the people of Hidalgo received short pay and Oussama Idrissi sent a great shot that was deflected by the Pumas saga and the Tico goalkeeper could do nothing.
Pumas changed in the second half with the entry of Juninho and with this they gained liveliness, to the degree of which generated the expulsion of Eduardo Bauermann when the Brazilian swept and stopped the university attack. Ismael López had only cautioned the center back, but the VAR called him and after reviewing the action, sent him off for missing a clear scoring opportunity.
Despite the expulsion, Pumas could not tie the match, while the Tuzos held back a bit in defense. Time was already very short and there was no time for more and residents of the capital and Hidalgo They left a very open series for the Vuelta and define the team that advances to the great Clausura 2026 Ideal.
Continue reading:
– Pumas eliminates América in a vibrant Clásico; Henry Martín misses a decisive penalty in the closing stretch
– Henry Martín lights up the duel vs. Pumas, when criticizing the ways of trying to win at the table
– The Pumas let the Águilas live in the Azteca and everything will be defined in the return
