By Edgardo Avelar
The Chivas de Guadalajara They were unable to exorcise their demons at home during the visit of the Red Devils of Toluca. The Sacred Flock fell with a two-goal deficit in a match where the red and white team, led by the Argentine Gabriel Milito, He ended up paying dearly for his own precipitation on the pitch.
The Mexican team once again established itself as a real tough nut to crack, completely deciphering the Guadalajara strategy and making Guadalajara look like a team with few offensive resources. This exhibition left aside the optimism generated by the preseason work; a reality very different from the certainties shown during the last tournament, in which the Chivas maintained an enviable competitive level.
First a controversial penalty that opened the scoring with the score by Alexis Vega and then the rigorous expulsion of Luis Romo, which helped to decide the fate of Guadalajara in the rest of the contest.
The physical facet and performance peaks
It was a duel where Toluca knew how to capitalize on the rival’s physical advantages. The national teams Luis Romo and Roberto Alvarado made evident the lack of rhythm derived from their late incorporation to the preseason. This disconnection caused Guadalajara to suffer marked peaks in performance: moments of lucidity where they put together good footballsuddenly interspersed with technical imprecations of gravity.
The debacle began to brew in a defensive inattention that Alexis Vega did not forgive. The scarlet captain advanced the visit by taking a maximum penalty with the cold blood of the ‘Panenka’ style; a genius that revived in the fans’ memories that collection by Gonzalo Pineda in the 2005 Confederations Cup against the Argentine goalkeeper Germán Lux.
Red-and-white impotence and the last thrust
That goal worked as a direct impact to the heart of Chivas, who from that moment seemed to emulate the frustration of the Mexican team in those round of 16 World Cup finals against England. Gabriel Milito’s pupils got tired of putting pressure on the rival area, but they made mistakes in their forms and paths in an identical way to what happened at the time to Javier Aguirre’s tactical trident.
Although the Guadalajara team took over the boundaries of the choricera area, they lacked the necessary clarity to fracture the defensive wall imposed by the Uruguayan Federico Pereira and Everardo López in the central defense, complemented by due to the coverage of Santiago Simón and the deployment of Jesús Gallardo on the sides.
When the local siege seemed more intense, Toluca found the key to put an end to the red-and-white illusions. In a dizzying takeover led by the Brazilian Helinho, Jesús Gallardo resolved the play like great people, crossing a powerful left-footed shot that beat Raúl Rangel to decree the final 0-2 on the scoreboard.
Continue reading:
– Chivas welcomes its new reinforcements: Jordan Carrillo and Kevin Castañeda
– Chivas disarmed the Pumas attack by snatching Jordan Carrillo from them
– Cruz Azul and Pumas will relive the last on the eleventh date of the new Apertura 2026 tournament
