Game 1(2007) Puma vs Chivas

Pumas vs Chivas

It was hot. Even hotter than I remembered it from last season and while the standard of football rarely matched the temperature in terms of sizzle and scorch, I was very happy to see Pumas win a point in the dying minutes against a Chivas side who seemed at times to have the technical edge, but played with a distinct lack of desire. When the season fixtures come out, every football fan looks through the list to find the dates of big clubs, so I was delighted to find the first game of the season listed as Chivas, the only Mexican team I had never seen live in two seasons.

There was a real party atmosphere inside the CU, with numerous old friends meeting up for this game, some to say farewell to the stadium and to the team for the unforeseeable future and others for another couple of months. Yet this party atmosphere didn’t last long, as after three minutes in typical Pumas fashion and after some shabby Wild West defending by one Deputy Castro, Omar B bagged. Omar B pasted the Deputy for pace and levered his scrawny frame around the corner to score one of the easiest of goals he'll get this season, albeit very well taken. Castro not so much cat napping as hardcore kipping on the job. Bernal still had his head in the Carribean.

My initial reaction was to blame Picolin, but seems those days have long gone. A collective feeling descended into the ground that even after three minutes the season may already be panning out to be a long and dark one. For the next fifteen minutes Morales ripped past Castro twice more and if it wasn’t for a bit of quality in his crossing and greedy little shot to himself, it could have been more. There were somone gapping holes in midfield and several missed tackles by Leandro and Espinoza without even a toe in, served to remind everyone in the stadium that Leandro and Espinoza match up at centre mid was new and fragile. Paco Palencia was ready for a bit dirty work and his graft in and around the box gave a glimmer of hope. Coming from Paco’s hard work the new boy Esteban Solari, brother of, had his first half chance. It was unfortunately shades of Chupa, rather than Marrioni, as his tame shot limped into the keeper’s hands, while he ordered a taxi.

Who was in midfield? Anyone?

By twenty five minutes however, we had settled and we had weathered the early exchange. A more advanced Leandro managed to get hold of the ball and Sambueza in particular showed several nice drops of the shoulder, but no legs to properly beat his man. Pumas started to want it more, but not enough for my liking. The random and aimless crossing of our sparkling midfield quartet never really troubled Chivas, but a good close shot from Espinoza woke everybody up and took Pumas in 0-1 down at half time.

“We’re always better shooting North.”

2nd Half
Half time saw the introduction of Scocco, much to the delight of the home fans and in particular Dave. His first contribution was a delicate piece of control outside the area followed by a wild hack into outer space, a few more wild hacks followed and then he gave up for the day. Leandro and Espinoza had moved up the pitch and were wining a fair share of there 50-50’s in midfield and tension was mounting but not it seemed any real sustained pressure by Pumas. The game descended into a sequence of good cover play followed by a very poor final ball. New season, same problems. By 70 minutes the beers had kicked in and the final 20 minutes were a bit of blur, needless to say we didn’t score until...

1-1

Luis Solari scored on his debut (which is nice) but really it was gift from some abstractly poor Chivas defending. I was glad he tucked it away in the 86th minute, showing a good degree of composure and fitness, yet saying this the lad clearly has no pace. Not that this is a problem for Pumas, as we have pace in abundance up front, in the portly shape of one P Palencia, who apparently washes down a light lunch with full English. A very static front two.

But a point! The ghost of relegation will haunt us for a season or two more but a point against Chivas at home I’ll take.

Ratings

Tuca – 7
Quick to see that Scocco needed to come on at half time. Kept his faith in the new boy for the equaliser, but has he been working with the defence in the close season?

Goals
3 Mins – Omar Bravo
86 Mins – Luis Solari

Crowd – Just over 50,000

Players Ratings

Bernal – 6
Could have done better on Omar Bravo goal?
Velarde – 6
Basic and effective nothing more
Moreno - 6
Edgey at times, needs time to settle into his new role at the club
Veron – 6
Good distribution, but needs to step up to be a leader
Deputy Castro – 5
Got well skinned a few times and was at fault for the goal
Sambueza – 6
Subbed but in my opinion offered a little bit more on the left than usual
Leandro – 7
No complaints, at least he looks liked he wanted it
G. Espinoza – 6
Subbed and looked nervous early, but is clearly more to come from him
Barrera – 5
Not very exciting and a bit too slow for a winger in my opinion
Palencia – 7
Battled and wanted it, but largely used as a medieval torture implement
Solari - 8
Bagged and showed good composure on his debut, but has no pace

Subs

Scocco (for Barrera 46) – 5 A bit light weight and wild hack on him today
Inguuez (for G.Espinoza 64) – 6 Fast, but shit
Chiapas (for Sambueza 75) - ? Couldn’t say too many beers by then, probably as shite as last season

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkHiJedRtNc