Monterrey left it late, but were once again victorious in tonight’s match against Lobos BUAP, which was played at the house of the annoying wolf howl, the Estadio Olimpico BUAP.
Monterrey opened the match with some good pressure on Lobos BUAP, as the home team looked to gain footing in the match. Luis Madrigal went close twice in the first ten minutes, as a cross from the right hand side was just over his head in the Lobos BUAP box. Moments later, he was set free with only the keeper to beat after a backheel from Rodolfo Pizarro. But Pizarro’s touch was a bit heavy and Madrigal couldn’t reach the ball before the keeper was able to gather it with a very courageous sliding tackle in his own box.
| Aquí el G⚽️⚽️⚽️L de Celso Ortíz con el que abrimos el marcador en el Olímpico de la BUAP. ¡ExCELSO! #VamosRayados #OrgulloDeSerRayado pic.twitter.com/mdzsNGmTel
— Rayados (@Rayados) August 23, 2018
Monterrey scored the opening goal of the match on a broken play in the box. Madrigal had a shot blocked, only for the ball to fall to Pizarro, who also had a shot blocked, and after Lobos failed to clear the ball AGAIN, Celso Ortiz’s shot took a wicked, looping deflection over the Lobos keeper. Well deserved goal from los Rayados after some truly shocking defending from Lobos.
| ¡Riflazo de Dorlan Pabon! ⚽️ #VamosRayados #OrgulloDeSerRayado pic.twitter.com/X5ntAJN1qc
— Rayados (@Rayados) August 23, 2018
Dorlan Pabón came close a few minutes later with a rocket of a shot from outside the area, but the shot went just over.
Monterrey continued to dominate possession with out a ton of chances. They continued to make it difficult for Lobos to have anything resembling continued possession in the middle third of the pitch, and Lobos found attacking movements very difficult to get anything going.
Halftime came with the score 1-0 to Monterrey and with the game well in control for los Rayados.
Lobos BUAP had a couple chances within the first five minutes of the second half by bombing long balls over the top to defeat Monterrey’s high line, but Leonel Vanigoni was able to get back to stop one and the other ball was dealt with quiet well by Balovero.
Madrigal should have scored from an open shot on goal after Hurtado was fouled on the edge of the box, but his shot was taken too quickly and with too much pace and flew into the stands.
Lobos showed some life, as Monterrey turned the ball over in midfield and a Lobos player was free on goal, only for Vanigoni to track back and put in a truly magnificent tackle to deny a shot on goal and put the ball out for a corner kick that was poorly taken by Lobos.
Pabón had a good opportunity in the 57th minute, but his open shot was more difficult than it looked and the Lobos keeper did well to get into position to deflect the powerful shot.
Pizarro had two shots right on goal around the 63rd minute. The first was a wonderful chance that happened after Stefan Medina had put a low cross into the box and was controlled and taken well by Pizzaro, but he was only able to get his shot right at the keeper. The second shot was taken from a similar spot, only for the ball to once again go straight to the keeper.
Monterrey again played with fire, as Barovero looked beat, only for a defender to come back and bail him out. Pabón looked to be taken down by a Lobos player as he was set to run into space and free on net, but the referee thought that the infraction deserved a yellow card.
Colin Kazim-Richards has scored his 1st #LigaMX goal, the equalizer for #LobosBUAP against #Rayados.
— Jason Foster (@JogaBonito_USA) August 23, 2018
As far as I can tell, he has now scored in 12 (!!!) different leagues.
Quite a unique career for the ultimate globe-trotting journeyman.#LigaMXEng pic.twitter.com/GQsm8NQvZz
Luis Madrigal was replaced by Jesus Gallardo in the 71st minute, and soon after, Lobos drew level after Barovero could only deflect a shot on net, and the well-traveled Colin Kazim-Richards scored on a diving header.
Kazim-Richard’s career has taken him from Bury, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Blackburn Rovers in England, Celtic FC in Scotland, Fenerbache, Galatasaray, and Bursapor in Turkey, Feyenoord in the Netherlands, Toulouse in France, Olympiacos in Greece, and Cortiba and Corinthians in Brazil, and now to Liga MX with Lobos BUAP.
⏱ 78' | #LobosBUAP 1-1 #Rayados | ¡Por poco! Dorlan Pabon disparó y el esférico pasó por un lado del arco de #Lobos.#VamosRayados#OrgulloDeSerRayado ⚪
— Rayados (@Rayados) August 23, 2018
Rayados came close to a winner in the 78th minute as Pizarro dribbled through practically the entire Lobos defense and picked out a pass to Pabón, only for Pabón’s powerful shot to skim just outside of the post.
Nico Sánchez to the rescue again for #Rayados! He headed in the stoppage time winner to beat #LobosBUAP 2-1, the second consecutive game that he's scored the winner. The centerback now has 4 goals in #Apertura2018!#VamosRayados #LigaMX #LigaMXEng pic.twitter.com/XRkpnE2p3H
— Jason Foster (@JogaBonito_USA) August 23, 2018
And just when you thought that this match was going to end 1-1 and los Rayados would have a long ride back to Monterrey, kicking themselves over dropping two points in a draw to Lobos BUAP in a match that they dominated, Nico Sanchez scored a header from a corner kick in the second minute of stoppage time. It had to be Sanchez, who now has four goals this season. What a goal by Sanchez and what a last-minute comeback for the win.