Club América and Club León finish scoreless as Giovani dos Santos makes Liga MX debut

Club América and Club León played to a scoreless draw Saturday at the Nou Camp as two of the best teams in Mexico squared off in just the second week of the 2019 Liga MX Apertura.

León had the shooting edge in the first half, with Angel Mena and Joel Campbell both having dangerous chances inside the box. Their best opportunity came in the 44th minute when a William Tesillo long-ball found the feet of Angel Mena, who forced Agustin Marchesin to a good save.

The second half was far from routine, particularly on the match official’s side. First there was shouts for a penalty when Paul Aguilar seemed to have handled the ball inside the box early into the second period. Then, after Las Águilas picked up the tempo, a penalty was called when Roger Martinez was tripped inside the box. However, after further review with the help of the VAR, Roberto Garcia Orozco controversially deemed that there was more than enough evidence to overturn the call.

In the 75th minute, Giovani dos Santos stepped foot in place of Roger Martinez, in what would be Gio’s first career minutes in Liga MX since his move to Las Águilas.

Moments later, León almost broke through following a scramble inside the box, but once again Agustin Marchesin was there to make a save.

With eight minutes left in the match, Fernando Navarro was sent off for a clear studs-up tackle on Jorge Sanchez, leaving León down to ten men.

América nearly capitalized on their man advantage when Rodolfo Cota had to make a spectacular save on Renato Ibarra, but at the end, both teams had no choice but to settle for a goalless draw.