Ten-man América deny Pumas Clásico Capitalino victory

Club América denied Pumas UNAM their first Clásico Capitalino victory away from home since 2015 as Las Águilas held on to a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Azteca on Saturday.

Debutant Federico Viñas put the hosts in front in the 78th minute, but Pumas were quickly able to equalize moments later through Bryan Mendoza.

In the opening minutes, Las Águilas almost got a dream start when Henry Martin found himself unmarked inside the box but failed to properly convert following a rebounded shot from Guido Rodriguez.

But Club América’s early momentum against Pumas came to a premature end after only 17 minutes when Sebastian Cordova was sent off for a harsh tackle on Juan Pablo Vigon, leaving Las Águilas down to ten men for the rest of the match.

As expected, Miguel Herrera’s side allowed the visitors to run much of the rest of the first half, but apart from a wasted 1 v 1 opportunity from Carlos Gonzalez, Pumas didn’t really threaten.

At the restart, it was América who looked like the better side, with Renato Ibarra forcing Pumas goalkeeper Alfredo Saldivar to a good save.

In the 78th minute, just seconds after entering the field for his official debut with Las Águilas, Federico Viñas combined well with Jorge Sanchez before firing in the go-ahead goal for América.

Unfortunately for Viñas and his team, their joy was short-lived, and Bryan Mendoza unleashed a rocket from distance that settled into the back of the net for Pumas’ equalizer.

With the game wide open, both teams had a chance to win it late on, but at the end, it was a point for each team as América left as the happier of the two sides after going down a man early in the match.