Guadalajara Femenil grab 2 - 1 home victory over Tijuana

Guadalajara opened the Apertura 2022 with a victory over the Xolas de Tijuana on home turf.

The first 15 minutes saw a lot of action, including a goal from both sides. Chivas spent the first few minutes pressing up the field and Adriana Iturbide started creating problems for Tijuana in her first game with Chivas. All the pressure early on paid off for Guadalajara when Damaris Godinez sent a ball into the box and Michelle Gonzalez got her head on it to go up 1 - 0 in the 9th minute. It didn’t take long for Tijuana to equalize in the 11th minute as they sent in a ball towards Blanca Felix who initially blocked the shot, but then went over her head and into goal. After watching some replays, it looked as if the sun got in Felix’s face, preventing her from seeing clearly. However, that does not excuse the work Tijuana did to get the goal.

Things then went south for Tijuana in the 33rd minute when Yadira Toraya picked up her second yellow of the game and the Xolas were down to 10 players in the first half. The call was very controversial seeing as both her and Iturbide were tugging on each other leading up to the call. Being down a player did not seem to affect Tijuana as they were able to hold their own for the majority of the game.

While the Rojiblancas were more aggressive in the first few minutes, they seemed more flat the rest of the game. The Valenzuela and Iturbide duo had many chances but were not able to click for another goal. With more time given, no doubt these two will start connecting more. As the game went on it looked as if both teams were going to walk away from the game with a tie until Anette Vazquez was subbed on in the 80th minute. Two minutes after being subbed on, she sent a great ball to Valenzuela who was able to put it away to give Chivas the lead and ultimately the win.

Being down four starters and still managing a win is the best case scenario for Guadalajara. While they had moments of brilliance, they were flat most of the game. Tijuana had so many positive moments to take away from this game. Now, it’s time for both teams to move on and forward to next week’s games.