Match preview: America visits Leon looking for a win

Club America travels to Guanajuato to face Leon after a disappointing loss that landed them towards the bottom of the table.

The beginning of Apertura 2022 has not been the best for America. The Aguilas currently find themselves in 15th place, with their only win of the season against Toluca, who are currently in second place. To be fair, the rest of the league does have one match in hand, seeing as America’s week five matchup against Santos was rescheduled for September.

The Aguilas are heading into Week 6 looking for a win after their loss to the Xolos of Tijuana, who got their first win of the season after defeating the visitors 2-0. America went down a goal early in the game after Tijuana was awarded a penalty in the ninth minute and maintained the lead going into halftime. The second half looked like it would be different, but it wasn’t. Tijuana doubled their lead in the 62nd minute and now America was forced to look for two goals just to at least have an equalizer. While America held most of the possession, Tijuana capitalized with the fewer chances they had. America had fewer than 10 shots, and only three of those were on target. Possession does not matter if no chances are created with it.

The start of the season is reminiscent of the start of Clausura 2022. In the first eight games America had only one win, three draws, and five losses. It was not looking good at all for them until Week 11, where they went on to win six games in a row that helped them make their way into the Liguilla where they eventually fell to Pachuca in the semifinals. Going into this week against Leon, there are only two points separating the two teams. The last time these two met was in a preseason friendly where America defeated Leon 5-2. Before that, they met in Clausura 2022 where America defeated Leon 2-0.

Is it too early to start ringing alarm bells or should people wait a few more games? Maybe, maybe not. The only thing certain is America needs to win this game. Head coach Fernando Ortiz was able to push the team from dead last and into the semis this last Clausura 2022. After that incredible run, Ortiz earned the head coach position but now, America looks like that same team from earlier this year. There is a lot of work to do and it starts against Leon.