Match Preview: America Femenil vs Leon

America travels down to Leon after a frustrating 1 - 0 loss at home a week ago.

America welcomed Tigres to the Estadio Azteca on a rainy Monday night in what was a very exciting game. After a slow start to the season, Tigres are looking like themselves after missing key players in the beginning of the season. The game started off with the clearest chance America had all game, when Katty Martinez pressured the Tigres defense and only had to put the ball past goalkeeper Ceci Santiago. Unfortunately, Santiago was there to make the stop and Martinez missed an early opportunity to put the Aguilas up a goal. Next, it was Scarlett Camberos who sent her shot wide and hit the side of the net. She had two other shots like this later in the game. Tigres made America pay in the 14th minute when defender Janelly Farias weakly passed the ball back to Itzel Gonzalez and Mia Fishel capitalized on the mistake, scoring the lone goal of the night. The rest of the game was the same with America having opportunities to equalize, but the Tigres defense rising to the occasion everytime. The Amazonas held on to the very end and handed America their first loss of the season.

America and Leon have faced each other seven times in the past. America won four of those games and they tied three of them. In those seven games, America has outscored Leon 13 to 5. Currently, Leon sits in 11th place while America is in 4th. A win can move Leon up to 10th place if Atlas, who is a place above them, loses their match tonight. The Aguilas have an opportunity to move into third place if they win and score more than four goals. It’s not impossible but that’s what they would have to do if they want to pass Tigres in the league standings.

After losing at home, it will be interesting to see if Angel Villacampa makes any changes to the lineup. He’s been using three defenders in the back which is a big risk that did not pay off against Tigres who capitalized on their mistake. Against Leon they can get away with three in the back seeing as Leon hasn’t been a big offensive threat with only five goals scored so far. Up top, Villacampa has been using the trio of Kiana Palacios, Alison Gonzalez and Katty Martinez. Seven of the nine goals America has this season have been by Palacios and Gonzalez. It’s evident the trio are still working on getting to know each other better, but once they start clicking, America is going to be a big threat up front.