Chivas grab win over Puebla in match marred by tragic injury

Chivas continued on their winning ways with a 1-0 victory over a Puebla team that had a big momentum hit with an early injury. The match took the backseat to the terrible news of a bad ankle fracture early on for Puebla. Still, Chivas were able to get the result even when they didn’t give a great performance and look to be in the right path for the post-season. Chivas will stay at home where they’ll face Tigres on Tuesday in a postponed Week 9 match before facing their biggest regular season test in the Superclasico against America on Saturday. Puebla will also go home to face Tigres, but the match will be on Friday.

The 1st half started with both teams coming in with their best 11. Five minutes into the match, tragedy befell when after a slide, there was a terrible injury for Puebla’s Gustavo Ferrareis, who looked to have broken his ankle. Puebla’s player looked affected and some were even crying in a terrible situation that would cast a shadow on the match. Ivan Moreno would come in for the injured Ferrareis. Off a corner kick, Puebla came close to scoring when Luis Olivas had to clear the ball almost off the line. Later, a cross into the area found a wide open Jordi Cortizo, but his header went well wide in a bad miss. From outside the area, Angel Zaldivar would get off a great left-footed shot that forced Puebla’s goalkeeper Anthony Silva to make a great save. Off a corner kick, Diego De Buen rose to get a header that forced Chivas’ goalkeeper, Miguel Jimenez to make a good save. Puebla would come close again when a header off the corner kick was headed back by Cortizo over Jimenez‘s head, but Cristian Calderon cleared the ball before any Puebla attacker got a chance on an empty net header. After getting the ball in the area, Alexis Vega would get past Silva and get off a shot on goal, but De Buen cleared before the ball got into the empty net. Later, Vega got a possible 1 vs 1 but his shot went right to Silva. After a harsh foul on Ruben Gonzalez, the ref gave Federico Mancuello a red card. Replays showed it was an awful call and after going to VAR, the red was reversed and settled for a yellow instead, in a play where there shouldn’t have been a card at all, not to mention foul for that matter. The 1st half ended, and after the sour taste left by the injury to Ferrareis, both teams struggled to show any good football which was to be expected and totally understandable.

The 2nd half started with Chivas subbing out Jesus Sanchez and Ruben Gonzalez for Carlos Cisneros and Roberto Alvarado. Maxi Araujo had a good chance in the area, but Cisneros made a well timed slide to block the shot. Puebla would sub out Maximiliano Araujo, Federico Mancuello and Lucas Maia for Omar Gonzalez, Ivo Vazquez, and Daniel Aguilar. Chivas kept possession but made poor decisions which hampered them in creating chances. The home side subbed out Angel Zaldivar and Cristian Calderon for Santiago Ormeño and Pavel Perez. They continued to have the ball, but Puebla had defended well and contained them. The visitors then subbed out Jordi Cortizo for Alberto Herrera. After a great run through the defense, Alexis Vega got into the area and fired off a left-footed shot past Silva for the 1-0. Chivas subbed out Isaac Brizuela for Jesus Ricardo Angulo. With the lead, Chivas started playing keep away with the ball as Puebla tried to go for the equalizer, but had wasted too much time sitting back and defending.

In a game shadowed by the tragic injury, Chivas did enough to get the victory and continue to add points to an eventual post-season appearance. Still, they might have some worries that despite them having large stretches of possession, had Vega not made an incredible individual play, the match would’ve probably finished scoreless. For all their possession in the 2nd half, they never threatened Silva until the goal. Puebla dropped some important points, but after the injury to Ferrareis, it was no surprise, and the players did a great job keeping their heads in the match as much as they could after the injury. In the end, it’s just a game and people’s health is more important than losing points in a match. Chivas will have a tough home game against Tigres before having to face the biggest match in Mexican football against America in Mexico City on Saturday. Puebla will travel back home to face Tigres on Friday, in hopes they become tired after their mid-week match against Chivas.