Puebla get home victory and eliminate Pumas

Puebla got a convincing victory at home and eliminated a failure of a team in Pumas by a 2-1 score. Puebla was the better team and the one that truly had an idea. Although they faced a late surge, they held on to get their victory now face the repechaje where they are primed to get the home field advantage. On the other hand Pumas becomes the biggest failure of the tournament because after getting big signings, the team coached by Andres Lillini is eliminated and won’t be able to play even in the repechaje when 12 out of 18 teams get to play in it. Pumas will close out the season at home against FC Juarez, while Puebla closes against first placed America, with both teams already guaranteed post season play.

The first half started with both teams coming out with their best starting lineups. A minute in, Juan Ignacio Dinenno got off a good long range shot that forced Puebla’s goalkeeper Jesus Rodriguez to make a good save. Then after a good pass into the middle, a wide open Jordi Cortizo got into the area and lobbed the ball over Pumas’ goalkeeper Julio Gonzalez with his left foot to score the 1-0. After a bad slide tackle from Nico Freire, Emilio Martinez got brought down in the area but no foul was given. It was a very physical match, with both teams having hard tackles. Then after an incredible pass from Omar Gonzalez that allowed Maximiliano Araujo to get into the area, Araujo’s left footed shot went past Julio Gonzalez. It then hit off Nicolas Freire, who tried to clear the ball but bounced him into the net for the own goal and the 2-0 lead for Puebla. A great shot by Dinenno would go just wide. Later a good cross by Pumas almost got deflected into the net by Israel Reyes. In the final minutes there was a long ball that Eduardo Salvio tried to lob over Rodriguez but it went well wide. The fist half ended and Puebla took a strong lead, as Pumas once again were a disappointment.

The second half started with Pumas subbing out Leonel Lopez, Cesar Huerta, and Carlos Gutierrez for Diogo de Olivera, Jorge Ruvalcaba, and Pablo Bennevendo. A cross into the area was headed wide by Dinenno. After a great play from Ruvalcaba, he got off a shot that Reyes blocked with a great slide. Off of a corner kick, another header by Dinenno went just wide. Puebla subbed out Emilio Martinez for Ivan Moreno. Jose Caicedo then got off a shot from outside the area that was terrible, even when he had players to pass to in what showed the state of Pumas, a team broken and badly coached. Pumas then subbed out Jose Caicedo for Gustavo del Prete. A shot from the area from Omar Gonzalez came close to threatening Julio Gonzalez, but it went just wide. After a ball bounced in the area, Salvio got a good low shot that went just wide. On the play it looked like Rodriguez hurt himself and needed medical attention. Pumas subbed out Jeronimo Rodriguez for Efrain Velarde. Puebla meanwhile subbed out Omar Gonzalez for Guillermo Martinez. A free kick from Dani Alves turned into a shot that forced Rodriguez to make a save. Pumas then lost the ball and Guillermo Martinez wound up getting a one-on-one and scoring with a left footed shot past Gonzalez, but the play was called offside. A cross into the area was headed by Dinenno into the post, but the rebound fell Eduardo Salvio, who made a good play to get into the area and got off a great shot past Rodriguez to make it 2-1. Later Salvio Just finished up with the DU precursor and listening to this now. Thank you, and thank you to got a great shot from outside the area that went just wide. Puebla subbed out Maximiliano Araujo and Jordi Cortizo for Alberto Herrera and Luis Garcia. Pumas kept the ball and tried for the equalizer, but it was all for naught and they concluded a terrible failure.

Pumas’ season was a huge failure. After lighting up the early season with the big signings of Brazilian giant Dani Alves and ex Argentina World Cup player Eduardo Salvio, they couldn’t even get to the postseason. Coach Andres Lillini, who had given Pumas some good moments but overall no silverware, did a terrible job as although many in the press would blame Alves or the embarrassing loss to Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Cup, the fact is the team never played well during the season, giving great clunkers of performances like coughing up a 3-0 lead to a shorthandeed Leon and only going out with a 3-3 tie. Lillini never had a clue out there, especially on defense where Pumas was by far one of the weakest sides in Mexico. Now the talk will be if he get’s a second chance after such a magnitude of failure. Their last game against FC Juarez will be just a goodbye to the 2022 year, a year that promised so much but overall will be one of the darkest after losing the CONCACAF Champions League Final against the Seattle Sounders and going downhill everywhere after that result. On the other hand Puebla seems to have picked things up with their second consecutive home win and are now placed in a solid position for the repechaje, were they hope to get home field advantage. They will close out against the leaders in Club America, but looked set to do well after already qualifying to the postseason with a game to spare, although a loss and a combination of results could put their home field advantage in jeopardy.