Toluca comes back to grab away win against Chivas

Chivas’ home debut in the Clausura 2023 ended with a loss against Toluca, who bounced back to get a 2-1 win. Chivas had been the better side in the first half, but lost control completely and Toluca struck twice to get their first win of the season. Toluca will return home to face Leon, while Chivas will have to travel to the border to face FC Juarez.

The first half started with Carlos Cisneros taking the place of injured Alexis Vega. Seconds into the match, Chivas had a great chance with a longball to the area almost falling to Ronaldo Cisneros, but he failed to control it well and allowed Toluca goalkeeper Tiago Volpi to clear the ball. Later, a cross into the area turned into a shot that was saved by Volpi. A shot from outside the area from Victor Guzman looked to be close, but went wide. Then Fernando Beltran made a run into the area and made a cross that deflected off of Toluca’s Valber Huerta and past Volpi for an own goal and the 1-0 lead to Chivas. Toluca then had their first chance of the match when Carlos Orrantia got the ball in the area, but his shot went well wide. Orrantia then wasted another chance when a volley into the area found him, but his left footed shot again went wide. Chivas missed an incredible chance when a good cross by Roberto Alvarado found Carlos Cisneros in the area, and from close range he headed the ball wide when it was almost an open net tap in, a terrible miss. Still Chivas would take the one goal to halftime which was deserved.

The second half started with Toluca subbing out Leonardo Fernandez and Claudio Baeza for Brian Garcia and Fernando Navarro. A minute in, Alvarado got a great left footed shot from outside the area that hit the post. A cross into the area then found Navarro, who got a low header that forced Chivas’ goalkeeper Miguel Jimenez to make a great save. Then a cross into the area found Carlos Gonzalez, who from close range and unlike Carlos Cisneros, got a close range header past Jimenez for the goal and the 1-1 tie. Chivas subbed out Victor Guzman, Carlos Cisneros, and Ronaldo Cisneros for Pavel Perez, Alan Torres, and Brandon Rios. Toluca subbed out Carlos Orrantia for Edgar Lopez. Toluca had another great chance when Gonzalez got a one-on-one against Jimenez, but his low shot that went past the goalkeeper and hit the post before Chivas’ defense cleared the ball. Chivas subbed out Ruben Gonzalez for Sebastian Perez Bouquet. A great shot from long range from Alan Mozo forced Volpi to make another great save. A cross into the area was then scored by Gonzalez, but he was ruled to be offside. Toluca subbed out Carlos Gonzalez and Jean Meneses for Camilo Sanvezzo and Brayan Angulo. Toluca then had another good chance when Maximiliano Araujo had a chance in the area, but his shot was deflected by a diving Gilberto Sepulveda. Chivas subbed out Fernando Beltran for Jose Gonzalez. A great cross into the area from Sanvezzo found Marcel Ruiz, who got a great header past Jimenez for the 2-1 lead for Toluca. Chivas had a great cross into the area but Gonzalez’s header went wide. Chivas kept pressuring, but couldn’t get the tying goal and Toluca grabbed a very important win.

Chivas’ undefeated record ended with a bad loss to Toluca. In a match in which they had been the better side in the first half, Chivas once again failed to close up the match and Toluca ended up getting a deserved win. Without the injured Vega, Chivas was expected to suffer on offense and although they did, the dominated at times and it was more up top with key misses that would cost them. They also suffered on defense, with their prime prospect Jesus Orozco having an especially poor game. Chivas will need to improve fast, because although they face one of the weaker away visits against FC Juarez, they will need to get at least a point to make up for the zero points gained against Toluca. On the other hand Toluca bounced back to get a convincing victory, but they also need to improve especially after having a weak first half that could have costed them the match. They should be favored as they return home to face Leon.