Club América easily defeat Querétaro at home 3-1

After a loss last week to open up the Apertura 2024, Club América bounced back with a convincing win over Querétaro at home. While they won 3-1 in their home opener it was not all positive news as Alejandro Zendejas was seen with a boot on his left foot after the game. The club has yet to give an update on his condition but it would be a blow to lose a valuable player such as Zendejas. Regardless of his condition, the Aguilas will need to turn all of their attention to matchday three as they will head to Nuevo Leon on Wednesday to face Tigres.

Just like last game, the Aguilas had a quick start to the game. It was so quick that Javairô Dilrosun scored within two minutes.

This goal was all thanks to Alejandro Zendejas who got the ball rolling in that play. As the Gallos had attempted to get out of their own part of the field, Zendejas was able to steal the ball and make a beeline for the goal. With the fast-paced transition the home team was not able to properly defend their goal and as a result they left open Dilrosun. Zendejas sent the ball towards the center where Henry Martin selflessly passed the ball to Dilrosun and the player did not hesitate and got the ball past Allison’s hands to open the scoring at home. Querétaro then attempted to equalize but before they could the visitors doubled their lead.

Erick Sanchez was a big factor behind this goal. After a long pass he was able to stop the ball from going out for a goal kick then once again stopped it from going out for a throw-in and somehow got the ball off to Zendejas. Zendejas then sent the ball into the box where Henry Martin was there to jump in the air and head the ball into the back of the net to double the lead.

A few minutes later América were close to another when Israel Reyes had his chance to goal but the ball hit the post. The next 15 minutes were spent with the Gallos in their defensive third as they faced pressure from the visitors that would not stop. They had a chance at goal around the 25th minute when they were awarded a corner kick but the visitors were quick to get the ball out of danger. Their chance at goal finally came in stoppage time to cut the lead in half.

Sebastian Sosa was surrounded by three América defenders and neither of them went up to stop him so he took the opportunity to send the ball towards goal. When the ball made its way towards goal Pablo Barrera was there to tap the ball in. He was marked by Calderón and even that couldn’t stop Barrera who got the ball past Luis Angel Malagon. Fortunately for the Aguilas, Malagon was able to recover quickly from the injury he picked up with the Mexican National Team. The quick recovery even led some to believe the injury wasn’t as serious as the medical report made it out to be.

The second half started with the same starting lineup from both teams. Querétaro had needed a break as they had come back with a new spark to start the half. The spark only lasted for a few minutes as América added another goal to extend their lead.

Erick Sanchez orchestrated the third goal, just like the second one, as he took the ball in the midfield and made his way through the Gallo defense. Sanchez passed off the ball to Dilrosun who got the ball to the feet of Martin. Martin was quick with his feet to reposition himself and get the shot off and into the back of the net to go up 3-1 in the 58th minute. In only two games Sanchez has already made an impact for the Aguilas. In his debut for the Aguilas last week he was the spark the team needed and even though they didn’t get a goal it was evident just the kind of value he would bring to the team and this week he was the orchestrator behind two goals.

By the 60th minute things were not looking good for Querétaro. They were down by two goals and the frustration was evident as they were called on for multiple fouls against the visitors. In the 64th minute they had made three changes to hopefully energize the team as they still needed two goals to at least walk away with a point. The Gallos brought in Lucas Rodriguez, Jonathan Perlaza and Jaime Gomez Valencia to be the spark the team was in desperate need of. On the other side the Aguilas made their own change involuntarily when Zendejas went down on the field asking for a substitution. It wasn’t evident immediately what kind of injury he sustained but he was able to walk off the field on his own accord so that was good news. After the 70th minute the game slows down as the visitors realize they only need to see the game out as the Gallos were falling even more and more down as time went by. At times it looked as if they were just waiting for the time to end as they had no luck breaking down the Aguila defense. It wasn’t until the last few minutes of the game that the home side had a spark in them. While it didn’t look like they were going to draw the game level they had started to go for at least one more goal. Unfortunately the goal never came as the game finished with a 3-1 scoreline.

The first two games for Querétaro have not gone well as they lost their second match of the season. Meanwhile for América they didn’t have the best start but they turned things around this week easily defeating their opponents at home. Unfortunately it didn’t happen in front of a big crowd as they only brought in just under 10k fans by the end of the match. Usually their home games are sell-outs or near capacity so it was strange to see the stadium so empty at the beginning of the match but by the end more fans had shown up. Now the Aguilas will prepare for a double matchweek as they will have a short turnaround when they play Tigres on Wednesday and FC Juárez on Saturday.

Club América: L. Malagón; C. Calderón, R. Juárez, N. Araujo, I. Reyes; E. Sanchez, R. Sanchez, A. Zendejas, A. Fidalgo, J. Dilrosun; H. Martin;

Querétaro: G. Allison; S. Hernandez, F. Venegas, K. Escamilla, O. Manzanarez, O. Mendoza; A. Medina Camacho, F. Lertora, M. Rio, P. Barrera; S. Sosa;