Mistakes by Chivas give Queretaro a point after 1-1 tie

A terrible goalkeeping mistake and a missed penalty kick gave Queretaro a 1-1 tie away to Chivas, their first away point of the season. Chivas had taken the lead but the mistake by Antonio Rodriguez gave Queretaro the tie. Later on a dubious penalty kick call was given to Chivas, but it was missed which guaranteed the result as Queretaro got their first away tie and Chivas got another bad result at home, where they had only gotten one win after five games. Chivas will now have an away visit to Necaxa, a supposed easier game before they face the biggest match of the season, the Superclasico away to America. Queretaro will now go back home to face a tough match against Leon.

The first half started and soon the game would be as expected, with Chivas carrying most of the offense and with Queretaro sitting back and trying to counter. After a couple of minutes, Chivas had a great chance when Uriel Antuna got to a ball before Queretaro goalkeeper Gil Alcala. He went past Alcala and crossed it to Jose Juan Macias, but his one time shot was blocked by a defender into a corner kick. Off the ensuing corner kick, a good long range shot by a Chivas player was stopped by Alcala and then the Queretaro defense cleared the ball. Later Macias got a shot just outside the area after a give away by Queretaro, but it went well wide. Later it was Fernando Beltran who had a shot go wide. Then after Macias got the ball just outside the area, he made a great play in the area that fooled two defenders and thus he was able to get past them and get off a left footed shot in the area past Alcala for the 1-0 lead for Chivas. It was a great goal for Macias, who earlier had missed a great chance and was giving the impression that he might be having some trouble on the offensive front.

Queretaro tried to answer back and a shot from Kevin Ramirez forced Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Chivas’ goalkeeper, to make a stop. Queretaro had to make the first substitution when Omar Islas looked to be injured and was subbed out for Irving Zurita. Queretaro had their best chance of the game when after Rodriguez gave up a rebound, the ball fell in the area and Daniel Cervantes had a shot inside the area but the ball went wide, in what was a good chance but was wasted. Queretaro had another chance cleared by the Chivas defender, and the halftime whistle blew and Chivas took their lead to the dressing room.

The second half started with Chivas subbing out Jesus Sanchez (who had gotten a yellow card) for Jose Madueña. Queretaro started to be the more offensive team just as it had been in the the last minutes of the first half. It would pay off with another terrible mistake from Jose Antonio Rodriguez. Just like in the game against Toluca, Rodriguez single-handedly gave a goal to the other team when he went for a cross and bumbled the ball right into the feet of Hugo Silveira, who back heeled the ball into the net. Later it looked like Queretaro had scored again, but it was rightly ruled as offside. It looked like the mistake by Rodriguez had Chivas playing nervous. It continued with Fernando Madrigal getting a shot and forcing a save by Rodriguez that went into a corner kick. On the corner kick, Cervantes got a free header in the area and it hit the post. Queretaro had all the confidence and Chivas was reeling. To try to answer back, Chivas subbed out Beltran and Antuna for Ricardo Angulo and Jose Juan Vazquez. Things looked worrisome for Chivas and then Hugo Silveira got a hard tackle to Jesus Molina’s foot and got a straight red card. Queretaro would have to play the last 20 minutes with only 10 players. Macias had a volley in the area but it went wide as it was a tough angle. Queretaro subbed out Angel Sepulveda for Sebastian Sosa as they tried to break the constant pressure from Chivas. Chivas answered by subbing out Jesus Molina and Madueña (who as mentioned, came in at halftime) for Javier Lopez and Oribe Peralta, who was coming back after suffering from the COVID-19 virus. Minutes later Lopez would have a shot at goal but it went well wide. Queretaro then made their last substitutions by subbing out Alfonso Luna and Erik Vera for Martin Rea and Julio Nava. Then after a cross into the area Macias got to the ball but tumbled after a Queretaro defender fell into him and then tripped him, the ball then fell into Peralta, whose shot was saved by Alcala. The ref went to check the play in the VAR and gave Chivas a penalty kick. Macias took the PK and he took the right footed shot, but Alcala saved it. Later Chivas had another chance in the area and Lopez got the shot but it went wide although it should have been a corner kick and the ref mistakenly gave a free kick. There was no time and Chivas had given away two points as Queretaro celebrated a great result.

The result is one of the worst for Chivas so far this season. With a 1-0 lead and being the better side, the terrible mistake by Rodriguez gave Queretaro a goal and got them into the game, something that Chivas could never counter up until the red card to Silveira. Of all the mistakes, the Rodriguez one was key, made worse by the fact it was his second of the season and they have ended up costing Chivas greatly as the Toluca goal ended up being the only one of the game and Queretaro got the tie because of it. They are also were terrible mistakes, which could be high up in the list of worst mistakes in Liga MX for the Apertura 2020 season. It also not a good sign that Jose Juan Macias has been struggling at key points. While he didn’t have that bad a game before it, his missed PK ended up being key and it’s his second miss of the season. It’s not good when you’re most talented player is struggling. A lot of the blame should also go to Chivas’ coach Victor Manuel Vucetich, as the team had improved over the past couple of weeks but last night looked a lot closer to the level they were under ex-coach Luis Fernando Tena, right down to the questionable substitutions like subbing it defensive Jose Juan Vazquez instead of Dieter Villalpando. Queretaro meanwhile should feel great. They came close to getting their third win against the “Big Four” in Mexico. They also gave a scare after the gift to Silveira, and goalkeeper Gil Alcala had a great performance after giving everybody a scare last Thursday where after a head clash during the game, he fainted in the locker room. Queretaro should be flying high but they will have their toughest game at home when they face Leon. Chivas meanwhille will need to come out swinging on Friday against a struggling Necaxa, who lost their first game under new head coach, Jose Guadalupe Cruz.