In the moment of greatest excitement for Cruz Azul fans, the team lost their way after being defeated 4-1 by Pumas at the Azteca Stadium, a place that has become their dream this Apertura 2023, because they could not win at home and, above all, the cat fans dressed as locals with all their support.
The Celeste Machine lost the game that could have pushed them into the classification and although they were not mathematically eliminated, their chances of qualifying for the final round were very limited. In contrast to Universidad, which is already third in the General Table.
The strategy proposed by Joaquín Moreno will not stop César Huerta, the key man of the Pumas who continue to eat the Liga. Moreno decided to save Díber Cambindo and Moisés Vieira, and if he wants to use them he has the score against him.
On the other hand, Chino Huerta, with his double, led the victory where Ulises Rivas and even defender Nathan appeared, making Pumas a serious candidate for the title of this competition.
These are the goals from Cruz Azul vs. Cougars
César Huerta had few options in the first half until 27 minutes when he launched himself on the left wing in the only chance the defense gave him. Because of this, when Rafa Guerrero found himself outmatched by the skilled player, he launched the sweep, but it was too late because he committed a penalty.
César Ramos did not hesitate and marked it. What happened next was a show. First with Juan Dinenno and Chino Huerta arguing over who should take the penalty, then with goalkeeper Andrés Gudiño making a great save and to top it all off, VAR had to tell César Ramos that the penalty should be withdrawn.
And all because Gudiño didn’t even have one foot on the line. So César Ramos called everyone to repeat it and this time Chino Huerta scored 1-0 in the game.
Cruz Azul created several options with shots from Charly Rodríguez and two shots from Rotondi, but they could not beat goalkeeper Julio González.
So Ángel Sepúlveda had to show up, appearing on a corner kick to push the ball after a very closed center. Cuate scored his fourth goal in a light blue shirt, putting him one behind Apertura 2023 scoring leader, Harold Preciado.
In the second half, the first to move his pieces was Antonio Mohamed who put five lines in the back with the entry of Robert Ergas in addition to the sacrifice of Juan Dinenno to leave Gabriel “Toro” Fernández alone.
The result proved him right because it caused spaces to be created due to the lack of defensive control and one of those spaces was exploited by Chino Huerta, again with a strong overflow and just as he entered the that place he sent the shot that hit. like a rocket to the goal of 2-1. Gudiño launched himself but never reached the speed of the ball.
Joaquín Moreno reacted too late to the changes, as he brought in Moisés Vieira and Cambindo with little to do.
This was Pumas’ third goal courtesy of Ulises Rivas, who was inspired by a long-distance shot that Juan Escobar deflected into his own goal. And the captain had a bad time in this game, since early in the game he was also warned for a foul on Huerta.
Already in the last half and in fixed tactics, Nathan Silva appeared to achieve a 4-1 victory for the Pumas that derailed the Machine in the Apertura, where they did not win at home and now have a five game winless streak.
