Pachuca beat Chivas in wildcard game to advance to next round
The home field advantage paid off for Pachuca who defeated Chivas 4-2 on Sunday night in the wildcard game of the 2021 Guardianes tournament.
After a very irregular regular season, Chivas managed to finish in ninth place after 17 match days to secure a spot in the wildcard game of the 2021 Guardianes tournament. The team from Guadalajara had to visit Pachuca (8) at the Estadio Hidalgo on Sunday night in a single-elimination game to advance to the quarter-finals.
Chivas went up at the break
The visiting team would make an early statement and in the 10th minute Uriel Antuna sent the ball into the back of the net after a clean right-foot finish. Chivas tried to increase the lead, but failed to do so at the end of the first 45 minutes.
For the second half Chivas manager, Victor Manuel Vucetich, decided to bring on Ángel Zaldívar to replace José Juan Macías. Unfortunately, that substitution didn't pan out for Vucetich, as the team couldn’t finish the chances they created.
Pachuca come back strong
The home team didn’t want to let down the fans that were allowed to attend the match and in the 50th minute Oscar Murillo headed the ball home from a corner kick to level the game. Things started clicking for Pachuca and they were more lethal with the ball and in the 68th minute Carlos de la Rosa gave his team a 2-1 lead.
Then in the 79th minute, Pachuca repeated the formula and once again Muriillo’s powerful header from another corner gave them a 3-1 advantage with the clock running out. Chivas were tiring and failed to react as Vucetich kept making substitutions to change the dynamic of the game.
Pachuca kept their foot on the gas and in the 88th minute, Oscar de la Rosa hit an effort with his right foot to beat goalkeeper Antonio Rodríguez to make it 4-1. Chivas tried to bounce back, but it was too late. Antuna would score a penalty to shorten the gap, but time ran out and Pachuca eliminated Chivas.
Change of manager
This is a catastrophic elimination for the second team with most league titles (12) in the Liga MX so changes could be made in the next few weeks. According to multiple reports, Victor Manuel Vucetich is set to part ways with the team from Guadalajara and the bosses want to appoint Ricardo Ferretti as their new manager for the next tournament.