André Jardine elated after Club América’s win over rivals Chivas in Liga MX

“I didn’t expect a game like this at all” - André Jardine’s words probably sum up the fixture pretty well.

Club América thrashed Chivas in the Clásico Nacional in what was billed as a tight affair that was hard to predict: in the end it turned out to be a record-breaking win.

An insipid Chivas side were ruthlessly pierced through by América and failed to create any danger once the home team got going; after half-time the game became a rout as the azulcremas continued to smash in the goals.

The first goal came from Brian Rodríguez after a delightful run saw his deflected shot bounce over the line from inside the box: the pyrotechnics went off so did the competitive spirit of Chivas, who could not keep up with the intensity of the home side.

América thrashed Chivas 4-0 at the Azteca

Before the break things got even worse for Paunovic’s side as they conceded a wonder striker from Valdés, who bent a delightful shot around two defenders and into the far corner of Jiménez’s goal to double the lead.

After half-time, things went from bad to worse for the away team for in the Clásico Nacional: any semblance of a threat they had was wiped out, and América took control of all aspects of the tie. Another shot from Valdés, this time a caressed stroke of the ball from the left side of the box, a hybrid between a chipped shot and a curling effort, was sent on an orbital path that landed in the top corner of the goal.

And then, just as things looked as though they couldn’t get any worse, Alejandro Zendejas came on late to bundle the ball over the line for América and make it 4-0 to his side; from here on in, Chivas resorted to standing even further off their opponents who were passing to the tune of olés from the crowd.

What did André Jardine say after the game?

“This is the América we want”, said a jubilant yet serious Jardine after the game, “but no team in the world can always be at their maximum level. I want to congratulate the players and above all for a great job which was a tremendous team effort.”

The América side, albeit a strong XI, was not without its doubts ahead of the game, as Sebastián Cáceres was ruled out ahead of kick-off with an injury, meaning that new signing Igor had to step in. “We had lots of things to consider”, said Jardine, “injuries, returns, unavailable players, but everything went well in what was a good week. There are plenty of things to improve, but we’re focussed from the start and we know what we want to get to because there is a long road ahead.”

“I try not to see what the press talk about, we are very aware of the work that we do. Obviously a victory gives you confidence and we are working very hard”, he concluded.