LIGA MX
Chivas crisis deepens after home defeat to Mazatlán
Despite what is being communicated to the public from the higher echelons of the club, with no wins in five, Chivas de Guadalajara are a club in crisis.
Chivas Guadalajara are in turmoil and despite the best efforts of the club to play down the problem, the reality is now visible to everyone and is no longer simply a matter of opinion. Veljko Paunovic’s side have now game five games without winning and recorded just one point from the last 15 available. Tuesday night’s Liga MX game may have been the final straw as the Sacred Flock crumbled at home 1-3 to lowly Mazatlán.
Veljko Paunovic opted to bring back Víctor ‘El Pocho’ Guzmán to the starting along with promising Jesús Brígido but it was soon apparent that Chivas were blunt in attack.
Mazatlán were happy to contain play and shortly before halftime the visitors pounced twice aware that pressure was mounting on Chivas as they toiled to create chances in front of agitated fans at the Akron Stadium. Nicolás Benedetti struck first for the side from Sinaloa and just before the interval Herrera doubled the visitors lead as the home fans began to make their feelings very apparent
It didn’t get any better after the break as the fans at Akron Stadium even managed a round of ironic “oles” when Mazatlan generated sustained possession. Alexis Vega’s introduction as a substitute once again gave the home fans another excuse to vent their frustration with the Mexican international roundly 10 booed with Chivas fans unhappy with the player’s recent efforts.
As the game wore on, Chivas failed to generate solid threats and just as the contest moved into added time, Eduard Bello added insult to injury bagging Mazatlan’s third of the night. A late goal from Piojo for the home side was no cause for celebration as the remaining fans at the vast stadium hurled a barrage of abuse at the players in red and white.
Thanks to a bright start at the outset of the 2023 Apertura season, Guadalajara remain seventh in the table with 14 points as Mazatlán move to 14th place on ten points.
Chivas now travel to Toluca this weekend before facing Atlas in the Guadalajara derby and given the situation at the club and the ever growing anger among the fanbase, it’s difficult to see the Serbian coach surviving the fallout from the current dire situation.
- 23 Miguel Jiménez
- 2 Alan Mozo
- 3 Gilberto Sepúlveda
- 13 Jesús Gilberto Orozco Chiquete
- 26 Cristian Calderón
- 20 Fernando Beltrán
- 25 Roberto Alvarado
- 5 Víctor Guzmán (59')
- 15 Erick Gutiérrez (72')
- 32 Jesús Brígido (45')
- 19 Ricardo Marin (45')
- Substitutes
- 18 Ronaldo Cisneros (45')
- 19 Alejandro Mayorga
- 31 Yael Padilla (59')
- 6 Pável Pérez
- 28 Fernando Gonzalez (72')
- 4 Briseño
- 10 Ernesto Vega (45')
- 17 Jesús Sánchez
- 33 Raúl Martínez
- 27 José Rangel
- 13 Hugo González (45')
- 15 Colula (74')
- 4 Jair Díaz
- 2 Luis Olivas
- 5 Facundo Almada
- 8 David Colmán (68')
- 23 Sergio Flores
- 10 Nicolas Benedetti (74')
- 11 Yoel Barcenas
- 35 Jefferson Intriago
- 9 Aké Loba (68')
- Substitutes
- 24 Luis Amarilla (68')
- 29 Raúl Camacho
- 33 José Madueña (74')
- 1 Ricardo Gutiérrez (45')
- 208 Ramiro Árciga
- 34 Omar Moreno (74')
- 21 Eduard Bello (68')
- 31 Ventura Alvarado
- 17 Francisco Venegas
- 16 Joaquín Esquivel
Substitutions
Alexis Vega (45', Jesús Brígido), Ronaldo Cisneros (45', Ricardo Marín), Ricardo Gutiérrez (45', Hugo González), Yael Padilla (59', Víctor Guzmán), Eduard Bello (68', Josué Colmán), Luis Amarilla (68', Aké Loba), Rubén González (72', Érick Gutiérrez), Omar Moreno (74', Nicolás Benedetti), José Madueña (74', Bryan Colula)
Goals
0-1, 36': Nicolas Benedetti, 0-2, 42': Yoel Barcenas, 0-3, 91': Eduard Bello, 1-3, 95': Roberto Alvarado
Cards
Referee: Edgar Allan Morales Olvera
VAR Referee: Daniel Quintero Huitrón, Christian Kiabek Espinosa Zavala
Nicolas Benedetti (8',Yellow) Aké Loba (18',Yellow) Hugo González (48',Yellow) Víctor Guzmán (49',Yellow) Erick Gutiérrez (49',Yellow) Fernando Beltrán (78',Yellow) Gilberto Sepúlveda (88',Yellow)
