Top Stories

Superliga Match Day Commentary: C.F. Pachuca vs. Chivas USA

Pachuca  6a00e54ef2975b883301310ff11dd7970c-120wi

BY ADAM SERRANO

Tonight at the Home Depot Center, Chivas USA and Pachuca do battle in what will be the final group game for both clubs. Neither team will have a chance to advance despite the result tonight, but as this is the final warm up before Pachuca's Mexican season, Chivas USA will provide a test for the Tuzos. (TV: Galavision) 

Pachuca wil have the services of two of their three American players tonight Marco Vidal and Herculez Gomez who should feature in this the club's final Superliga group match up. Jose Torres is not present as he is resting as the club prepares for their first league match on Sunday against Club America. 

This is Adam Serrano coming to you from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. As always feel free to leave your comments, analysis and questions in the comments section below. Enjoy the match.

FINAL - And that's the final whistle. Chivas USA win 1-0 off a goal by Giancarlo Maldonado. Both Americans for Pachuca put in favorable performances for the Tuzos tonight. Gomez is clearly going to be focal part of the offense for the Tuzos, but will need to have better service in order to create chances. Meanwhile, Marco Vidal's play was very steady in defensive and was able to showcase his verstaility aiding the Tuzos in both attack and in defense. Both clubs time in the Superliga is over after Houston defeated Puebla, 1-0 earlier tonight. 

The Dynamo and Puebla will advance to the second round of Superliga which will take place in early August. 

Check back for more coverage of this match and the rest of tonight's Superliga line up on SBI later tonight. Thank you for following along and Buenos Noches. 

—————

92nd Minute – Pachuca earn a late corner, but Chiva are on the break. That should be it. 

—————

90th Minute – OFF THE BAR! Chijindu tries to chip the ball over Cota and is unable to connect. 

————–

89th Minute – As the match winds down it is clear that Gomez should be a key part of the Pachuca offense this season. It seems that they're attempting to connect every throughball and cross into him. 

————

86th Minute – The Tuzos earn a corner and Gomez comes up for a header, but appears to be elbowed by Ben Zemanski and goes down hard. Gomez has just been tireless with his work rate tonight. 

————

84th Minute – For those wondering, Chivas USA midfielder Paulo Nagamura is not in the line up today as he has just returned from Brazil after his wife welcomed their first child several days ago.

————-

83rd Minute – Chijindu nearly gets a one on one with the keeper after by passing a frozen Marco Vidal, but Chuki was off balance and could not get a shot off. 

————–

82nd Minute – In a ritual that I can't begin to understand, the Chivas USA supporters group, the Legion Kalifas 1908 have begun peppering Kennedy's net with streamers and confetti. Maybe the fans following along can enlighten me on this. Shouldn't you do that to your opposition? 

————–

77th Minute – The wave has started around the stadium. Much to the delight of the crowd. 

—————

75th Minute – A pair of Americans nearly connect for Pachuca (not the last time you'll hear that this season) when Vidal fires in a cross that Gomez heads just over Kennedy's post. 

—————–

74th Minute – Chivas USA make their second substitution as the pride of Manuel Arts High School in South Central Los Angeles, Gerson Mayen will come into the game for Espionza. The winger' has been pretty invisible after a great game against Houston.  

————-

72nd Minute – Gomez gets a pretty poor throughball that he is unable to make a play on. Decent performance from Herculez today, but his service has been horrendous. I'd look for him to make a significant impact once the Tuzos play with their starting XI. 

————-

69th Minute – I've been pretty impressed with Vidal so far. The Dallas native has looked pretty composed on the ball and has dropped back in defense several times to cover for overlapping defenders. 

————-

67th Minute – Its been a pretty pedestrian affair so far in the second half. Chivas USA is looking like the more aggressive of the two sides, but Pachuca's defense is doing wonders to keep the Rojiblancos under wraps. 

————–

65th Minute – Pachuca make what should be their third and final substitution of the night as Luis Montes makes way for Carlos Rodriguez. Although Superliga allows four subs, the Tuzos only have four players on the sub roster. One being a back up goalkeeper…

———–

62nd Minute – Just got word that new Chivas USA winger and UCLA product Sal Zizzo is in the house for the Pachuca match. 

————

60th Minute – Padilla escapes from the Pachuca defense and fires in a great cross for Chijindu, but the forward trips and is unable to make sufficient contact. 

————

58th Minute – Pachuca will make a sub as captain Braulio Luna will give way for midfielder Hector Herrera. 

————-

54th Minute – Maldonado goes down after near collision going up for a header and is down on the ground for a few seconds. He appears to be motioning about tighteness and will be removed with Chuki Chijindu replacing him.

—————-

53rd Minute – The Tuzos earn a corner and quickly feed Luis Montes who fires a shot that just misses the left side of Kennedy's net. 

—————–

51st Minute – Gomez strikes it poorly and it goes out for a goal kick. 

————–

49th Minute – Romero goes down in the box after being tripped up by Perez. Looks like Osael went down a bit easily and there will be no penalty. Pachuca looking to strike right back after a foul by Borja — and subsequent yellow — leads to a dangerous free kick for the Tuzos. 

————–

45th Minute – Back underway at the Home Depot Center. A pair of changes, one for each club, Sueno Flores will enter for Ante Jazic while Edgar Benitez will give way for Raul Martinez for the Tuzos. 

—————

HALFTIME – The score at the half is 1-0 for Chivas USA. Lethargic half from the Tuzos who are unable to get anything going at the moment. Herculez Gomez has been very active as Pachuca looks to establish an attack and will go over to the fourth official to argue that a free kick should have been called on the foul in the 44th minute. For the Rojiblancos, the team was able to capitalize early on their chances and is doing a fantastic job providing swarming defense to prevent Tuzo attacks. 

————-

45th Minute – Pachuca fires in a deep pass to Gomez who may have gone down a bit easy after his contact with Delgado just above the box. 1 minute of stoppage. 

————-

40th Minute – Maldonado brushes off defender Juan Rojas for a clear shot, but the striker is off balance and unable to convert. 

—————

38th Minute – More clever tactics from Chivas USA winger Rodolfo Espinoza who attempts to chip a ball into Maldonado, but the striker is offside. 

—————

34th Minute – Pachuca is dominating possession, but is unable to connect on the final pass so far in this match. A bit of a disjointed performance so far from the Tuzos, but remember folks, this is a team missing many of their first choice starters including Jose Torres. 

—————

29th Minute – Pachuca knocking on the door step in the last five minutes. Gomez  looking active as the USMNT striker is clearly too much for Carlos Borja to handle. 

—————

21st Minute – Chivas USA nearly gets a chance to double their lead as Jesus Padilla beats his defenders, but fires a weak shot into the hands of Cota. 

—————

19th Minute – Pachuca earns the corner.

—————

18th Minute – Gomez is battling on the field as he throws his body at Borja as he looks for the goal.

————–

16th Minute – The Tuzos earn a corner, but are unable to capitalize after Benitez nearly hits in a goal with Kennedy off his line. It looks that Gomez may have picked up a knock on the play, but Gomez will battle on. 

————–

9th Minute – A great pass by Ante Jazic gives Maldonado a world of space to work in. The Venezuelan is one on one with the keeper and fires home his first goal for the Rojiblancos. Lets see if Pachuca (most notably Herculez Gomez, can respond. 

—————

8th Minute –  GOL CHIVAS! GIANCARLO MALDONADO HITS IN HIS FIRST GOAL WITH THE ROJIBLANCOS

—————

3rd Minute – The Rojiblancos earn a corner, but the shot by Zemanski ends up in the stands. Pachuca looking to create early. 

—————

2nd Minute – Decent crowd for a midweek Superliga match at the HDC tonight. Including four sets of Supporters Groups. Two for the Home team, one for the visitors and also the American Outlaws, USMNT supporters group. Hopefully they will create a nice atmosphere. 

—————

1st Minute – Here We Go! Pachuca is attacking to the right of your TV screen. 

—————-

PRE-GAME: Tonight's match is the first start for American Marco Vidal for the Tuzos. Ill be focused on his performance as he will be starting from his typical left midfield spot. 

—————-

PRE-GAME: Here is the starting line ups:

C.F. PACHUCA

—————–Gomez———–Benitez——————

Vidal———-Luna————–Montes———–Pena–

Santillan——Rojas————-Perez————Arreola

————————–Cota——————————–

CHIVAS USA

 —————–Padilla————Maldonado————–

Romero——-Gavin————-Zemanski———Espinoza

Trujillo——–Delgado———-Umana————-Jazic

————————-Kennedy——————————–

Comments

  1. THe Legion is not a Chivas USA supporter group. They are a Chivas supporter group. In actuality, they are anti-chivas usa. They exist only to support guadalajara.

    They are a disgrace to Chivas USA.

    I know it. You know it. Vegetable Lasagna knows it.

    Reply
  2. I agree! Meaningless game after Houston won the group by beating Puebla earlier tonight (oh that’s right…you didn’t cover that one nor have you mentioned it on your website!)

    Reply
  3. Why is SBI doing live commentary of a game that will decide absolutely nothing (as both teams have been eliminated) in a meaningless “tournament” (more like a series of poorly attended friendlies)?

    Reply

Leave a Comment