Chivas and America battled to a 1-1 tie in a friendly played in State Farm Stadium. Both teams took advantage of the International FIFA break to play a friendly in Glendale, Arizona, in a match that had
lively action for a friendly. Both teams will return to Liga MX where Chivas will go home to face off against Mazatlan while America will have a much bigger game against Cruz Azul, in another Clasico of Mexican football.
The 1st half ended with both teams coming out with strong lineups even with all the players missing because of international play. After America lost the ball near the area, Richard Ledezma got off a right footed shot that forced a save from America’s goalkeeper, Rodolfo Cota. The ball was left there for Teun Wilke, who got off a cross into the area that went past Cota and then Javier Hernandez would get to and get off a volley into the empty net to score and give Chivas the early 1-0 lead. A free kick from Brian Rodriguez would go just wide. Off a corner kick, the cross would be headed from close range from Rodrigo Aguirre would force Chivas’ goalkeeper, Oscar Whalley, to make a great save. A long ball would be reached by Hernandez, who got off a volley shot from outside the area that surprised Cota and forced him to make a save. Off a counter, Rodriguez got into the area and got off a left footed shot that Whalley saved. The rebound would fall to Victor Davila, who got off a rocket left footed shot that forced Whalley to make an even better save. After America lost the ball, it would get to Teun Wilke, who got off a left footed shot that was saved by Cota. The rebound would eventually fall to Ledezma, who got off a great right footed shot from outside the area that was saved by Cota. A cross into the area was deflected to Cota before Hernandez could get a close range chance.
The 2nd half started with the teams hoping to continue giving their lively attack. A cross into the area was volleyed wide by Aguirre. Chivas subbed out Richard Ledezma for Efrain Alvarez. A 1 vs 1 chance was wasted when Wilke failed to control the ball and it was eventually cleared by America’s defense. Another wasted chance happened when Wilke’s cross reached Alvarez, but he lost the ball just he was trying to shoot. America would make them pay for that as in the counter that came immediately from that miss, Victor Davila would get off a left footed shot from outside the area that would go past Whalley and into the net to score and tie the match at 1-1. Chivas subbed out Jose Castillo and Javier Hernandez for Bryan Gonzalez and Alan Pulido. Gonzalez got into the area where he looked to be dropped but no foul was given. America subbed out Igor Lichnovsky for Nestor Araujo. After getting the ball in the area, Davila got off a left footed shot that went wide. Chivas subbed out Teun Wilke and Daniel Aguirre for Cade Cowell and Omar Govea. In predictable fashion for Liga MX friendlies in the United States, the last minutes had a lot of smoke bombs and flares that hampered visibility. America subbed out Isaias Violante for Saul Vallejo. Aguirre got mad at a foul called and threw the ball which earned him a Yellow card. Probably because of that, Aguirre was subbed out almost immediately for Francisco Garcia. A cross into the area was cleared into the path of Rodriguez, whose volley would go just wide. It would be the final chance as the match ended with a deserved tie.
America and Guadalajara ended one of the worst nights in recent time for Mexican football with a 1-1 tie that was exciting for club friendly especially in the 2nd half. While fans might have been in a sour mood for Mexico after being eliminated of the U2o World Cup earlier in the day and then losing badly in a friendly against Colombia, they were able to get a good match that ended with a tie. Both teams took advantage of the FIFA date to make some money in Arizona and it was a boost to the players, especially Javier Hernandez scoring against America for the first time in a Superclasico, even if it was a friendly. Chivas will return to Mexico to face off in Liga MX against Mazatlan while America has an important match against Cruz Azul in another edition of the Clasico Joven.
