In their first double matchweek game of the season, Club América lost to Atlético San Luis in their first home game of the season. Things went from bad to worse twenty minutes into the game after defender
Ramon Juárez received a red card and left his team with 10 players. San Luis took advantage of this error and beat the Aguilas 2-0.
Last week there were four absences for América in their season opener and thankfully they were able to regain Isais Violante for this game. Unfortunately, they were still missing Henry Martin, Erick Sanchez and Alejandro Zendejas. The latter was the most valuable piece missing since he has been the playmaker for the Aguilas for the last couple of seasons and no one is sure how much longer he would be out for. Another noticeable change in the lineup was Ramon Juárez in the backline. He is one of América’s best defenders but he has been absent for some time due to the coach’s preferences. Finally the youngster made his way into the starting lineup.
The home team tried to get the action rolling immediately as Rodrigo ‘Bufalo’ Aguirre made his way inside the box but he was unable to shake his defender. Not even a minute later and he had a golden opportunity to open the score when he was at the top of the box where he sent the ball towards the net but it hit the post and went out. The visitors didn’t have their first chance of the game until the 10th minute when Sebastien Salles-Lamonge took a shot from distance but the ball went wide. A minute later San Luis had a similar chance from distance but the ball went wide as well. The next 10 minutes were then spent with the Aguilas attempting to establish dominance. They had the majority of the possession and their attackers were looking dangerous up top. This momentum was then halted in the 20th minute after a mistake in the backline. Juan Manuel Sanabria was making his way towards the top of the goal when Juárez ran right behind him and tripped him up causing the player to fall to the ground. The central referee did not hesitate and pulled out his red card seeing as the player was the last defender. VAR took a look and agreed with the decision and just like that América was left to 10 players for the rest of the game.
André Jardine was forced to make changes as he sacrificed Patricio Salas for Sebastian Cáceres. The Aguilas were able to hold on for the remainder of the half and were lucky that San Luis was not able to take advantage of their chances in front of goal. The home side went to halftime with a scoreless draw and were going to have to hold on for dear life in the second half.
To start the second half Jardine made more changes as he subbed off Alexis Gutierrez and ‘Bufalo’ for Violante and Raul Zuñiga hoping to kick start an attack even with one less player. Atlético got the second half started with multiple chances at goal. América allowed the visitors to make their way into empty spaces as multiple San Luis players found themselves unmarked to create dangerous shots but their players were unable to finish those chances. After multiple opportunities in front of goal, the visitors finally took advantage in the 52nd minute. Roman Torres sent in a ball to the other side of the field where Sanabria was making a run inside the box without a single opponent catching him. Sanabria then headed the ball into the back of the net to open the score in the Ciudad de Deportes.
América then tried to equalize immediately but they were not able to break down the San Luis defense. Allan Saint-Maximin attempted to orchestrate different plays with his teammates but none of these ended with a shot at goal. Any time the Frenchman made a run he was swarmed by blue jerseys and his teammates as well. In the 65th minute Luis Angel Malagon was forced to make a big save after his backline allowed Miguel Garcia to make his way inside the box and take a shot at goal. If not for the goalkeepers fast reaction the play could have ended in a goal. Malagon was able to make that save but he was unable to make the next one. On a corner for San Luis, the ball was sent to the right side of the field where João Pedro was waiting but he had América defenders swarm him. It looked as if Pedro was going to pass the ball to his teammate but the Brazilian took it upon himself to juke out three América defenders and sent the ball towards goal and past Malagon to double Atlético’s lead.
After the goal, San Luis made their first changes of the game while Jardine made more substitutions hoping for a turnaround. Uruguayan Brian Rodriguez made his way onto the field to the relief of many. However, many have questioned Jardine on why he refuses to play with both the Frenchman and the Uruguayan at the same time as both of these players would be big threats on the field. Once again, Jardine continues to leave fans confused and angry with his decisions. Rodriguez made an immediate impact. He created many plays, even one with Alvaro Fidalgo but it got stomped out at the top of the box. Rodriguez made dangerous runs but he was unable to finish any of them as the San Luis defense was there to stop him. Even with this spark in the offense, it was not enough and the frustration was evident in the América’s players’ faces. They had trouble making their way into the box and when they did their attacks were snuffed out. Near the end of the game San Luis were close to adding more goals to their tally but thanks to Malagon and Kevin Alvarez the chances were stopped at the line and the Aguilas only went down two goals by the end of the 90 minutes. The Aguilas were lucky that San Luis was terrible at finishing their chances because any other team would have put multiple past this lineup.
América was playing with a disadvantage for 70 minutes of the game and André Jardine was unable to come up with a plan to remedy the situation. The Aguilas were lucky that Atlético was not lethal in front of goal with all the chances they had, otherwise the scoreline would have been a lot worse. Now, América will move on as they prepare to face Pachuca on the road while San Luis will face Tijuana.
