Chivas demolished a disastrous Atlas in a 4-1 victory in another edition of the Clasico Tapatio. An early goal by Chivas let them control the match from the start as they completely dominated and had a commanding
lead by halftime. Atlas gave a terrible performance over a Chivas side that came out swinging from the start and are now in the Liguilla zone. Chivas will have a tough away match against Pachuca while Atlas will have a must win match at home against Toluca.
The 1st half started without a minute of silence for Manuel Lapuente in a terrible decision from the authorities. A bad clearance from Atlas’ goalkeeper, Camilo Vargas, went right to Santiago Sandoval, whose lobbed shot would go over the goal. Off a corner kick, Chivas would make a second play and get off a cross that Armando Gonzalez would head from close range, past Vargas to score and give Chivas the 1-o lead. Gonzalez got the ball in the area and got off a right footed shot that was blocked and cleared by defender Adrian Mora. Roberto Alvarado got off a left footed shot from outside the area that went wide. Mateo Garcia got off a left footed shot from outside the area that Chivas’ goalkeeper, Raul Rangel, easily saved. Paulo Ramirez got off a left footed shot in the area that forced Rangel to make a good save. After a pass of his was deflected back, Luis Romo got off a right footed shot past Vargas to score and give Chivas the 2-0 lead. Just minutes later, a cross into the area was headed back by defender Sergio Hernandez, who would then be crashed into by Vargas, and then it would hit the post. The ball bounced back and Armando Gonzalez would dive to get a header into the empty net to score and give Chivas the 3-0 lead. It was a wonderful start for Chivas and a terrible one for Atlas as the match looked over by the 30th minute of the game. Off a counter, a shot in the area by Sandoval was deflected wide. Off a corner kick, Jose Castillo got a close range header that went wide. The 1st half ended with Chivas totally dominating the Clasico Tapatio and with the score to prove it.
The 2nd half started with no substitutions, surprisingly for Atlas who was trailing badly. Off a free kick, the cross into the area was headed by Mora but Rangel made a great save. A counter attack ended with a cross into the area being just out of reach of Gonzalez. A great pass from Alvarado would find Armando Gonzalez, who lobbed the ball over Vargas to score his hat trick and give Chivas the 4-0 lead. Atlas tried to respond and after Diego Gonzalez got brought down and then Gustavo Ferrareis also was brought down, they gave Atlas a Penalty Kick. After going to VAR, the PK was declined and instead it was given as a free kick. Chivas subbed out Armando Gonzalez for Teun Wilke. A great play by Atlas ended with Mateo Garcia getting the ball in the area on a 1 vs 1 and getting off a left footed shot past Rangel to score and place the score at 4-1. A cross into the area from a free kick was deflected into the face of Rangel, who blocked it and made a save although he needed medical attention. Chivas subbed out Santiago Sandoval for Yael Padilla. Chivas continued to dominate as it looked like Atlas’ improvement in the match had ended. Chivas subbed out Efrain Alvarez, Omar Govea and Roberto Alvarado for Daniel Aguirre, Erick Gutierrez and Miguel Tapias. Atlas subbed out Aldo Rocha and Diego Gonzalez for Matias Coccaro and Eduardo Aguirre. The match started to get physical, with a lot of fouls especially from Atlas. A cross into the area was headed wide by Wilke. A long ball into the area was lowered by Padilla but just cleared by Atlas’ defense. Atlas subbed out Mateo Garcia and Paulo Ramirez for Alfonso Gonzalez and Victor Rios. A great counter attack by Chivas was wasted when Bryan Gonzalez sent his cross straight to an Atlas defender. A great pass from Padilla, found Wilke but he took too long to get off a left footed shot (which should have been right footed shot) and his shot was blocked by Vargas in a bad miss. Atlas responded with Coccaro getting a wide open left footed shot wide. It was the last chance of the match as Chivas got a crushing victory over their city rivals.
Led by an historic performance from Armando Gonzalez, Chivas got one of the better win over their city rival Atlas in recent times. A hat trick by the forward not only helped the team get the victory but had him momentarily tied at top of the Liga MX scoring table along with Paulinho from Toluca. Chivas made a statement over an Atlas side that posed no challenge. Chivas are now in the top 6 of Liga MX, which means they will go straight thru the Liguilla although they will have a tricky away match against Pachuca, in a venue that has proven tough for them. Meanwhile Atlas will have to defeat Toluca in their final home match of the season if they hope to have a chance and getting thru to the Play In Zone.
