Pumas upsets the current champion Tigres in Liga MX
Pumas bounced back from their defeat against Juarez and dented the crown of the current Liga MX champion Tigres, who not only lost 2-1 at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario, but also showed that without André Pierre Gignac and Diego Lainez, they are a team without depth, without presence in the area, and without offensive power, as they didn't manage to create any dangerous opportunities on Julio Gonzalez's goal throughout the 90 minutes.
The goals from Pumas, which ended a nine-game winless streak against the northern felines, were scored by Gabriel Fernandez in the 50th minute and Juan Ignacio Dinenno in the 83rd minute from the penalty spot. Tigres' consolation goal was scored by Ozziel Herrera in the 90th minute.
Robert Dante Siboldi's tactical scheme cost the Nicolaitas dearly, as they dropped to fifth place in the table with eight points. Meanwhile, Turco Mohamed's Club Universidad returned to fourth place in the general classification with nine points.
Pumas will visit Santos next weekend, while Tigres will host Queretaro's Gallos Blancos.
Pumas, lacking effectiveness and controversial refereeing
After the thrashing by Juarez, and with the need to settle the pending account they have in this Apertura 2023, effectiveness. Pumas coach Antonio Mohamed decided to go all out, so he decided to play with two center forwards, Juan Ignacio Dinenno and Gabriel Fernandez, since Tigres would not be a proactive team on the Olympic Universitario field, and Turco did not make a mistake.
From the initial whistle, Tigres maintained a completely defensive, fearful, timid, and cowardly scheme in search of 'rescuing' a point, or at least, causing harm to the Pedregal team on a counterattack, but in the first 45 minutes, the northern team led by Robert Dante Siboldi did not have a single dangerous opportunity on Julio Gonzalez's goal, who had an easy time.
Despite Mohamed finally deciding to use El Comandante and El Toro, none of them could solve the pending task, being effective. Gabriel Fernandez could have opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but despite being alone inside the northern area, he headed the ball wide. Dinenno and Toto Salvio had a couple of shots that ended up in the stands, and Chino Huerta hit the post base with his shot, leaving Nahuel Guzman as just another spectator.
The controversy arose in the last minutes of the first half. Cesar Huerta fell inside the box, but Fernando Hernandez (who was frozen for six months for kneeing a player) energetically demanded Chino to get up, as there was no foul, even the VAR decided not to review the play, but the replay shows that Javier Aquino hit the feline attacker without the ball, something that for others would have been a penalty and would have made the first half end goalless with controversial refereeing decisions.
Toro Strikes
In the second half, Tigres tried to take control of the ball, but as the minutes went by, Pumas regained control of the match and five minutes after the restart, Ciudad Universitaria exploded with the goal shout... Gabriel Fernandez found a loose ball on the edge of the box and took a shot with the inside of his foot, trying to place it far from El Paton, but the ball rolled straight into Nahuel Guzman's body, a routine save for the Argentine, who leaned and let the ball slip into the net, making the 'blunder' of the week.
Minutes later, Eduardo Salvio had the opportunity to increase the lead and after 'clearing' the way and being in front of El Paton, he shot over the Nicolaita goal.
In the final stretch of the match, Pumas sought to extend their advantage, but Tigres stoically withstood the onslaught, until Chino Huerta was fouled and this time the penalty was awarded, which El Comandante Dinenno converted to seal Pumas' victory and return to fourth place in the general table. However, Ozziel Herrera reduced the deficit in the 90th minute, but Tigres didn't have enough time to equalize.