Chivas eliminated America in the semifinal and advanced to the final of the Copa MX on penalties, with a four to three result in the shootout that was decided by Osmar Mares' miss.
THE MATCH
Chivas dominated ball possession in the first 10 minutes; however, the control was of little use as America, with Arroyo, Oribe, and Da Silva up front, brought danger into every attack on José Antonio Rodríguez's goal, although without success.
In fact, both Chivas' goalkeeper and Hugo González only touched the ball to clear it after the 15th minute, like a warm-up round in boxing; just probing jabs to measure the distance and wait for the opportunity to deliver a punch to the vulnerable areas.
And that punch came in the counter-attack orchestrated by Oribe Peralta, who dribbled past the midfield and half of Chivas' defense, faced the goal, and provided a pass to Michael Arroyo; a couple of feints from the in-form striker at the start of the season with La Volpe and the one-nil exploded from the throats of the America fans (22').
Chivas won the regular season's Clásico in terms of speed and effectiveness; this time, in the 30 minutes of the Copa MX semifinal, the Eagles did not rush to score the second goal, but a midfield orchestrator Carlos Peña almost equalized (32'); González, the ball, and "Gullit", the elements in the area that did not come together for the goal.
A 5-line defense by Ricardo Antonio contained, barely, the visitors' assault, combined with Hugo González and the home defense's juggling to clear the ball.
The goal belonged to America and Chivas maintained the pressure. Goodbye to the first 45 minutes and the yellow script went perfectly.
Although Chivas did not despair and tried to find a way to break the Eagles' defense, the minutes were running out for Matías Almeyda's team. Every second depended on a single blow.
In the 57th minute, Chivas' coach took out his engine from the first half. Isaac Brizuela replaced Carlos Peña; two minutes later, Néstor Calderón made way for Orbelín Pineda. The rest of the Chivas team took the field, but their midfield, which provided approaches, disappeared.
However, from a set piece, in the 70th minute, Alan Pulido reacted quickly and equalized the Clásico. That uppercut that Chivas needed arrived.
Cards were even and everything was decided on the pitch with defenses down.
In the end, it had the feeling of an old-fashioned match with a hint of a brawl included. It did not escalate and everything was decided from the penalty spot.
Paolo Goltz and Osmar Mares missed their penalties and Chivas defeated America 4-3 in the shootout at their home, in another Clásico in the Centenario. Another night of yellow sorrow.