Guadalajara.- A lackluster Chivas salvaged a last-minute 1-1 draw in the 2024 Leagues Cup, but blew the extra point in a penalty shootout in California.
After failing in the previous edition, the red-and-white team had a poor performance against the San José Earthquakes, which is currently the last team in the MLS. In the last 14 games, the Californians had only won one match and received 37 goals.
Guadalajara found itself down early on the scoreboard due to a defensive mishap. The Quakes caught the Rebaño off guard and center back Leonardo Sepúlveda failed to mark him when Jeremy Ebobisse headed the ball in for the 1-0 in the 6th minute.
Minutes later, Raúl “Tala” Rangel and Leo Sepúlveda himself, who replaced the injured Gilberto Orozco Chiquete, made an error at the start that was not capitalized on by the locals.
Just as it happened in the defensive zone, Chivas also looked disorganized in attack. The team lacked ideas, clarity and generation to get back into the game.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez was not a starter or a substitute. In attack, coach Fernando Gago opted for Ricardo Marin, Cowell and the return of Pavel Perez.
In the second half, the coach reorganized his team’s play with the introduction of Roberto Alvarado, Fernando Beltrán and Armando González. The three players tried their luck at goal and Chivas was more persistent.
El Rebaño attacked from all sides and came close to scoring with a shot off the post from “Hormiga” González and another header from Antonio “Pollo” Briseño; until finally “Piojo” Alvarado appeared to define the cross sent to him by Mateo Chávez.
With the score at 1-1 at Levi’s Stadium, the match was decided by a penalty shootout to decide the winner of the extra point. “El Piojo” missed his first shot, Alan Mozo and Érick Gutiérrez scored, but Cade Cowell made a bad save and lost the lead again, while only Paul Marie missed for the Quakes.
Chivas has compromised its qualification to the next round and will decide its future against Los Angeles Galaxy, next Sunday, August 4.
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