Chivas' sensational start to the season smashed another record this weekend as they overcame Puebla 3-2 in the Estadio Jalisco.
Guadalajara's "sacred herd" became the first team in the professional era to win their first seven games of the season, cementing their place in the history books of Mexican soccer.
Yet Chivas were made to sweat Saturday by Puebla. Up 3-1 after 48 minutes, Puebla piled on the pressure and got themselves back in the game with a goal from a direct free kick on 56 minutes. It made for a nervous last 34 minutes for Chivas as they sat back and invited Puebla onto the attack. Puebla thought they'd equalized in the 84th minute, but the assistant referee raised his flag for offside, incensing the Puebla team who thought it should've been given. Chivas clung onto their slender lead.
“We suffered because we fell into the trap of playing in Puebla’s style,” said Chivas coach Jose Luis “El Guero” Real after the game.
With 45,000 crammed into the Estadio Jalisco, fans are returning to watch the team after a few years where empty seats were the norm.
Turn back the clock six months though and it was all doom for the all-Mexican team.
Chivas owner and Mexican business magnate Jorge Vergara was wielding the axe and changing coaches with the regularity of Sunday Mass. The team hasn’t qualified for the postseason playoffs since May 2008, and each time Vergara has made the coach the scapegoat (pardon the pun).
Even off the pitch, the much-lauded new Estadio Chivas, on the outskirts of the town, had become something of a local joke. Due to open back in 2008, the latest pictures on the website (www.estadiochivas.com.mx) show that it does at last now resemble a stadium. The one remaining problem is overcoming the local Zapopan city hall with regards to building suitable traffic infrastructure for getting the fans in and out.
Only time will tell whether Chivas’ incredible run is the start of something big for the young team and their owner or just another blip in the topsy-turvy world of Mexican soccer.
Atlas
Amidst the gloating of the Chivistas, spare a thought for the long suffering supporters of Atlas.
Without a title since 1951, they have started the Bicentennial Championship reasonably well and were winning 1-0 in San Luis thanks to a Dario Botinelli goal on 12 minutes.
Edgar Pacheco might well have a promising future far from Mexican shores but this was a game he'll want to forget.
Minutes after Botinelli scored, Pacheco was sent off for a second bookable offense. "Simulation" was the apparent crime but replays clearly showed he was fouled.
Atlas collapsed and by halftime they were 2-1 down. They went on to lose 3-1, but stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
and are in the race for a playoff spot but
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