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Club America secures vital home win emblematic of tight Clausura race
Club America won at home for the first time since August, but coach Miguel Herrera acknowledged the need for improvement. Pachuca coach Efrain Flores lamented the tight result.
Feb 20, 2012 7:59:00 PM
By Nick Rosano
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Club America has struggled mightily over the last six months, but if its performance against Pachuca is any indication, one of Mexico's most storied teams could be on its way back up.
Christian Benitez's long-distance strike allowed America to edge Pachuca 1-0 at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday afternoon. Though the victory was labored, it snapped an ugly streak for America. The Aguilas had not won at the Azteca since Aug. 21 of last year, an eight-game run of futility at their home stadium.
Now, with a home win under its belt, America will look to build on its solid away form (it has collected eight out of 12 available points away in the Clausura) and return to upper echelons of the table. If the razor-thin margin of victory is anything to go by, it is clear that that part of the table will not be an easy place to stay. America coach Miguel Herrera acknowledged that it was not a perfect performance by any stretch.
"I leave happy for how the team looked. We played on an equal footing, back and forth. The truth is that we suffered more because we could have settled [the game] earlier," he reflected after the game. "We lacked forcefulness, we wanted more but I leave happy with the functionality that the team had during the match."
Another concern surrounding America is the team's strong dependence on Benitez, who has tallied five out of America's nine goals in the Clausura, nearly all of them crucial in securing points for the team. While Herrera acknowledged the Ecuadorian's heavy workload, he also pointed out that other members of his team had shown improvement.
"Yes, [Benitez] is a different player and after all I have him [on my team] and because of that I use him. Although 'Hobbit' [Christian Bermudez] and a chance, 'Chema' [Jose Maria Cardenas] also had a shot, and [Raul] Jimenez too," he explained. "We had chances to increase the scoreline."
For the previously unbeaten Pachuca the defeat represented a missed opportunity to overtake Tigres UANL at the top of the table.
"It was an equal match, they had more chance in the first half, but we had the most dangerous chances. In the second half it was the opposite: We attacked a lot, but they were the most dangerous," Pachuca head coach Efrain Flores observed. "It seems to me that most just [result] would have been the draw."
Indeed, the visitors had plenty of the ball in the first half, with U.S. international Jose Francisco Torres orchestrating play in the midfield and Pachuca forwards spending a good deal of time in America's box, though there were few clear-cut chances to be had by either team.
"It was an equal match, the difference is a good shot on goal," Flores added. "The team lost this match more than America won it."
Even Flores' offensive-minded changes were unable the exert any influence on the scoreline. Despite adding three forwards in the last half-hour of the game, including up-and-coming 17-year-old Marco Bueno and veteran Guillermo Franco, the trio was unable to test Moises Muñoz in the America goal.
"The changes did not work out. I had hoped that the three changes would have been more productive," Flores explained. "America protected the back well and we lacked the intelligence and more intensity."
Despite the defeat, Pachuca remains sixth in the table, ahead of America only on goals scored, but similarly just two points off the top spot. On the other hand, there are only another two points between the two recent adversaries and 10th-placed Atlante, lending credence to the idea that there will plenty more games like this and another neck-and-neck finish in Mexico's Clausura.
The other results over the weekend in Mexico's Clausura were: Estudiantes Tecos 2-1 Atlante, Cruz Azul 1-1 Pumas UNAM, Queretaro 0-2 Tijuana, Tigres UANL 0-0 Atlas, Guadalajara 0-0 San Luis, Santos Laguna 1-1 Monterrey, Toluca 3-1 Jaguares, Puebla 1-2 Morelia.
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