América recovered from a 3-1 deficit to draw 3-3 in the first leg of their Quarterfinal series against Pumas. It was an exciting match with controversial moments that still leaves Pumas on the road, since América will need to win next week at the Olympic Stadium to advance to the Clausura 2026 Semifinals.
The 1st half began with the news that Brian Rodríguez would not play due to injury. The América player had been named starter and had left the team for warm-ups but was injured. For Pumas, they had Uriel Antuna in addition to Robert Morales and Juninho up front. After an error by América with a pass, the ball would reach Jordan Carrillo, who found Juninho just outside the box, and he would fire a right-footed shot past América goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota for an early goal that gave Pumas the surprising 1-0 lead. On a counterattack, Carrillo took a right hand from outside the area that went wide. A cross into the area ended with a great combined play in which Patricio Salas would find Isaías Violante, who with a left foot shot in the area beat the Pumas goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, to score and tie the game 1-1. Center into the area that Alejandro Zendejas headed wide. From outside the area, Kevin Álvarez hit a right hand directly at Navas. From outside the area, Zendejas took a great shot with his right foot that crashed into the post. A cross into the area that Alexis Gutiérrez headed wide. From outside the area, Adalberto Carrasquilla took a right foot that was saved by Cota. Álvarez would once again have a right shot from outside the area that Navas would easily save. América’s big chance came when a bad clearance left the ball there for Cristian Borja, but he missed with his left foot. From outside the area, Carrillo took a good right hand that Cota made a terrible shot on the block, leaving the ball for Uriel Antuna to take the rebound and finish into the back of the net that gave Pumas the lead 2-1. Before the start of the counter, Rodrigo López had received a foul from Rodrigo Dourado, which sent him flying into Borja’s leg, who was seriously injured. He would have to be removed from the game. Ramón Juárez would be replaced in his place. On a corner kick that was not cleared, the ball fell to Miguel Vásquez, who was on the line and volleyed wide, in a terrible mistake. The halftime whistle blew and Pumas took the lead until halftime.
Advertisement
The second half began without any of the teams making changes during it. After getting past a defender, Jordan Carrillo would unleash an incredible right hand shot from outside the box that went over Cota and into the net to score and give Pumas a 3-1 lead. It was a great goal although, once again, Cota could have acted better on the play. Zendejas took another terrible left foot that went wide. Pumas replaced Juninho with Pablo Bennevendo. After a clash of heads between Álvaro Angulo and Sebastián Cáceres, the América defender appeared to have a head injury and needed medical attention. América replaced Sebastián Cáceres, Patricio Salas and Alexis Gutiérrez with Thiago Espinosa, Henry Martín and Raphael Veiga. It was a controversial move as it appeared that Vásquez had left for Espinosa before an América assistant realized that Cáceres had to leave and pushed him back in. A cross into the area was headed wide by Juárez. On a corner kick, there was a play where it seemed that Dourado was knocked down by Carrasquilla. After going to VAR, the referee gave América a penalty. Henry Martín took the PK and with a right hand he beat Navas to score and put the game at 3-2. América replaced Rodrigo Dourado and Erick Sánchez with Jonathan Dos Santos and Vinicius de Lima. On a free kick, Pedro Vite took a left foot shot that tried to surprise Cota but he did it well. On a free kick in the area, Martín would fall after the ball was not cleared and the referee gave América another PK after ruling that Nathan had kicked him. Alejandro Zendejas took the PK and with a left foot shot beat Navas to score and tie the game 3-3. Espinoza took a great left foot but Navas saved very well. Pumas replaced Rodrigo López, Uriel Antuna and Jordan Carrillo with Jesús Rivas, Antonio Leone and César Garza. A long ball that reached Morales would turn into a great opportunity when Cota tried to get to the ball and missed but Morales shot into an empty goal that went wide. A great pass from Carrasquilla allowed Angulo to have a great opportunity in the area but he took a terrible left foot shot that went wide. From outside the area, Lima took a right hand that went wide. The whistle blew and América recovered to tie but Pumas still had an advantage with the result in the Quarterfinal series.
In an exciting match, Pumas wasted a great opportunity to end their series against América after taking a 3-1 lead that seemed terminal for the hosts. But two penalty kicks gave América the tie, but it is a result that still keeps Pumas in the standings. There was further controversy when a US substitution appeared to have been done incorrectly. Pumas would later ask for a ruling to reverse the result and achieve a 3-0 victory but the league decided not to do so and only fined América. América will still have a difficult task as they need to get a win in the second leg, while Pumas just need to win. Pumas will have to improve in defense and show better management since they were superior in the first half and up to 3-1 but they began to falter and when América tied, they had already recovered possession. Pumas’ controversial effort to achieve victory through the strange events during the second half change will add to the animosity for Sunday’s game. Although Pumas is the favorite, it will be difficult and not surprising at all if America manages to pull off the surprise.