Matias Vuoso had a goal off the bench in Santos's 2-0 win in Estadio Azul. (Photo: Newscom)
Cruz Azul’s Bicentenario struggles continues on Saturday, giving up two late goals at Estadio Azul in losing to Santos, 2-0.
Carlos Quintero’s 83rd minute goal would prove the match-winner, though Matias Vuoso’s 85th minute tally put the match away.
Cruz Azul is now 1-2-1 on the new tournament, three points behind Santos, who leads the group. La Maquina’s only results have come against Pumas and Jaguares, and while the tournament has just started, back-to-back 2-0 losses to Monterrey and Santos are cause for mild concern of one of the pre-tournament favorites.
The first ten minutes of the match saw each side consistently generate opportunities, with Cruz Azul’s best chance coming when Chaco Jimenez missed a one-on-one opportunity on Oswaldo Sanchez, while Santos had a point-blank shot from Daniel Ludueña (from the left of goal) saved by José de Jesus Corona.
After a period where it appeared the match was settling-down, Ludueña was able to put Oribe Peralta in behind the Maquina back line. The chance went wide of Corona’s goal after defender Edcarlos appears to reach out and pull Peralta, a foul that went unpunished.
All of Santos’s early attacked went through Cruz Azul’s middle. Neither Gerrado Torrado nor Cristian Riveros offered answers for Ludueña, while central defenders Edcarlos and Melvin Brown struggled once Santos entered the attacking third.
Cruz Azul’s success in entering attack came down their left side, where they were able to use Fausto Pinto and Jaime Lozano off of Jimenez to easily move up the flank.
In the 33rd minute, Cruz Azul nearly opened the scoring when Gerrardo Torrado was found alone at the far post. A lobbed cross was settled by the veteran midfielder, who found Sanchez baring down on him by the time he was ready to shoot. The strike ended up being smothered by the Santos keeper.
Despite all these chances and generally open play, the clubs would go into half and through most of the second drawn nil-nil. While Torrado and Riveros (and later Israel López) had solved the first half problems that were leading to Santos’s chances, the continued settling-in period for El Chaco at his new club seemed to detract from the Cementeros attack.
While Cruz Azul were able to go long periods of time holding possession – creating strings of double digit touches on multiple occasions – they were never able to create that final ball. Worse: they lacked the movement that would open up space for such a ball, a possible symptom of Jimenez and Emanuel Villa becoming accustomed to each other.
As a result, it was Santos who created the half’s best chances, particularly on the counter.
In the 75th minute, Cruz Azil had their best chance, with Rogelio Chávez’s cross from the right flank finding substitute Javier Orozco unmarked just above the six. Orozco’s header went safely over the crossbar.
By that time, Santos Laguna had become completely dependent on countering, with Cruz Azul seemingly maintaining 75 percent of the possession. As a result, La Maquina was able to get more crosses from Chávez into the area, though none were executed as well as the opportunity Orozco would miss (though Orozco would miss another good headed opportunity in the 81st minute).
The match seemed destined to end in a draw, particularly when Ruben Rómano brought Francisco Javier Torres on for Ludueña.
Then, a goalkeeping blunder from Corona gave Santos the match, with the Cruz Azul keeper failing to play a cross for which he came off his line, the ball going under him and to Carlos Quintero. The Ecuadorian’s second goal of the season put Santos up 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, Vicente Vuoso was put in behind Cruz Azul’s high line. Corona’s had come fifteen meters off his line by the time Vuoso pulled up, allowed Edcarlos to pass, and finished Santos’s second and final goal, with each tally coming against the run of play.
Though they controlled possession for much of the match, Cruz Azul did not have the same quality opportunities they gave Santos. As a result, Santos leads Group 3 with seven points, with Cruz Azul sitting fourth (or sixth) with four.
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