Carlos Ochoa scored in the 79th and 84th minutes to lead CD Guadalajara to a 3-1 win over Atlas in an InterLiga Group B match at Pizza Hut Park on Tuesday night.
"What can I say? Today was a big game," Ochoa said. "We had two classics in a row and the team played very well. Today, we played well and we won well. The important thing is to generate opportunities, to look for opportunities. The opportunities will come and today, they came to me."
Chivas technical director Efrain Flores offered his own thoughts on the win.
"I think that it was an intelligent game one way or another where we compromised the ball a little bit," he said. "But we kept our shape. I don't think we let Atlas see too much of the ball. But we maintained the shape on the field and we ended up getting the goals."
Chivas took a 1-0 lead to the break despite being outshot 10-3 by Los Zorros. However, only two of Atlas' efforts in the opening 45 minutes were on frame and thus saved by opposing goalkeeper Luis Ernesto Michel.
Chivas' lone highlight of the first half came in the 21st minute when Ramon Morales converted a penalty kick for the first goal of the evening. Morales' tally was set up after Atlas defender Nestor Vidrio was whistled for a handball inside the box by referee Terry Vaughn.
Morales then calmly walked to where the ball was sitting, 12 yards from goal, for the PK. After Vaughn's whistle, the midfielder got under the ball to send it into the upper left corner of the goal for the score.
"We didn't get the opportunities in the first half, but fortunately this is the way that goal scorers are," Flores said. "Suddenly they get the opportunities and suddenly, they have opportunities like they did today."
About 15 minutes before the game's end, one of Atlas' many opportunities finally delivered results. Los Zorros striker Gonzalo Vargas started the play with a scintillating dash up the left flank. Vargas' shot was saved by Michel, but the rebound popped free in the dead center of the goal.
With Michel on the far right side of the goal, Bruno Marioni stepped in untouched to punch the ball into the back of the net. Marioni had five goals for Atlas in last year's InterLiga.
It was an interesting twist of fate that Vargas and Marioni combined for the tally. With Marioni set to leave for CF Pachuca in 2008, Atlas brought in Vargas to replace him and even gave him Marioni's old number, No. 9. Marioni spent 12 games at Pachuca last season before returning to Atlas, where he now wears No. 11.
However, any euphoria for Los Zorros proved to be short-lived when Ochoa put Chivas ahead once again in the 79th minute. Midfielder Sergio Avila, who had just entered the match, fed Ochoa beautifully from the right side and the Chivas defender knocked it home for a pardon from the club's supporters, who had been jeering his every touch since his missed chance 15 minutes earlier.
Ochoa wasn't quite finished. Five minutes later, following a great through-ball, he broke free again. This chance delivered an identical result, as Ochoa netted his second goal in six minutes to give Chivas a 3-1 edge with about six minutes remaining.
"We lacked concentration," Marioni said. "We had a lot of control of the game but lacked the concentration to win this type of game. I think for the majority of the game, we were better than Chivas."
Just after the start of the second frame, Chivas began their push for a second goal. About three minutes in, Morales took a corner aimed at Marco Fabian, but Fabian's shot was deflected.
Atlas' first chance after the break came in the 50th minute when Marioni advanced up the left flank. His attempted chip into the mouth of the opposing goal was saved by Michel to end the threat.
One minute later, Atlas' Cesar Ibanez took a free kick from about 40 yards out. After the ball bounced around in the Chivas third of the field for a short period of time, it was successfully cleared.
Fabian nearly made it 2-0 in the 52nd, but his bid was denied by Atlas 'keeper Pedro Hernandez. With none of his teammates tracking his run up the field, Fabian got about 25 yards out when he decided to take a chance from the middle of the field. Hernandez came about six yards off his line, where he made a great save that forced the ball over the top of the goal. Morales took the resulting corner, which was quickly cleared away by Atlas.
In the 56th minute, Atlas midfielder Eduardo Rergis figured he had little to lose and everything to gain by taking a chance at netting the equalizer from long range. However, Michel played his shot from the left side perfectly and scooted over to come up with the save.
Ochoa blew a great chance in the 65th when, after a mad rush up the right flank with virtually a clear path to the goal, he struck the ball a little too hard and sent it over the goal, much to the dismay of the sizable group of Chivas fans.
Tuesday's result makes CD Guadalajara 1-0-1 with four points, tying them with Club America atop the standings in Group B. Chivas next takes the field on Friday night at The Home Depot Center against Tigres UANL, who lost 3-1 to America earlier in the evening at Pizza Hut Park. Even though Chivas' moved the club one step closer to clinching a berth in the Copa Libertadores, players didn't want to get too far ahead of themselves.
"One step at a time, we still have Tigres to go," Flores said.
"Every game we're a step closer," said Ochoa. "We have one more game and we have to enjoy it."
"I like the way the team is playing," Flores said. "Each game we are improving. We need a little bit more time. The team understands each other every time more. With such short time between games, you really can't prepare that well."
Atlas, on the other hand, now sit at 0-1-1 with just one point. That makes Los Zorros' next match against America on Friday night at The Home Depot Center a must-win if they are to even have a shot at advancing to the InterLiga finals on January 12. Marioni isn't ready to throw in the towel.
"If you look at our InterLiga last year, we started out with a tie and a loss," he said. "We still have a chance against America and have no doubt that we have to beat America. We have to beat America."
GUADALAJARA - ATLAS 3:1
JANUARY 6, 2009: FRISCO, TX - PIZZA HUT PARK
Attendance: 17,057
Referee: Terry Vaughn (USA)
SCORING
GUA: 11- Ramon Morales 21'; 27- Carlos Ochoa 79', 84'
ATL: 11 - Bruno Marioni (ATL) 75'
LINEUPS:
CHV: 1- Luis Ernesto Michel, 4- Hector Reynoso, 20- Edgar Mejia, 33- Mario de Luna, 27- Carlos Ochoa, 17- Sergio Amaury Ponce, 11- Ramon Morales (24 - Francisco Mendoza 88'), 5- Patricio Araujo, 18- Xavier Baez, 8- Marco Fabian (7 - Gonzalo Pineda 52'), 10- Alberto Medina (13 - Sergio Avila 73')
ATL: 21 - Pedro Hernandez, 30 - Darwin Chavez, 16 - Hugo Ayala, 53 - Nestor Vidrio (6- Jorge Torres Nilo 76'), 19 - Cesar Ibanez (24 - Alfredo Sanchez 45'), 18 - Dario Botinelli, 23 - Eduardo Rergis, 8 - Lucas Ayala, 17 - Jorge Achucarro, 11 - Bruno Marioni, 9 - Gonzalo Vargas
DISCIPLINE:
ATL - Nestor Vidrio 19'; GUA -Mario de Luna 32; ATL - Darwin Chavez 42; ATL -Dario Botinelli 89'; GUA -Gonzalo Pineda 89'
