A pair of second half goals from Miguel Acosta and Fabian Pena pushed Necaxa to a 2-1 victory Saturday over Monarcas Morelia in a Mexican League friendly matched played in front of 20,754 fans at Soldier Field. The two Mexican First Division sides played the "Windy City" exhibition match in advance of the approaching COMEX Apertura (Fall) season that begins in August.
A large Michochan contingent appeared at the Lakefront venue to support Morelia, and the "Monarchs" provided most of the spark to please the crowd in the first half. The effort paid off in the 26th minute when midfielder Damian Alvarez rebounded his own shot to take the lead. Alvarez received a pass from forward Gabriel Alvez near the penalty spot that he blasted directly at Necaxa goalkeeper Ivan Vazquez. But the rebound bounced right back to Alvarez, who calmly deposited the second chance to put Morelia up 1-0.
Necaxa would even up the match 20 minutes into the second half when Acosta curled home a free kick to bring the match to 1-1. The "Hidrorayos" defender lined up the dead ball chance from 25 yards out just to the right of goal and bent the kick over the Morelia wall and past 'keeper Junior Felix Madrigal to knot the match. Necaxa would notch the game-winner in the 76th minute when Pena finished in traffic inside the six-yard box after receiving a feed from forward Alfredo Moreno from the right sideline.
Lineups:
Monarcas Morelia -- Junior Felix Madrigal, Gabriel Alvez (Rodrigo Prieto 58), Damian Alvarez, Irvin Rubirosa (Jose Luis Gallardo 58), Fernando Arce (Edgar Solano 72), Humberto Gonzalez, Hector Castro (Jose Antonio Noriega 62), Omar Trujillo, Charal Hernandez (Armando Vara 68), Mariano Trujillo (Ignacio Carrasco 78), David Henriquez.
Necaxa -- Ivan Vazquez, Jose Maria Higareda (Rafael Mejia 45), Miguel Acosta, Juan Reynoso, Carlos Gonzalez (Antonio Martinez 71), Fabian Pena, Daniel Hernandez (Israel Velazquez 85), Rodolfo Espinoza (David Mendoza 45), Marco Capetillo (Johan Rodriguez 45), Alfredo Moreno, Jorge Orozco (Jose Nunez 85).
Scoring Summary:
MOR - Damian Alvarez (unassisted) 26
NEX- Miguel Acosta (unassisted) 65
NEX - Fabian Pena (Alfredo Moreno) 76
Discipline Summary:
MOR - David Henriquez (caution, Tackle from Behind) 4
NEX - Marco Capetillo (caution, Reckless Foul) 40
NEX - Hector Castro (caution, Reckless Foul) 59
