Chivas held to draw by W-Connection

[Tallman]

Chivas held to draw, still alive in CCL.
CONCACAF.com.

Nineteen-year-old Erick Torres scored his first goal of the season and gave CD Guadalajara a 1-1 draw with DirecTV W Connection on Wednesday, keeping alive Chivas' chances of reaching the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.

Chivas improved to four points, three behind Group 8 leader Xelaju, with an October 25 showdown against the Guatemalan side in Guadalajara, Mexico, to determine the berth in the knockout round. W Connection already had been eliminated.

Chivas is hoping to avoid becoming the first Mexican team to fail to qualify for the quarterfinals since the Champions League began in 2008.

Torres' goal in the 39th minute gave Chivas the lead, but Clyde Leon's right-footed free kick equalized in the 66th.

Despite playing without several regulars due to injury, including Omar Arellano, Rafael Marquez Lugo, Marco Fabian and Miguel Ponce, Chivas had the overwhelming amount of possession and chances through the first 45 minutes.

Connection keeper Jan-Michael Williams made several dramatic saves to deny Guadalajara, getting a right hand to block Jesus Sanchez's volley of a ball into the penalty area in the 15th, and again knocking away Xavier Baez's deflected free kick in the 36th.

Chivas continued to press and finally tallied when Antonio Gallardo sent a ball wide to Omar Esparza, who crossed it low into the middle of the area. Torres settled, turned and hit a right-footed shot that got past Williams.

The Trinidadian side had a better start to the second half, and tied the game when Leon drilled a right-footed effort from the edge of the penalty area past the left side of a five-man wall and off the fingertips of Chivas keeper Luis Michel.

Chivas continued to control the possession and tested Williams again in the 72nd when Baez's drive from distance requited the Trinidadian keeper to extend to his right to knock it away.

Chivas extended its unbeaten streak to five in all competitions, but remained winless in confederation club play in six games dating back to the 1997 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Connection, which won't begin play in the TT Pro League until next week, finished the Champions League with two draws in four matches.

Teams

W Connection: - 18.Jan-Michael Williams; 13.Kern Cupid, 12.Gerard Williams (26.Stefano Rijssel 66th), 19.Leslie Russell, 4.Daneil Cyrus, 32.Kurt Frederick, 8.Clyde Leon, 7.Rennie Britto, 29.Jomal Williams (25.Christian Viveros 59th), 14.Hachim Arcia, 9.Matthew Bartholemew (17.Andrei Pacheco 80th).

Coach: - Stuart Charles-Fevrier (St Lucia).

Guadalajara: - 1.Luis Michel; 4.Héctor Reynoso, 6.Omar Esparza, 29.Victor Perales, 5.Patricio Araújo, 18.Xavier Báez, 25.Antonio Gallardo (12.Luis Morales 57th), 15.Jesús Padilla (11.Julio Nava 85th), 13.Abraham Coronado, 17.Jesús Sánchez (14.Jorge Enríquez 68th), 19.Erick Torres.

Coach: - Johannes Van 't Schip (Holland).

Referee: - David Rubalcaba (Cuba).

Attendance: - 250.

Standings

GP  W  T  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Xelajú  3 2 1 0 6 4 +2 7
Guadalajara  3 1 1 1 5 2 +3 4   
W Connection  4 0 2 2 5 10 -5 2

General Game Stats

W Connection  v  Guadalajara
2 Shots on goal 6
3 Shots wide 6
6 Fouls 3
2 Corner Kicks 2
2 Offsides 1
39% Possession 61%

[D.H.W]

Draw against chivas, decent result.

[triniairman]

Draw against chivas, decent result.

Well they did not play with several regulars, according to the article. Not sure how to look at this result.

[SWF Reporter]

Stubborn Connection defies Mexicans again.
By Lasana Liburd (Wired868.com).

DirecTV W Connection ended its 2012 CONCACAF Champions League campaign last night with a defiant display at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva as the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League team held Mexican outfit Chivas de Guadalajara to a 1-1 tie.

The result maintained Connection’s remarkable record of having never lost to Mexican opposition on local soil after four meetings at this level against Guadalajara (twice), Toluca and Pumas.

To put that statistic into perspective, Mexican clubs have won all of the last seven CONCACAF tournaments and captured a total of 28 Confederation crowns. The second most successful league in these parts is Costa Rica and it has won just six.

Guadalajara, who lost 2-1 in Trinidad five years ago, again failed to overcome a solid, composed Connection team that was buoyed by classy individual performances from the Trinidad and Tobago international duo of midfielder Clyde Leon and goalkeeper and captain Jan-Michael Williams.

“Tonight is a proud moment for us,” said Connection coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier. “I am very pleased with the result because Chivas is a quality team.”

Elsewhere in Honduras, towering striker Jamal Gay got his first goal this season for Neal & Massy Caledonia after an assist from substitute Abdallah Phillips. But the Caribbean champions could not hold on as CD Marathón’s substitute Jonathan Reyes grabbed an 80th minute winner for the host team.

Caledonia ended its first CONCACAF adventure with one draw and three losses.

Connection finished just one point higher but was left to regret squandering a two-goal lead against group leaders, Xelajú, in its opening group match, which ended in a 2-2 draw. The “Savonetta Boys” equalised twice away to Xelajú but still left Guatemala empty-handed after a late 3-2 defeat.

“In a three-team group, the first game is always very important,” said Fevrier. “We really shot ourselves in the foot against Xelajú.”

The Pro League had not started yet when Connection and Caledonia kicked off their CONCACAF campaigns while, even now, the local team has played just two official games this season. In contrast, Guadalajara has played nine and Xelajú managed 12.

The generally low intensity of the domestic game plus paltry crowd support also serves as a disadvantage for Trinidad and Tobago clubs at this level. There were probably a little over 300 patrons at the Ato Boldon Stadium last night.

“I was extremely disappointed with the small turnout,” said Williams, in the post-game press conference. “If the public doesn’t respect the Pro League, I felt at least people would understand that we were playing a top Mexican team.”

Read More

[Raul]

How was the Chivas fan attendance? Any chicas in the stands?

[D.H.W]

Draw against chivas, decent result.

Well they did not play with several regulars, according to the article. Not sure how to look at this result.

Oh okay didn't know that.

[just cool]

Draw against chivas, decent result.

Well they did not play with several regulars, according to the article. Not sure how to look at this result.

Oh okay didn't know that.

So what, Chivas was missing ah few players don't mean the result was less ligit. them mexicans are just like us, they don't travel well.

in any case, chivas is ah big big club, and could match the best players we have whether domestic or foreign based and trump them with honors in every aspect of the game, and with very little effort.

they also have one of the best youth academies in the whole wide world, big team that! and that was ah damn good result, well done connection.

[Deeks]

Chivas could have or should have won the game.They had 60% of the game. I may be too generous to Connection on ball possesion. On the other hand Connection played well. They were compact and a bit more disciplined in defence. Somethings that bother me with JW is balls in the air. Chivas were outmuscling our guys most of the time. Our guys need the weight room more. But this maybe a lesson for the young ones.

The camera did flash 3 Chivas fans. A couple with their son(who was sleeping).

[Tallman]

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