Led by Greek Giorgios Giakoumakis, Cruz Azul suddenly and brutally ended America’s paternity in the last seven games by coming from behind to win with a resounding 4-1 that at least somewhat alleviated all the affronts that the cement team had received since the 2021 Apertura tournament.
Indeed, when the outlook seemed bleakest for the squad led by Argentine Martin Anselmi, who offered their worst opening 40 minutes since the Argentine coach took charge of the cement team, the “Greek God” Giorgios Giakoumakis appeared to tie the match and lead the Cruz Azul rebellion that led them to win with a resounding 4-1 thrashing at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes stadium.
In addition, Cruz Azul also broke a negative record of almost 30 years of not being able to beat America by coming back from a scoreline and now they have achieved it with a performance that reaffirms them as leaders of the competition with 16 points, the result of 5 wins and a draw, without knowing defeat yet.
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Indeed, America, playing with a cautious but versatile style, managed to take control of the scoreboard when Cruz Azul’s defense made a mistake in marking a header by America’s Nestor Araujo, leaving Uruguayan Brian Rodriguez alone to head the ball past Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier.
A controversial goal like that penalty in the last final, but now after being reviewed by the VAR, the referee Cesar Ramos, refuted on many occasions by the Club America board in the Referees Commission, considering that it is a bad move, had it on his side to validate the goal and put Cruz Azul against the wall at minute 17.
A goal that was undoubtedly a blow to the heart of the cement team and that made them react to get rid of the chaos of the actions and demonstrate why they are currently fighting for first place in the Apertura 2024 tournament.
The goal by Uruguayan Rodriguez was the incentive for the cement workers to get their act together and little by little they were leveling the score and stripping the Aguilas of their security on the pitch. That’s how the 43rd minute came when Carlos Rotondi went down the left wing almost to the end line to send a cross into the heart of the area and then the Greek Giakoumakis arrived to head over the mark of the Spaniard Álvaro Fidalgo and beat Luis Malagon to tie the game 1-1.
Just then, the Maquina players smelled blood and went to the board, allowing Luis Romo to shake off his marker in the 45th minute to send a cross into the area, where Angel Sepulveda managed to finish off a goal over a defender and put the ball in the net.
For the second half, America wanted to respond by going all out, but with Chilean Diego Valdes out of the game due to a shoulder injury from the first half, they lost their talent distributor who, when replaced by Erick “Chiquito” Sanchez, tried to do the job, but the task was too much for him.
It was then that La Maquina went on the attack and with goals from Alexis Gutierrez and Argentine Lorenzo Faravelli, they shaped the cement revenge that once and for all claimed affronts such as the 7-0 of the 2022 Apertura tournament and especially the last final in which they fell due to a controversial penalty called by referee Marco Antonio “Gato” Ortiz.
