The Liga MX had an exciting and unexpected series of results this past weekend with the fall of Atlas against Queretaro, the shocking tumble of Club America against Veracruz, and Pumas U.N.A.M.’s third consecutive victory. The most shocking result of the weekend however, was Monterrey’s 5 -1 victory at home against Leon. This was the game with the most goals of the weekend and provided a bit of relief for Ricardo Antonio “El Turco” Mohamed Matijevich, who has experienced mixed results as Monterrey’s manager after being appointed by the club on February 16, 2015. This was a promising victory for “Los Rayados” who seem to be adjusting to their new manager’s play style.
The first goal of the night was an early attempt netted by Dorlan Pabon in the 6th minute. The play came from the right wing when Edwin Andres Cardona curled a wonderful through ball right past two Leon defenders and to the feet of Pabon. Pabon met the ball and placed a left footed shot past Leon goalkeeper William Yarbrough, whe seems to have slipped just as he made an attempt to dive for the save.
The second goal was Leon’s answer to Monterrey. Thirty-five minutes after the first goal, Luis “El Chapito” Montes set up a play with a pass to Mauro Boselli who acted as a wall and returned the ball right back to him. Montes held the ball for a moment while he looked up to notice that Monterrey goal keeper Jonathan Orozco was off of his line. “El Chapito” proceeded to place a left footed, lobbed shot past Orozco to equalize the match. Montes seems to be in good form after recovering from a devastating fracture to his right leg in a preparation match for the 2014 World Cup.
Leon’s goal would be the last of the night for the away side but Monterrey had other thoughts in mind for their attending fans. Just four minutes after Montes’ goal, Edwin Cardona stepped up and scored a goal of his own. The play came from a practiced set piece where Cardona touched the ball to Pabon who held the ball for Cardona to place his shot. Cardona however only feinted a shot, pushed forward past a Leon defender, and took a right footed shot. The ball dipped and took an awkward bounce a few feet before reaching William Yarbrough. The bounce caught Yarbrough off guard and although he was able to get a hand on it, he was unable to stop it from entering the goal.
Just after the second half began, Dorlan Pabon once again broke away but this time he took off from just before half field and took the ball past a Leon defender and past the penalty point where he put a low cross in to Neri Cardozo. Cardozo anticipated Yarbrough’s eager coverage of the right and held the ball for an extra touch. Yarbrough once again stumbled and fell over making it simple for Cardozo to gently place the ball into the goal.
Monterrey was still not done for the night. In the 77th minute, Monterrey hero Dorlan Pabon was once again there to shame Yarbrough. Yimi Javier Chara passed the ball to Pabon who was outside of the Leon 18 yard box. Pabon was given all of the time in the world by Leon defenders and was able to place a powerful shot to the top right corner of the goal where no keeper would ever be able to reach it. This was Pabon’s second goal and Monterrey’s fouth of the night.
Yimi Javier Chara must have received some good karma from his assist to Pabon because the final goal of the night belonged to him. Chara put Monterrey’s fifth goal behind the keeper and into the goal after receiving a lobbed through ball from Lucas Antonio Silva. The ball took one bounce before Chara met it with a spectacular right footed shot with the outside of his foot. The volley picked up enough power and curl to beat Yarbrough for the fifth time of the night.
At the end of the night, Monterrey handed Leon their worst defeat this season. It was a much need win for Monterrey that placed them in 13th place on the league table with 13 points and allows them to keep their play off hopes alive. For Leon however, it was the opposite. With this loss, Leon sits in 16th place with 12 points. Yarbrough looked a little unlucky against “Los Rayados”. Maybe it was just one of “those” days for the American-Mexican goalkeeper or maybe it was a case of nerves after being called up to play for Jurgen Klinsmann’s United States Men’s National Team. Either way Leon was the victim of Monterrey’s campaign this weekend but can Mohamed’s side continue to see success?
