With an unexpected drama, Monterrey had to come from behind to overcome Bravos de Juárez 3-2 at the BBVA Stadium. Sergio Canales commanded the victory in the war with those from the border. Which also left Stefan Medina out due to injury and Germán Berterame due to expulsion.
Rayados went forward to open the scoring as soon as possible with Jesús Corona being the key piece on the wing, but “Tecatito’s” attacks always lacked the final touch.
The millionaire squad full of stars from the local team achieved their objective, but it was not thanks to their great team play. Rather, it was due to an error by the rival defence. Haret Ortega failed to pass the ball to his goalkeeper with his head and when he tried to recover, Vázquez ran over him like a train and, with great luck, the ball rebounded to Berterame, who simply pushed it into the net.
Everything seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory for the “Pandilla”, but surprisingly the Bravos seemed more comfortable with the score against them. Diego Valoyes missed a couple of headers and Jairo Torres warned with a shot.
Monterrey was only looking to finish the first half, but before they could do so, they suffered the loss of Stefan Medina, who injured his ankle in a bad move.
Martín Demichelis brought on Lucas Ocampos to reassure the fans at his presentation at the BBVA. But the former Sevilla player took longer to enter the field than the Bravos’ equaliser.
Andrada tried to punch the ball towards the near post from a corner, but Óscar Estupiñán beat him to the lead and tied the score. The goal stung the pride of the home team, who tried to get ahead without success. And the Bravos were rewarded with another error in the start that ended with a shot from Valoyes in the six-yard box to achieve the comeback.
Avilés Hurtado revived the Giant of Steel when he brought down Edson Gutiérrez in the area. And Sergio Canales converted the penalty that goalkeeper Benny Díaz shouted in his face. But the Spaniard had more. In the last minutes he became the savior of the regios with a shot in the area that turned the game around.
A header from Estupiñán almost put an end to the party, but it hit the crossbar and gave life back to the more than 36,000 fans in the stands.
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The adrenaline rush reached such a level that, when trying to recover the ball, Berterame tackled Hurtado from behind, twisted his ankle and was sent off.
Monterrey held off the Bravos’ attacks as best it could in the 10 minutes of added time. And only the haste of the border team sealed Martín Demichelis’ second victory at the head of the Monterrey team.
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