Bravos Miss Penalty Kick, Get Second Straight Draw

Bravos de FC Juarez and Xolos de Tijuana played to a scoreless draw Friday night at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. The draw gives the Bravos their second point of the season in as many matches. However, also for the second week in a row the Bravos let 2 points slip from their grasp in one single play leaving them to have to settle for the 1 point that comes as a result of a draw.

In a simple analysis the Bravos were the better team over the course of 90 minutes. From the 3rd minute of the match when they created their first real threat on goal, FC Juarez was more of the protagonist on the field of play to aspire to obtain the 3 points.

FC Juarez were consistently the better team, dominating ball possession, being more vertical and constantly pressing their opponent. It was evident that this was the case by the amount of fouls that were being committed against them. The first half ended with Xolos having 14 fouls, but only 2 yellow cards. Needless to say, a lot of leeway was given on the physicality by referee Eduardo Galvan.

The highlights of the first half also included 2 massive saves by Xolos goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco.

The second half would start where the first half left off with the team from the Borderland being the better team. Orozco would deny the Bravos one more time with an amazing save. In the 76th minute Orozco would tackle Bravos forward Dario Lezcano in his goalbox. The referee would not hesitate to call a penalty kick in favor of the Bravos.

Lezcano would take the kick and be denied by the crossbar. Less than 20 minutes the final whistle would blow ending the match in a scoreless draw.

After the match, FC Juarez head coach Luis Fernando Tena met with the media in the post match presser. Tena commented, "On one hand, I’m happy with the team’s effort tonight. They fought, at times played extremely well and created plenty of chances on goal. Unfortunately we were not able to win as planned. Jonathan Orozco had a lot to do with that as he had a great night with some magnificent saves. We are left with a tie that we’re are not happy with. I sincerely believe we were deserving of more tonight, but this isn’t about what you deserve, it about scoring and winning."

Up next for FC Juarez will be two back-to-back road matches against the two biggest, most popular teams in Mexican soccer Club America and Chivas de Guadalajara. These matches will take place over the next two Saturdays.