FC Juarez, despite being a man down for the final 11 minutes of the match, was able to pull off a 2-0 victory against Monterrey Wednesday night at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium.

The dynamic duo of the Dario Lezcano and Diego Rolan scored in the 87th and 93rd minute of the match to give the win to Bravos in the first leg of the Copa MX semifinals. The final stretch of the match went from the 13,973 fans in attendance hoping that the local side would hang on for the 0-0 draw playing with one man down, to a euphoric win that gives the Bravos a 2 goal advantage in the aggregate score going back to Monterrey for the second leg next Wednesday.

It was a match that saw the Bravos play a slightly better first half than Rayados as they had the two most threatening possibilities to score in the first 45-minutes. The second half was most a Monterrey that suffocated Bravos for a majority of the closing 45 minutes producing constant threats on goal but missing on several point blank attempts against FC Juarez goalkeeper Enrique Palos. Bravos head coach Gabriel Caballero tried to shake things up and change the status quo when he would sub in both of the his star forwards and goal scorers Dario Lezcano and Diego Rolan.

FC Juarez.
FC Juarez.
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When Flavio Santos received a direct card in the 79th minute it looked like a draw would be as good as a win for the team from the Borderland. Lezcano and Rolan had other plans. Lezcano scored off of a header on a direct kick and Rolan scored off of a fast break that started from near midfield.

The defeat was extremely detrimental to Rayados as their slump in 2020 continues. They are in dead last place in Liga BBVA with only 3 points after 8 matches and now are 90 minutes away from elimination of the midweek competition.

After the match head coach Gabriel Caballero opened up about just a bit about the exceptional streak this team is on in both league and copa play. Caballero commented, “This team knows it can be play well or bad, but regardless we must maintain our style of play and the philosophy behind it. Their performance on the field of play is and will always be a credit to them. They are the ones the gives the joys of winning, and in the difficult times they stand strong because they warriors. I’ve said it before and will continue to say that I have 25 to 28 players that are simply fierce.”

Up next for the Bravos will be a league match Sunday night when they host 3rd place Leon. The battle between the 3rd and 4th place team in the league standings is scheduled to kickoff at 7pm MST at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. The match will be televised nationally on TUDN (Televisa).

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