FC Juarez Wins On The Road, Defeats Toluca 1-0

Bravos de FC Juarez defeated Toluca in central Mexico last night by the score of 1-0. The victory give the Bravos their first road win of the season, first win in 7 matches and second win of this 2020 Apertura season. The win also brings the Bravos point total to 10 points in 9 matches currently good enough for 12th place in the standings table, occupying the final playoff spot if the season was to end today.

The match got off to a slow start once again for FC Juarez as the first 30 minutes of the match was full of imprecision and careless episodes of loss of possession. Two back to back shots on goal was the start of the turnaround as the Bravos dominated the final 15 minutes of the opening half spending most of that time in the offensive one-third of the field of play.

The second half would bring the lone goal of the match only five minutes after it began. On an insignificant throw in in the Bravos offensive third forward Dario Lezcano would get the ball, dribble it into Toluca’s goalbox, heading to his left, cut to his right and take the right footed strike that went like a laser to the back of the net.

Bravos would keep the offensive pressure on the home team and not go into defensive mode to try and lockdown the win, something that they have been guilty of time and time again and has backfired on them. This is something head coach Gabriel Caballero has been criticized for time and time again.

That would not be the case on Tuesday night.

The team from the Borderland maintained its offensive spark and was closer to scoring a second goal than was Toluca scoring the equalizer. It would only be until the closing minutes when Bravos would be pressured to defend as Toluca would go on an all out attack to try and salvage at least a draw, that goal would never come.

After the match Caballero talked about the team’s improvement since the 30th minute to give the best performance in 2 or 3 matches. Caballero said, “I feel to that the team calmed down and started to relax. We started to maintain ball possession like we were seeking to do, we were more calm in the decision making that took place on the field of play.

In the second half we solidified the way we would line up and resulted in us controlling the half. Of course in the closing minutes we suffered a bit because of the 1-0 advantage and because in the last match we allowed the tie in the 83rd minute and of course I’m sure that was on the player’s minds.”

Up next for the Bravos will be a very quick turnaround as they will host Puebla on Friday night at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium in a match that is scheduled to kick off at 8:30pm.