Chivas won comfortably 3-1 against Mineros on preseason match

Chivas are getting off on the right foot during the new season, as they won their second preseason match with a final score of 3-1 against Mineros de Zacatecas last Wednesday, keeping up their unbeaten streak.

Even though the match was played at Carlos Vega Villalba Stadium in Zacatecas, Guadalajara looked comfortable in the turf, dominating from the start and leaving in the past the lack of goals that they suffered from last semester, something they're trying to change before Liga MX comes back for Clausura 2022.

Chivas lined up Raul Gudiño as goalkeeper, after they made official the departure of Toño Rodríguez to Querétaro. Jesús Sánchez and Alejandro Mayorga alongside Hiram Mier and Antonio Briseño started as defenders.

On midfield, Jesús Molina and Fernando Beltrán served up as halfbacks while Jesús Angulo, Cristian Calderón and César Huerta were in charge of creation, alongside Uriel Antuna, who was at the front.

Zacatecas was the first team that had a real chance of scoring, when Jesús Henestrosa shot dangerously but Gudiño had an outstanding reaction to keep his goal clean.

It only took them 23 minutes to score their first goal, after Mineros made a mistake as a result from the high-pressure they applied throughout the first half. César Huerta recovered the ball for Chivas, who then lend it to Cristian Calderón. “El Chicote” crossed a pass that Jesús Angulo ended up striking to the net, opening the score for Guadalajara.

Just six minutes later, at 29' Jesús Molina scored the second goal with a header after a corner kick made by “el Chicote” Calderón. The third goal arrived at the 37’, when Calderón finally had his chance to score.

On the second half, Mineros tried to even up the score after Marcelo Michel Leaño completely changed Chivas’ lineup, but they only were able to reduce the difference by one goal, which arrived at the end of the game, when defender Luis Hernández found a rebound just outside the goal box.

It’s worth noting that during the first preseason match they won 8-0 against Caimanes de Colima, which puts an end to one of the biggest problems they faced on the past season, when they only were able to score 13 goals over 17 matches.

Players and fans payed homage to Benjamin Galindo during halftime

Mexican legend Benjamin Galindo was part of the celebrations that took place during the match. Galindo had a stroke on May 2020 and hasn’t yet fully recovered from it, which led him to distance himself from soccer.

Born and raised in Zacatecas, “El Maestro” was part of Guadalajara’s team during the 90s and later became a coach not only for Chivas’ Academy, but also for the first team. The historical player and his family were present at the stadium for the celebration, where he received a Chivas jersey and couldn't hold the tears back as people cheered on him.

What comes next for Chivas?

Before the Clausura 2022 starts, Chivas will face one more preseason game against Necaxa in Aguascalientes, on December 29.

Then they’ll have their first game of the Clausura 2022 on January 9 on home turf, when Mazatlán visits them at Akron Stadium for the first round of Clausura 2022.

The most notable fixtures on the schedule are on round 6 against Tigres at home; the “Super Clásico” will be held on round 10, when América visits Akron Stadium on March 12.

Right after that, on round 11, Chivas will visit the reigning champion and hated rival, Atlas, on what could be one of the thoughest two weeks of the tournament as they’ll play back-to-back clásicos.

Guadalajara will finish the regular season against Necaxa, on a visit to Aguascalientes on April 29, looking up to earn a spot for the playoffs, where they ended up last season with a loss against Puebla on penalties during repechaje.