Chivas defeat Morelia in friendly in San Jose

Photo by Kavin Mistry

Avaya Stadium received a makeover on Friday night. The stadium that is usually dressed in blue, wore white and red stripes instead as San Jose received Mexican Powerhouse, Chivas de Guadalajara defeated Monarcas Morelia, 2-1, in a friendly match. 

With every seat almost filled, fans of all ages were present to see Liga MX sides collide in a match that usually takes place in Mexico.

Avaya Stadium is the home of the San Jose Earthquakes, however with all of the red and white throughout the stadium it felt like a home game for Chivas.

Drums, Chivas flags, thrown toilet paper on the goals and red and screaming fans were all part of the entertainment throughout the night.

Although the MLS and most leagues around the world are on break for FIFA international match dates, the Bay Area still enjoyed the buzz of club soccer.

Usually, most teams tend to use this week-long break as a time to recuperate from long seasons, get players healthy and train in their respective cities.

However, like Chivas and Morelia, some teams choose to take trips to other countries to either add more brand exposure, or simply play practice matches in order to give younger players more playing time on the first team.

Fans were given the opportunity to see Mexican soccer stars such as Carlos Salcido and Carlos Pena, both who have played for the Mexican National team.

Salcido is the most famous of the two. After first kicking off his career with Chivas, Salcido went on to play in Europe with 121 appearances for 23 time Dutch league champion, PSV.

Both teams entered Friday’s match after just playing against each other on Oct. 2, where Chivas defeated Morelia 2-1 in a Liga MX match.

Chivas is currently in 5th place with Morelia sitting in 11th place in the Mexican league.

Even if this match was labeled as a friendly, there wasn’t anything friendly about the game, as Morelia was trying to avoid losing to Chivas for the third time in the last 11 days.

The game began quick as both teams began to battle for possession of the ball.

The first goal of the match came in the 19th minute when Chivas midfielder Javier Lopez crossed the ball from outside the 18 yard box to find Carlos Cisneros, who was inside the six yard box to put home the easy tap in goal.

The first half would continue to play off as both teams went back and forth, attacking each other's goal.

Toward the middle of the first half the “ole” chants began from the majority filled stadium of Chivas fans each time a Chivas player made a pass.

At the end of the first half Chivas went into the locker room with the lead, 1-0.

As the match progressed, both team's tension began to grow from both sides.

In the 68th minute of the game, Monarcas Morelia midfielder Diego Mejia was ejected out of the game after receiving his second yellow card of the match after a hard tackle on a Chivas player.

Chivas found its second goal of the game in the 77th minute after Chivas midfielder Josue Lazaro cut a defender to shoot a low ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

In the 84th minute Morelia midfielder Jorge Zarate scored the team’s only goal of the game from the penalty spot.

The lone goal for Morelia wasn’t enough as Chivas went on to win 2-1 in the friendly match on Friday night.