News

Last Weekend: Cruz Azul win the Supercopa, Häcken are held in Sweden and there’s at least three reasons to be cheerful at LAFC

Share

With the Supercopa de la Liga MX marking the beginning of a new season in Mexico and the Swedish Allsvenskan returning after a summer break there was lots of football to keep tabs on over the weekend. We’ll cover that along with matches from Norway, Argentina, MLS and Japan in this week’s edition of Last Weekend.

?? Mexico: Atlas 2-2 Cruz Azul (3-4 on pens)

Since Atlas won both the 2021 Apertura and the 2022 Clausura in Liga MX they became the de facto Campeón de Campeones. Therefore, to mark the beginning of the new season in Mexico, the league introduced the first-ever Supercopa de la Liga MX to replace the usual Campeón de Campeones play-off. The match will occur only on such occasions where the same side won both the Apertura and Clausura with that side then pitted against the previous year’s Campeón de Campeones (stay with us here).

In this case, that meant Atlas faced 2021 Campeones Cruz Azul. And after a tight first 40 minutes Atlas took the lead when Emanuel Aguilera scored direct from a free-kick. The scoreline was level on the stroke of half-time though as Santiago Giménez equalised for Cruz Azul following a corner. Paraguayan international Ángel Romero, who set up Cruz Azul’s leveller, then went on to give his side the lead after the hour-mark. But there was still plenty of drama to come.

In stoppage-time, Atlas sent everyone, including goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, forward for a corner. Vargas was unsurprisingly unmarked and he managed to direct a free header towards goal. That was kept out by the Cruz Azul keeper but after a goalmouth scramble Julián Quiñones turned the ball home and sent the match to penalties.

The two sides were inseparable after the first eight kicks so it effectively became sudden death thereafter. Giménez held his nerve and scored for Cruz Azul but Quiñones missed the target altogether for Atlas and with that, the fate of the Supercopa was determined.

?? Sweden: Hammarby 2-2 Häcken

It was first versus third in Sunday’s headline Allsvenskan fixture as Häcken visited Hammarby with the two sides separated by just three points in the table.

The story of the match is summed up quite aptly by the xG timeline.

Hammarby posed a constant threat throughout the match but it was the visitors who raced to a two-goal lead after scoring either side of the hour mark. The league’s leading marksmen, Alexander Jeremejeff bagged his 11th of the campaign following a delightful team move before Mikkel Rygaard added the second.

The hosts continued to generate shooting opportunities and they eventually pulled one back in the 82nd minute thanks to a header from Bubacarr Trawally. Six minutes later Bjørn Paulsen netted the equaliser after another set-piece and that was the final goal of this eventful clash.

?? Norway: Strømsgodset 3-0 Lillestrøm

In the previous edition of this column we highlighted Lillestrøm’s unbeaten record in the Eliteserien. The FotMob curse has now seen that run come to an end with a comprehensive defeat for the league leaders coming at Strømsgodset.

The match was goalless at the midway point after a first half devoid of any major goal-scoring opportunities. But within ten minutes of the restart the home side took the lead through Ipalibo Jack, who headed home from a corner. Some poor decision-making at the back from Lillestrøm allowed Kristoffer Tokstad to score a second in the 76th minute. And Lars-Jørgen Salvesen put the cherry on top of the cake for Strømsgodset with a delightful strike to the top corner from outside the box.

Truthfully, this has been coming for Lillestrøm. Prior to this game they had not drawn a blank in any competitive match this season but their underlying numbers show cause for concern as they are over-performing their league xG by about 10 goals. They remain top for now but Molde are just two points behind them with a game in hand.

?? Argentina: Rosario Central 0-1 Gimnasia La Plata

Friday night was a big one in Argentine football as Carlos Tevez made his managerial debut for Rosario Central against Gimnasia, who were unbeaten since mid-April.

The ex-Manchester City striker set his side up in a 4-4-2 formation but they were asked to keep the ball and build up patiently. In the final third, a lot of their attacks ended with crosses in to the box with left-back Lautaro Blanco especially encouraged to get forward.

Although Central ended up losing after Ramon Sosa scored the only goal of the match in the 80th minute they gave a very good account of themselves. And based on the statistics, at least, looked to be the better side.

Tevez can take a lot of positives from his first outing as a manager and next up, he will have a great opportunity to notch up his first win against bottom-club Aldosivi who only have a point from their first five matches.

?? MLS: LAFC 2-0 New York Red Bulls

The atmosphere at the Banc of California Stadium was especially bubbly prior to Sunday’s early MLS kick-off between LAFC, current leaders in the Supporters’ Shield, and a somewhat depleted Red Bulls side.

The home fans had a lot to smile about – not only were they top of the table with more goals scored than any other side in the league but they had also announced a couple of huge marquee signings in recent times. First, Italian centre-back Giorgio Chiellini arrived from Juventus and then, five-time UEFA Champions League winner Gareth Bale signed following the expiration of his contract at Real Madrid. The best part about these signings was that neither took the club’s one remaining Designated Player spot on the roster. And there was yet more good news as Carlos Vela, the club’s all-time top-scorer signed a contract extension, and made the starting XI for the game.

The first half proved to be a rather cagey affair as the visitors defended resolutely but LAFC steadily increased the pressure in the second half and ultimately found the breakthrough when a poorly executed offside trap allowed substitute Cristian Arango to race on to a through ball from Vela before finishing with ease. Just three minutes later, Diego Palacios scored a second for LAFC and effectively killed the game.

?? Japan: Yokohama F. Marinos 4-0 Kashiwa Reysol

The 18th round of fixtures in the J. League kicked off with a big clash at the top of the table as league-leaders Yokohoma F. Marinos hosted fourth-placed Kashiwa Reysol. The visitors had the chance to close the gap between the two teams down to just one point and unbeaten in five – Reysol were confident of capitalising on the host’s shock midweek defeat to second-tier side Tochigi SC in the cup.

Both sides’ momentum changed quite drastically though as Marinos dominated the game, kept about two-thirds of possession, scored four goals and restricted their opponents to the same number of shots. The hosts dealt most of their damage early and had a three-goal lead by the half-hour mark so they could afford to take their foot off the pedal for the rest of the match.

Marinos have now won four league games on the spin and boast a three-point lead after both Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale dropped points over the weekend. Reysol, on the other hand, have ceded fourth spot to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Written by Neel Shelat.

Cover Image from IMAGO

Last Weekend: Cruz Azul win the Supercopa, Häcken are held in Sweden and there’s at least three reasons to be cheerful at LAFC

With the Supercopa de la Liga MX marking the beginning of a new season in Mexico and the Swedish Allsvenskan returning after a summer break there was lots of football to keep tabs on over the weekend. We’ll cover that along with matches from Norway, Argentina, MLS and Japan in this week’s edition of Last Weekend.

?? Mexico: Atlas 2-2 Cruz Azul (3-4 on pens)

Since Atlas won both the 2021 Apertura and the 2022 Clausura in Liga MX they became the de facto Campeón de Campeones. Therefore, to mark the beginning of the new season in Mexico, the league introduced the first-ever Supercopa de la Liga MX to replace the usual Campeón de Campeones play-off. The match will occur only on such occasions where the same side won both the Apertura and Clausura with that side then pitted against the previous year’s Campeón de Campeones (stay with us here).

In this case, that meant Atlas faced 2021 Campeones Cruz Azul. And after a tight first 40 minutes Atlas took the lead when Emanuel Aguilera scored direct from a free-kick. The scoreline was level on the stroke of half-time though as Santiago Giménez equalised for Cruz Azul following a corner. Paraguayan international Ángel Romero, who set up Cruz Azul’s leveller, then went on to give his side the lead after the hour-mark. But there was still plenty of drama to come.

In stoppage-time, Atlas sent everyone, including goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, forward for a corner. Vargas was unsurprisingly unmarked and he managed to direct a free header towards goal. That was kept out by the Cruz Azul keeper but after a goalmouth scramble Julián Quiñones turned the ball home and sent the match to penalties.

The two sides were inseparable after the first eight kicks so it effectively became sudden death thereafter. Giménez held his nerve and scored for Cruz Azul but Quiñones missed the target altogether for Atlas and with that, the fate of the Supercopa was determined.

?? Sweden: Hammarby 2-2 Häcken

It was first versus third in Sunday’s headline Allsvenskan fixture as Häcken visited Hammarby with the two sides separated by just three points in the table.

The story of the match is summed up quite aptly by the xG timeline.

Hammarby posed a constant threat throughout the match but it was the visitors who raced to a two-goal lead after scoring either side of the hour mark. The league’s leading marksmen, Alexander Jeremejeff bagged his 11th of the campaign following a delightful team move before Mikkel Rygaard added the second.

The hosts continued to generate shooting opportunities and they eventually pulled one back in the 82nd minute thanks to a header from Bubacarr Trawally. Six minutes later Bjørn Paulsen netted the equaliser after another set-piece and that was the final goal of this eventful clash.

?? Norway: Strømsgodset 3-0 Lillestrøm

In the previous edition of this column we highlighted Lillestrøm’s unbeaten record in the Eliteserien. The FotMob curse has now seen that run come to an end with a comprehensive defeat for the league leaders coming at Strømsgodset.

The match was goalless at the midway point after a first half devoid of any major goal-scoring opportunities. But within ten minutes of the restart the home side took the lead through Ipalibo Jack, who headed home from a corner. Some poor decision-making at the back from Lillestrøm allowed Kristoffer Tokstad to score a second in the 76th minute. And Lars-Jørgen Salvesen put the cherry on top of the cake for Strømsgodset with a delightful strike to the top corner from outside the box.

Truthfully, this has been coming for Lillestrøm. Prior to this game they had not drawn a blank in any competitive match this season but their underlying numbers show cause for concern as they are over-performing their league xG by about 10 goals. They remain top for now but Molde are just two points behind them with a game in hand.

?? Argentina: Rosario Central 0-1 Gimnasia La Plata

Friday night was a big one in Argentine football as Carlos Tevez made his managerial debut for Rosario Central against Gimnasia, who were unbeaten since mid-April.

The ex-Manchester City striker set his side up in a 4-4-2 formation but they were asked to keep the ball and build up patiently. In the final third, a lot of their attacks ended with crosses in to the box with left-back Lautaro Blanco especially encouraged to get forward.

Although Central ended up losing after Ramon Sosa scored the only goal of the match in the 80th minute they gave a very good account of themselves. And based on the statistics, at least, looked to be the better side.

Tevez can take a lot of positives from his first outing as a manager and next up, he will have a great opportunity to notch up his first win against bottom-club Aldosivi who only have a point from their first five matches.

?? MLS: LAFC 2-0 New York Red Bulls

The atmosphere at the Banc of California Stadium was especially bubbly prior to Sunday’s early MLS kick-off between LAFC, current leaders in the Supporters’ Shield, and a somewhat depleted Red Bulls side.

The home fans had a lot to smile about – not only were they top of the table with more goals scored than any other side in the league but they had also announced a couple of huge marquee signings in recent times. First, Italian centre-back Giorgio Chiellini arrived from Juventus and then, five-time UEFA Champions League winner Gareth Bale signed following the expiration of his contract at Real Madrid. The best part about these signings was that neither took the club’s one remaining Designated Player spot on the roster. And there was yet more good news as Carlos Vela, the club’s all-time top-scorer signed a contract extension, and made the starting XI for the game.

The first half proved to be a rather cagey affair as the visitors defended resolutely but LAFC steadily increased the pressure in the second half and ultimately found the breakthrough when a poorly executed offside trap allowed substitute Cristian Arango to race on to a through ball from Vela before finishing with ease. Just three minutes later, Diego Palacios scored a second for LAFC and effectively killed the game.

?? Japan: Yokohama F. Marinos 4-0 Kashiwa Reysol

The 18th round of fixtures in the J. League kicked off with a big clash at the top of the table as league-leaders Yokohoma F. Marinos hosted fourth-placed Kashiwa Reysol. The visitors had the chance to close the gap between the two teams down to just one point and unbeaten in five – Reysol were confident of capitalising on the host’s shock midweek defeat to second-tier side Tochigi SC in the cup.

Both sides’ momentum changed quite drastically though as Marinos dominated the game, kept about two-thirds of possession, scored four goals and restricted their opponents to the same number of shots. The hosts dealt most of their damage early and had a three-goal lead by the half-hour mark so they could afford to take their foot off the pedal for the rest of the match.

Marinos have now won four league games on the spin and boast a three-point lead after both Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale dropped points over the weekend. Reysol, on the other hand, have ceded fourth spot to Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Written by Neel Shelat.

Cover Image from IMAGO