FC Juarez Loses to Chivas After Controversial Video Referee Call

Bravos de FC Juarez suffered their second loss in a row Saturday night, losing to Chivas de Guadalajara by the score of 2-1 at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. The visiting side took a 2-0 lead in the first half and held on for dear life in the second half to leave the Borderland with three points in their pocket.

Once again, as it would seem customary at this point for the Bravos and their supporters, a questionable decision via VAR (Video Assistant Referee) put the Bravos at a disadvantage when in the 20th minute a penalty kick was awarded in favor of Guadalajara. Alfonso Guzman scored from the penalty spot to give the Chivas the 1-0 lead.

To add insult to injury, in the 39th minute the ball literally did not bounce FC Juarez’ way when a shot from Chivas’ Carlos Cisneros hit the crossbar and bounced directly into Fernando Beltran who was making his run toward the goal, the ball went directly into Beltran’s thighs and rolled into the goal, giving Guadalajara a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Juarez dominated the second half from the opening minute and they were rewarded for their efforts only 15 minutes into the half when off of a corner kick the Bravos scored. Gabriel Fernandez was able to get his head on the kick which changed the trajectory of the ball right to the right foot of Tomas Molina who tapped it into the back of the net.

Molina made his debut for the Bravos on Saturday night as he is a new acquisition for the team.

From that point the visiting team went into a completely defensive mode while FC Juarez went on an all out attack, but at the end of 90 minutes the ball did not find the back of the net for a second time for the home side.

After the game Chivas head coach, Veljko Paunovic, was forthright in stating that his team had exerted too much energy in the opening 45 minutes leaving them to turn to a more defensive mindset in the second half.

Meanwhile, a frustrated Bravos head coach, Hernan Cristante did not hold back in giving his opinion of the way the match developed. Cristante said, "The truth is I’ve never lived or gone through anything like the situations or circumstances this team goes through. Pardon the vulgarity, but (it’s apparent) we have to eat sh*t (alluding to the calls that always hinder and/or go against FC Juarez) and being in the position I’m in I have to be the first one in line to swallow it."

Cristante continued, "Today, what, they (Chivas) were able to create only two valid threats on goal the entire game? That’s how soccer is sometimes. We’ll keep fighting off these circumstances of VAR calls going against us, the fact that teams create minimal opportunities against us and put the ball in the goal one way or another, which that aspect falls on me. I’ll keep chewing and swallowing."

Not to defend the team from the Borderland but the reality is, from the most objective point of view, any element of luck required to obtain results is never in favor of FC Juarez.

Up next for the Bravos will be a match on the road in Mexico’s west coast when they face Mazatlan in the state of Sinaloa. Mazatlan has failed to obtain a single point this season, losing all their matches thus far. The way things are going for Bravos that streak will be broken on Friday night in favor of Mazatlan. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 pm MST. The match will be televised nationally via streaming on VIX+.

FC Juarez women’s team fall to as well Chivas 2-1

Unfortunately for the women, they suffered the same fate as the men on Monday night as the Bravas fell to the Chivas on the road, in the state of Jalisco, by the score of 2-1. This was their first defeat of the season.

Similar to their male counterparts, Juarez dominated a majority of the second half and scored a goal in the 63rd minute that was negated by a non-existent offsides call. FC Juarez’ goal came in the 86th minute by way of a penalty kick.

Result aside, the ladies made one thing clear on Monday night, they are no fluke, they are demonstrating exponential growth and development this season.