Juarez City.- With nine men for just over 30 minutes of the second half, in a match that was too harsh and with controversial refereeing by Adonai Escobedo, the Bravos de Juárez rescued a one-goal draw against the Rojinegros del Atlas this Sunday, in a matchday match 14 of the Clausura 2023 that was played at the Benito Juárez Stadium.
It was the eighth consecutive game without winning in this tournament for the border team, now led by Diego Mejía, who thus made his debut as a coach in the MX League.
Bravos was looking for the victory that would have catapulted him to ninth place in the overall standings, but instead he had to settle for scoring one point and moving up two places to dawn on rung number 14.
The Juárez team began the second half with two fewer players due to the expulsions of Jesús Dueñas and Gabriel Fernández. The game leveled off a bit at 78′ when the red and black Brian Lozano was sent off for a double yellow.
Barely two minutes into the game, goalkeeper Camilo Vargas prevented a called goal from the Braves in a play that originated from a corner kick.
The first goal of the match fell at minute six when Julián Quiñones beat the back of the Juárez defense with a long pass and shot Talavera inside the area.
A minute earlier, Atlas made the same play to the Braves, so the home defense didn’t learn their lesson.
With the goal against, the Juárez squad went ahead in search of an equalizer and generated two clear arrivals at 21′ and 23′, but in both the goal was denied.
At 34′ the night was upon the Braves when the referee, supported by the VAR, sent off Jesús Dueñas for a foul committed in midfield on Diego Barbosa.
With 10 men on the field, the Juárez team established itself better on the field and the reward for the effort came at minute 41 when Alan Medina headed into the heart of the large area and sent the ball into the back of the net.
The outlook began to look better for Bravos, until at 45+3′ Gabriel ‘Toro’ Fernández complained to the assistant referee for not scoring a corner kick in his favor and the whistler did not hesitate to show him a second yellow and send him to the showers
The decision did not please the fans, who in one voice shouted ‘thief, thief!’ to the referee.
