Mexico Match Thoughts: Morelia vs. Santos

I think I use the phrase, "a tale of two halves" way too much on this blog. In fact, I know I do. However there is really no other way to describe this match. The first half had chances and was entertaining. The second half was a foul fest and total mound of garbage.

Both teams came out of the gate quite quickly, and you would have thought Santos actually came to play. You'd be wrong though. Cristian Suarez hammered a ball over the bar in the 2nd minute, but in the end, it would be one of the few chances Santos would have all match long.

Morelia totally took over from there, They monopolized possession and chances, of which they created quite a few. It was actually pretty fun to watch, except for the fact that you got the impression that Santos was just a total shower, and they wished they were someplace else. Lazy marking, lazy passing, lazy defense, and Morelia took advantage.

The first goal came on 23 minutes as Edgar Lugo took a ball that almost went over the end line for a goal kick and passed it back into the area. It ended up at the feet of Miguel Sabah, who blasted it by the 'keeper to make it 1-0. Sabah was pretty much unmarked. Just two minutes later, Sabah, who was a beast all match long, struck again. This time he took a down field pass from Christian Valdez and beat a stunned Sanchez to score again and make it 2-0.

Finally Santos woke up for the first and only time in the match after going down 2-0. They got their only goal of the game in the 29th as Suarez put a centering pass into the area. It appeared to go off of the foot of Carlos Quintero and into the goal to make it 2-1. Later the announcers questioned that it might have come off of the Morelia defender, though as of the end of the match it was still credited to Quintero. At any rate the score at the half was 2-1.

Santos' lazy style became infectious in the second half. Both teams played an unspirited brand of football marked by hard, pointless fouls, crappy passing, and diving all over the pitch. Honestly, the quality of tackles from both sides made MLS look like Italy.

In the end, Morelia tacked on a late goal as Edgar Lugo scored on a break for Morelia in the first minute of stoppage time to make the full time result 3-1 to Morelia.