Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho celebrates his first goal of the season (AP Photo)
To say that Chivas disappointed in last year's Clausura is a bit of an understatement. Going winless in their last 5 in domestic league play, they made some high profile changes in the off-season. They brought in former Melbourne Heart manager John Van't Schip to take the helm of the club, and they added two high profile players, Luis Perez and Rafael Marquez Lugo.
Toluca didn't seem to care a lick about this though, and showed it very early in the match. In the very first minute midfielder Zinha smacked a shot on target that had to be saved by Luis Michel for Chivas. His respite didn't last long though. In the second minute, Chivas turned the ball over in the midfield and Toluca forward Carlos Esquivel came charging toward the goal. He unleashed a drive toward the inside of the near post, and Michel dove over it, totally missing the ball as it went into the net and Toluca took a 1-0 lead.
Conceding seemed to wake Chivas up a bit, and they started to control the ball. Their first chance came on 16 minutes as Ernesto Perez set up for a direct free kick outside of the penalty arc. Unfortunately for the Goats, his shot sailed high and failed to trouble the 'keeper.
Toluca would manage to tack on another goal before the half as well. In the 32nd minute, Lucas Silva played Juan Carlos Cacho in behind the rather high Chivas back line. The Toluca attacker then slammed a shot toward the near post from outside of the area. Michel dove to his right, and managed to get a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to turn the shot away as Toluca took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Chivas largely took control of the match in the second half, and slowly started to zero in on the Toluca goal. In the 62nd minute the aforementioned Rafa Marquez Lugo got a decent look from close range, but his shot was from a rather tough angle, and he missed the target. Lugo wasn't done though. In the 67th minute he unleashed another shot that just missed the far post. Finally in the 68th he took a ball from Erick Torres and slotted home his first goal in a Chivas kit to make it 2-1.
That was about all the Goats could manage though. In the 79th minute, Jesus Sanchez tried his luck at an equalizer, but Toluca 'keeper Alfredo Talavera was up to the task, saving the shot and preserving the 2-1 win for Toluca at home.
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