FC Juarez Men and Women Both Win and String Two Consecutive Wins
Bravos de FC Juarez made quite the performance improvement on Saturday evening defeating Santos Laguna 3-1 at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. The Bravos were able to come back from a 1-0 deficit to score three unanswered goals in the second half to obtain back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
While last week FC Juarez may have obtained the victory (against Mazatlan) despite not being the better of the two teams on the field of play, this week Bravos dominated the visiting team from Torreon, Coahuila in all aspects, indicative of the final score. This is the first time that Bravos has defeated Santos in the three and half years that Juarez has been in Liga BBVA MX.
The third win of the season allowed them to jump in the general standings table to sixth place with a total of nine points as a result of three wins, zero draws and three defeats.
After falling behind in the score in the 21st minute, Gabriel “El Toro” Fernandez became the star of the night scoring two goals for FC Juarez in the 50th and 62nd minute marks on almost carbon copy like headers coming off of corner kicks from the right side. The third goal came, again off of a header, but this time from Tomas Molina.
Molina is a new acquisition for FC Juarez this season, his goal against Santos was his third in as many appearances for the team from the Borderland.
After the game, FC Juarez head coach and technical director Hernan Cristante said this victory was highlighted by several factors but above all “will”. Cristante said, “Their sacrifice, disposition, the authority they played with allowed the team to be very much superior over a team that is very good. The team had patience.”
The Bravos boss continued, “In the first half, I feel that Santos came away with a prize (the goal) that was undeserving. I feel our team was better in the first half than in the second half and Acevedo (Santos goalkeeper, Carlos Acevedo) was the difference maker in that first half. In the second half, the guys showed that authority that allowed them to get the win”
Cristanted concluded by saying that the biggest quality his team has is “will’ and that the team’s recent form is indicative of that. “The will that this team has to transcend, to change things, to become contenders in this league.”
Things will not get any easier for the Bravos as tonight they will face Tigres on the road in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. The team from San Nicolas de los Garza is undefeated on the season thus far, winning four of their first six matches and coming away with a draw in their other two.
Tonight’s match is scheduled for a 6:05 p.m. MST kickoff. The match will be televised nationally on TUDN.
FC Juarez women defeat Tigres for the first time
The men were not the only ones this past weekend to obtain their first ever victory over an opponent. The Bravas were able to defeat Tigres femenil also by the score of 3-1 also at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium one day earlier (Friday evening).
The women were able to establish a quick 1-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the match, and then scored two goals in two minutes (in the 62nd and 63rd minute) in the second half to get their fifth win of the season, a win that allowed the women to move into fifth place in the general standings table.
This is the first time that FC Juarez women defeated Tigres, who are the gold standard in Liga BBVA MX Femenil. Tigres has five titles.
An enormous win for the Bravas who continue to be the biggest surprise thus far this season Mexican women’s soccer.