Jaguares Chiapas Vs. UANL Tigres, 2012 Apertura: Final Score, Tigres Roll 4-0

The Jaguares Chiapas defense wasn’t expected to be fantastic this season, but they were truly embarrassed at home in their Liga MX opener on Friday night. With Edgar Andrade and Jackson Martinez in the lineup, Jaguares were regularly able to outscore opponents last season, but with Martinez gone and Andrade unavailable, the hosts had nothing going forward and they were demolished 4-0 by UANL Tigres.

With no Andrade or Martinez, Tigres didn’t look like they believed Jaguares had the ability to cut open a deep defense, and they were absolutely right. Tigres’ chances didn’t come from great passing moves, but from set pieces, counter-attacks and long-range strikes. They didn’t have to commit numbers forward to dominate the game.

Tigres scored their opening goal in the 7th minute, off of a corner kick, following a long spell of possession for Jaguares. Damien Alvarez delivered the ball into the box, and it was met with a header by Juninho. His effort struck the bar, but striker Alan Pulido was unmarked and easily put in the rebound.

Juninho would add a goal of his own in the 19th minute, also off of a set piece. This time, instead of going up for a header, he lurked outside the penalty area and thumped a fantastic volley into the back of the net after the ball deflected out to him. Lucas Lobos all but sealed the win in the 35th minute with a long-range goal that took a deflection off a Jaguares defender, giving Edgar Hernandez no chance to make a save. Manuel Viniegra completed the rout five minutes later with a close-range volley, finishing off a ball that was lofted into the box by Juninho.

Because a Tigres victory was all but assured, the second half was extremely uneventful. The best moment of the half came in the 78th minute, when new Jaguares acquisition, and substitute striker, Jhon Cordoba whiffed on what should have been an easy finish just in front of goal. It was a perfect microcosm of his team’s performance.