Challenge

La Bombonera
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Mexico's Joel Gaona started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. 3 minutes into the match, Sporting de Gijón's goal looked a bit too open when Alberto Tafalla came free, but Sergio Romero reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After some careless play in the Sporting de Gijón defense, Luca Zorita kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Sergio Romero. The Sporting de Gijón fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Sergio Romero should have stopped the shot. Sergio Romero took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 9th minute, Joel Gaona ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Sergio Romero was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joel Gaona in the 14th minute of play forced Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper Sergio Romero to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Kauan de Barros kicked well hit freekick during the 18th minute of the match. 20 minutes into the match, Elpidio Bixintxo had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Dante Lacasa. Mexico's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Elpidio Bixintxo was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-2. An unexpectedly hard shot by Luca Zorita in the 24th minute of play forced Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper Sergio Romero to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 31 played minutes Sporting de Gijón got a freekick which was hit by Pascual Tipi. Sporting de Gijón's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Benigno Eriz in the 34th minute. Dante Lacasa didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Melchor Rosio went, in the 36th minute, to the upper right corner, 2-2 was the resulting score. After having played for 38 minutes, Luca Zorita managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Mexico's supporters crossed their fingers, but Luca Zorita was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Alberto Tafalla received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 43rd minute. Sergio Romero tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Sergio Romero showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lautaro Mancebo in the 47th minute of the match. The fans had the chance to grab some refreshments as the whistle went for half-time. The score stood at 2-2 after a close first half.

Sporting de Gijón's Damián Šilha was substituted for Benigno Eriz. A collision led to Sporting de Gijón getting a freekick after 54 minutes play. Melchor Rosio hit a great ball. Sporting de Gijón's Sergio Romero played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 55th minute of play. After 56 minutes Sporting de Gijón's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Joel Gaona who took care of the corner kick. 58 minutes into the match, Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper Sergio Romero had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Lautaro Mancebo. If Luca Zorita had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 60th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. 62 minutes in the game Macos Graciani did a throw-in, and the ball was quickly in game thanks to Joel Gaona. Sergio Romero took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The crowd rose to their feet as Joel Gaona kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Sergio Romero. That made the score 2-3 in the 66 minute of play. After 71 played minutes Mexico got a freekick which was hit by Macos Graciani. In the 73rd minute, Mexico's Joel Gaona ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Sergio Romero. Sergio Romero yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 2-4. Joel Gaona received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Sergio Romero came out and tried to block the shot, but Joel Gaona slotted it home off the left post making it 2-5 in the 79th minute. Sporting de Gijón made a substitution. Timoteo Eguntsenti replaced Angel Di Maria. 83 minutes into the match, Sporting de Gijón's goal looked a bit too open when Alberto Tafalla came free, but Sergio Romero reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 83 minutes of play, Mexico's Alberto Tafalla made it 2-6 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Sergio Romero was left in no man's land by his defense there! Alberto Tafalla scored 2-7 in the 86th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Sergio Romero, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 90th minute, Mexico's Luca Zorita ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Sergio Romero. Sergio Romero yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 2-8. In the 94th minute, Alberto Tafalla left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Mexico fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-9. Mexico's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.