Pumas and Cruz Azul gave a great performance for neutral fans in a 3-3 tie that will not please their own followers. Pumas’ fans will be kicking themselves for a great performance in the first minutes of the first half in which they took a 2-0 lead but would go down to 10 players in a game changing decision. Cruz Azul’s fan will not be pleased even if the team came back from two goals deficits but had a number of chances with the one man superiority but failed to convert. Pumas will stay in Mexico City for their next match away to Atlante while Cruz Azul will host FC Juarez on Saturday.
The 1st half started with Pumas coming out with their best, including Pedro Vite and Adalberto Carrasquilla. A cross into the area would fall to Juninho, whose close range shot was saved by Cruz Azul’s goalkeeper, Kevin Mier. Off a corner kick, the cross into the area was volleyed by Robert Morales but Mier came up with a great save. Off a counter, Juninho would make a run and get into the area, where he got off a left footed shot past Mier to score and give Pumas the early 1-0 lead. It was a great counter and a great play from the Brazilian attacker to open the score. After winning the ball, Pumas got a great counter and Cesar Huerta got the ball, got past Cruz Azul’s defense and got off a fantastic left footed shot past Mier to score a great goal that gave Pumas the 2-0 lead. It was a great goal and Pumas took a very solid lead as they were given the best start to a match so far in the Apertura 2026. A throw in was badly cleared and fell to Uriel Antuna, who sent his close range left footed shot wide in a bad miss. Off another counter, the ball was crossed into the area where Juninho volleyed the ball wide. Cruz Azul would have a counter in which Gabriel Fernandez got into the area and got off a left footed shot that forced a great save from Pumas’ goalkeeper, Keylor Navas. A terrible mistake by Rodrigo Lopez allowed Cruz Azul a counter in which Fernandez got off a shot but Huerta made a fantastic sliding tackle to clear the ball. Incredibly after giving his best performance, Huerta (who already had a yellow card) tried to clear a ball and kicked Jorge Rodarte, earning his second Yellow card and leaving Pumas with 10 players. In seconds, he went from Hero to Villain. Agustin Palavecino got off a shot from outside the area that went just wide. A cross into the area was headed into the path of Agustin Palavecino, who got off a right footed shot past Navas to score and place the match at 2-1. The whistle blew and although Pumas had the lead, it was Cruz Azul who had the momentum after Pumas went down to 10 players.
The 2nd half started with Pumas subbing out Juninho for Alan Medina. Cruz Azul subbed out Jorge Rodarte for Andres Montaño. Carlos Rodriguez got off a right footed shot in the area that went wide. A cross into the area was deflected by Vite into the post for an almost own goal. Still that play benefited Pumas as a longball opportunity came as a longball found Robert Morales, who got past Willer Ditta and Mier before getting his slow shot into the net to score and increased Pumas lead to 3-1. It was a surprising goal as Pumas had been completely dominated by Cruz Azul since going down to 10 players. A pass into the area was just out of reach of Nicolas Ibañez and Navas was able to clear the ball. This led to a Pumas counter which ended with Medina getting off a shot that was cleared by Ditta. Palavecino got off a right footed shot that went wide. A cross into the area was headed by Montaño but it would hit the post. A cross into the area was lowered to Fernandez, whose shot hit the post but it would have been ruled offside had it gone in. A cross into the area was headed by Ibañez but his header hit the post. Luckily for Cruz Azul, the ball would go right towards Andres Montaño, who got off a left footed shot from close range past Navas to score and place the scoreboard at 3-2. Pumas subbed out Adalberto Carrasquilla and Rodrigo Lopez for Antonio Leone and Victor Arteaga. Montaño got the ball in the area but his left footed shot was slightly deflected and hit the post because of it. A cross into the area was headed wide from close range by Ibañez. Pumas subbed out Nathan for Angel Azuaje. Cruz Azul subbed out Jeremy Marquez for Christian Ebere. A cross into the area was lowered to Fernandez, whose left footed shot went wide. Off a corner kick, the cross was headed wide by Fernandez. Pumas subbed out Pedro Vite for Luciano Herrera. Cruz Azul subbed out Willer Ditta and Gabriel Fernandez for Alan Mozo and Juan Jose Calero. A cross into the area by Calero was deflected by Ibañez and then from close range, Christian Ebere would get to the ball and lobbed it from close range past Navas to score and tie the match at 3-3. Cruz Azul subbed out Carlos Rodriguez for Luka Romero. Ebere would get past a defender and get off a pass to Romero, whose right footed shot was wonderfully saved by Navas. A cross into the area would find a wide open Jesus Orozco, who from close range sent his show wide in a bad miss. A bad clearance by Azuaje would gift the ball to Montaño, whose left footed shot was saved by Navas. Another bad clearance allowed Calero to get the ball in the area but his right footed shot was well saved by Navas. The whistle blew and after a wonderful start, Pumas lucky to end with a point after ending up with only 10 players for most of the match.
Pumas was on it’s way of giving by far their best performance in the Apetura 2026 and thus of Coach Esteban Solari’s tenure at Pumas after going on a 2-0 lead and completely dominating Cruz Azul. But the best player on the pitch getting a red card completely changed the match as Cruz Azul dominated from that time until the end although Pumas had surprisingly increased their lead with an early goal in the 2nd half. Pumas could only get a tie and their fans are not happy with the fact that they wasted such a good start and will now have to go to Atlante without Huerta. Pumas continues to be out of the Liguilla zone and time is running out on the season for Solari to turn things around. Cruz Azul will also not be happy with the point as they had a man advantage for more than a half and although they dominated the 2nd half, they could only get a tie. A number of shots hitting the post didn’t help and yet they should have gotten the win because of the momentum of the match. Cruz Azul will be heavy favorites next week when they host FC Juarez as they sit in seventh place in Liga MX.