Chivas Surprise Paranaense and Just About Everyone Else in the Stadium.

By: Mauro | October 1st, 2008

Most of the match reports I’ve read about this one talk about a surprise result in this one. And that is exactly what it was. A big f-ing surprise. What basically happened is that one team underestimated the other and paid for it dearly.

While the away match ended 2-2 in the first leg, the Brazilians thought that closing this match out at home with the 2 away goals was going to be much easier than it turned out to be. But they couldn’t have been more wrong.

The match started out with Paranaense controlling much of the action and Chivas giving up part of the pitch. The Brazilians must’ve thought that they could slow the tempo of the match and leverage the away goals to their favor. But this only made the match very boring as Paranaense wasn’t creating much danger in the Chivas penalty area.

But, the slowing allowed Chivas to slide into some very comfortable positioning on the pitch and were much more comfortable coming forward. Which is exactly how, Chivas scored their first goal.

Gonzalo Pineda found the ball on a long cross in the penalty area all by his lonesome. He strikes the ball with his head and Paranaense keeper Vinicius had no chance. 1-0 to Chivas.

Paranaense woke out of their stupor and seemed more determined to attack but only made themselves susceptible for attack at the back. And before they knew it the first half was over.

The second half picked up where the last one left off. But only 5 minutes in, Xavier Baez scored to extend Chivas’ lead. Paranaense give a master class in how not to defend. 2-0 to Chivas and the Paranaense crowd is wondering what the fuck is going on.

The Brazilians tried to split the difference and Rafael Moura got one back for his side off a great header where he fought off his marker to beat him and the keeper. But it was too little to late. 2-1 to Chivas.

Because what ensued was one of the finest finishes I’ve seen in quite some time. Omar Arellano and Danilo sped towards an open 50/50 ball and Arellano gets to it first. Danilo gives him tons of space to finish and he touches it with subtlety, lofting it over the keeper’s head and into the net from the tightest of angles. 3-1 to Chivas.

But the nightmare was not over. On the next lay, Sergio Santana scored an unbelievable 4th goal for Chivas with a fantastically taken free kick. Vinicius and the entire stadium were still reeling from the third goal and a fourth was unthinkable. 4-1 to Chivas. Pretty much game, set and match at this point.

Paranaense managed to score a few more to get them closer which came from substitute Kelly off a header from a corner kick in the 68th minute. 4-2 to Chivas. River or Defensor, take note, Chivas are weak off the corners.

And then Moura got his second on the night in the 79th minute with a fantastic finish after bringing down the long cross to bury it past keeper Hernandez. 4-3 to Chivas.

I had this match going 3-1 to Paranaense, I should have known better than to have misjudged a Mexican side in a CONMEBOL competition. But I’m doubly screwed with this result. You see, River – if they advance to the next round – will have to travel to Mexico to face Chivas in the next round. Me no likey.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get one here.