The halftime whistle blew and Atlas was totally shocking Chivas with a important lead. Atlas had struck twice perfectly, and had Chivas reeling. Then off of a throw in, Luis Reyes sent it into the area where Julio Furch headed a pass to Jeremy Marquez, who between three Chivas’ defenders was able to get off a right footed shot past Jimenez’s arms for the 2-0 lead. Fernando Beltran got off a right footed shot, but Atlas’ goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was well placed to easily save it. Chivas tried to bounce back knowing they would be in big trouble with a loss at home. Atlas had done well in defending, and with a great play they now had surprisingly taken the lead. Then after a great play by Julian Quiñones, he got past his defender and got off a shot that was blocked by Chivas’ goalkeeper Miguel Jimenez, but it went right into the path of Jeremy Marquez who hit a right footed shot past Jimenez for the 1-0 lead. Luis Reyes almost made a bad mistake, but was able to clear the ball from the area just before Alvarado was about to steal it. Chivas had more possession, but Atlas was defending well and looked dangerous on the counters. 20 seconds in Chivas had a great chance when Roberto Alvarado got into the area, but his shot went wide in a play where he should have done better. The first half started with both teams coming out with their best teams as they hoped to start their campaign well, although Atlas was missing injured Anderson Santamaria but had the return of Aldo Rocha while Chivas had Jesus Ricardo Angulo out for the rest of the season after his injury against Pumas needed surgery. They were the most prepared side, and now return home against their biggest rival with the advantage that even a one goal loss on Sunday will still give them the ticket to the semifinals of Liga MX. Interim Coach Ricardo Cadena had won all of his matches with Chivas before Atlas ended that streak on Thursday, as Atlas handled Chivas well.
Atlas hit the brakes on Chivas’ good run of form with a 2-1 win in the first leg of their quarterfinals series.