Xelajú saw off Antigua GFC 4-0 in the National League's fourth round of the regular season on Wednesday evening. The hosts controlled the tempo from the opening exchanges and never let the visitors back into the contest, earning a comprehensive victory that settled any early nerves they might have had.
And here's the thing about the opening goal — Casas struck in the twenty-sixth minute to break the deadlock after a period of sustained pressure. Antigua responded with urgency, but Xelajú doubled their advantage just before the interval when Jaen found the net in the forty-fifth minute, adding six seconds of stoppage time. To be fair, the visitors had chances to respond, but Xelajú's defence remained composed under the growing weight of attack.
Mejia made it three in the sixty-seventh minute, slotting home after Xelajú had switched to a more direct approach following the break. The game opened up considerably after that, with both sides making changes. Espinoza and Garcia came on together for the hosts in the sixty-fourth minute, while Antigua brought on Maziero in the seventy-second. Then Cardenas completed the scoring in the eighty-second minute, putting a full stop to any hopes of a comeback.
By then the match had turned into a different contest altogether. Hernandez received a red card in the eighty-sixth minute, leaving Antigua with ten men for the final minutes. Xelajú saw the game out comfortably, though they had already done enough to secure all three points. The statistics tell a story of efficiency rather than dominance — Xelajú registered ten shots on target against Antigua's three, despite the visitors holding 53 per cent of possession.
Our prediction called for a home win at sixty per cent confidence, and it came good. Sometimes the numbers don't lie, and Xelajú's clinical edge in front of goal made the difference on a night when Antigua simply couldn't convert their territorial advantage. The hosts now sit with momentum, having overturned a run that included a draw and two defeats in their previous four outings.
What this means in the table is straightforward — Xelajú move upwards with a four-goal margin that will buoy confidence ahead of the next fixture. Antigua, meanwhile, face a rebuilding job after a performance where they created more attacks but failed to test the goalkeeper sufficiently. The gap in quality showed through when it mattered most.
