Pirates saw off CorreCampos UAT 4-1 in the Apertura seventh round of the MX Expansion League on September 6th. The hosts took all three points despite sitting level on points with their visitors in the table, and here's the thing — they did it without dominating possession. Both sides came into this match with identical records of three wins, two draws and two losses from seven games.
F. Garcia opened the scoring in the twenty-third minute, giving Pirates the lead they would defend for most of the first half. CorreCampos UAT pushed forward but could not find a way back into it, and by then the yellow cards were already stacking up on both sides. J. Estopier doubled the advantage just before the break with a clinical finish in the fifty-eighth minute, though that came after a brief spell of second-half pressure.
The match turned at the half-hour mark when K. Y. Jaime Sanchez received a red card in the fiftieth minute for CorreCampos UAT. To be fair, Sanchez had already been booked earlier, but the second caution ended his night and shifted the balance entirely. Pirates held the tie in their own hands from that point, though they had not yet scored a third goal.
The fourth goal came in the ninety-fourth minute through I. Doumbouya, and O. Soto pulled one back for CorreCampos UAT with a penalty in the ninety-eighth minute. J. Clemente had added the third in the ninetieth minute before the visitors' late consolation. Pirates made several substitutions in the closing stages — F. Garcia and J. Zapata both came off in the eightieth minute — while CorreCampos UAT brought on C. Fernandez and J. Gamboa in the seventy-sixth.
The statistics tell a familiar story. Pirates had 43 per cent possession and took eleven shots on target, while CorreCampos UAT held 57 per cent and managed only four on goal. Both sides created two big chances, but Pirates converted theirs far more efficiently. The hosts completed 255 of 317 passes, while CorreCampos UAT finished 349 of 410.
The result keeps both sides within touching distance of each other in the table, though Pirates now sit fourth while CorreCampos UAT remain seventh. They both have eleven points after seven games, but the gap between them may widen if results do not shift. Pirates had not won since their three-nil victory over Durango on August 8th, and this goes some way to breaking that run.