América kept their perfect start to the Apertura with a 2:0 victory over Puebla at the Estadio Banorite on Saturday. The hosts dominated the first half and held firm after the break to move clear at the top of the table. Icaro opened the scoring in the twenty-fourth minute before B. Rodriguez added a second in the seventy-seventh.
There were changes on the hour mark, with América bringing on three players at once. A. Ramirez had come off at half-time, and the coaching staff made further adjustments in the second period. E. Cerrillo and Icaro were among those replaced by sixty-seventh minute, while E. Mustre joined the attack at sixty-ninth.
Puebla picked up a yellow card through S. Sanabria in the sixty-ninth minute as they tried to respond. The visitors had more attacks overall—123 to América's 103—but created no big chances. América managed one big chance and converted it twice, which meant the result was fair enough. And here's the thing: possession barely moved the needle. América had 54 per cent, but the quality of the chances told the real story.
The statistics show a match decided by efficiency rather than volume. América registered six shots on target from thirty-eight attempts, while Puebla hit the target six times from twenty-eight shots. Expected goals stood at 0.81 for América and 0.80 for Puebla—figures that suggest a tighter contest than the scoreline implied. To be fair, Puebla pressed harder in wide areas with thirty crosses compared to América's ten.
América remain first with sixteen points from six games, five wins and a draw. They have kept three clean sheets on the spin, including this one, and their defensive solidity has been as important as their attacking edge. Puebla sit eighth with ten points from three wins, one draw and two losses. By then, the visitors had already suffered defeats to San Diego and Austin, which put this result in perspective.
