Nacho Ambriz reflects on Toluca's 5-1 defeat against Pachuca | OneFootball

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90min

·28 October 2022

Nacho Ambriz reflects on Toluca's 5-1 defeat against Pachuca

Article image:Nacho Ambriz reflects on Toluca's 5-1 defeat against Pachuca

Toluca fell 1-5 against Pachuca in the first leg of the 2022 Liga MX Apertura final on Thursday at the Estadio Nemesio Díez, as goals from Nicolas Ibañez, Romario Ibarra, Gustavo Cabral and Mauricio Isais stunned Nacho Ambriz’s side.

The visitors kicked off the scoring in the eighth minute, before taking advantage of every minor error by Toluca to head into halftime with the 4-0 lead. The second 45 saw a different game, with Toluca determined to find the back of the net.


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Though Pachuca managed one more for the 5-0 scoreline, Jordan Sierra finally reduced their lead with a 78th minute goal. The Red Devils now head into Sunday’s second leg with an impossible task, but head coach Nacho Ambriz believes his side can make the comeback.

"The first half was a nightmare, we made a lot of mistakes, if we talk about efficiency today there is no comparison, in the second half we didn't put in the scoring options and the result is very convincing, we made too many mistakes, but that's how it is, internally things are screwed up, but there are two 45-minute halves, we have little to lose, a lot to gain," he said after the game.

"Yes, the blow is hard, even more so in our stadium, in front of our fans. We are sorry, it is not normal to go into halftime down by four goals, it had not happened to me. But there is life…I trust this team, I reiterate that we had a bad first half, we have no choice but to heal our wounds, I spoke with them inside in the locker room and they told me that we are not dead, there is time to recover.”

Toluca concluded the 2022 Apertura campaign in sixth on the table with 27 points in 17 games and a record of 7W-4L-6D. Though Nacho Ambriz’s side entered the playoffs as underdogs, they quickly proved themselves as one of the best after defeating favorites Santos Laguna and Club America.

The team now has 90 minutes to come back from a four goal deficit on Sunday at Estadio Hidalgo.

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