After suffering a painful defeat on their visit to Sonora, Atlante managed to burden their home team to overcome a negative result and secure a place in the semi-finals of the 2023 MX Expansion League Apertura tournament. The Iron Colts’ comeback was possible thanks to a brace from Rafael Durán and goals from Edwin Cerna and Rolando González.
Keep driving
In a game full of goals, the first goal came in the 13th minute thanks to Diego Jiménez, who did not hesitate to take advantage of a long ball and eventually parry it into Humberto Hernández’s goal. Atlante had to wait until the 34th minute to equalize through a clever Rafa Durán, who managed to bring down Gabino Espinoza’s goal after a fortuitous rebound and a mistake from defender Josué Reyes.
It was Durán himself who increased the Iron Potros’ lead in the 74th minute, as after a spirited shot from outside the penalty area, the Mexican striker took advantage of Espinoza’s rebound to touch the ball and later make it 2-1 celebrate. However, the Sonoran team did not give up and once again equalized everything thanks to the goal of Bryant Navarro, who played a brilliant game together with Daniel Cisneros.
As time was already running out, Edwin Cerna revived the dream of the Atlante fans with a 3-2 win in the 83rd minute. After an outstanding run down the right wing, Gabino Espinoza managed to parry another powerful shot, but the rebound ended. It was the perfect assist for the 25-year-old midfielder to shine with a shot from the edge of the six-yard box.
Rolando González was the man who disguised himself as a hero on a memorable evening in Mexico City, as in the 90+5 minute the national midfielder flew through the air to score the follow-up goal with a brilliant service that reached the opposition penalty area and the keeper sent the ball upside down. In this way, the Potros del Atlante secured their ticket to the semi-finals and wanted to reaffirm their title as monarchs of the Silver League.
