Mexican outfit Club America laid down a marker on Monday afternoon at the Warren as they defeated a resolute Otago at the Warren in the Premier section.
The Mexican side were just too strong for the Kiwi regularsa and only for some resolute defending and lackadaisical finishing the Mexican club side could have been out of sight by the break.
Club America took the lead with just seconds gone as Arreola fired home after a clever corner kick which saw the ball flicked into the path of the Mexican winger.
The Mexican side were in complete control early on and after an incredible interchange of passes down the left, Duran pounced on a chipped pass but Mitchell Skudder-Dey made a smart save with his feet.
Osuna nearly doubled America’s lead but his well struck effort rattled the base of the post and the onrushing Quintero couldn’t scramble it home as he ran past the ball and ended up in the back of the net!
It was inevitable that the Mexicans would double their lead and a short backpass from Gruppelaar was pounced on by Osuna who rounded the goalkeeper and fired home for a well deserved goal.
Club America were a huge threat from every set piece and they had a number of clever set-piece routines which caused the Otago defence all sorts of trouble.
The first chance of the second half fell to Otago. The hard working Cameron Anderson made some good ground wide, but his final effort lacked any power.
Club America responded well to this rare foray forward and a flick on at the front post fell invitingly into the stride of Chavez who thundered the ball home from close range on the half volley.
Against the run of play, Otago grabbed themselves a lifeline. A corner into the box was handled on the line by a Club America defender and after some confusion over the identity of the culprit, the referee eventually red-carded the right man and Anderson stepped up and fired into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
In truth it was simply just a consolatory goal for the Kiwis, who were soon down to ten men themselves after a very hefty challenge in the centre of the park.
This was an impressive performance from Club America, but they will need to be more clinical if they are to progress to the semi-finals of the main competition.
Otago 1
Club America 3
Credit: Sam Gamble, @Sam_Gamble88