Pumas control the game but can't get past Querétaro: scoreless draw at the Olímpico

Pumas UNAM and Querétaro played to a 0-0 draw at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in a Liga MX match in which the home side clearly dominated possession and volume of play, but ran into a lack of finishing touch and a Gallo defense that held firm until the final whistle.

Dominance without a payoff

The script of the match was set early: Pumas took control of the ball and created the clearest chances, while Querétaro sat back and looked for occasional counterattacks. As early as the 9th minute, Santiago Homenchenko tried his luck from outside the box without success, and from there the home side took charge with a string of attempts between the 16th and 19th minutes, with shots from Adalberto Carrasquilla, Robert Morales and Víctor Arteaga that either missed the target or were controlled by the visiting goalkeeper.

The clearest chance of the first half for the home side came in the 23rd minute, when Juninho connected on a header that grazed the crossbar off a cross from Tony Leone. Querétaro, for its part, had flashes through Paulo Victor and Álex Alcalá, though without the sharpness needed to seriously trouble the Pumas goal.

In the second half, the pattern held. Carrasquilla tested the goalkeeper in the 56th minute with a shot from outside the area, and Querétaro answered with substitutes Erik Dueñas and Waldo Madrid, the latter forcing a low save at the 61 minute mark. Pumas kept pressing with Uriel Antuna and, in the closing stretch, with Luciano Herrera and Guillermo Martínez, who headed a chance in the 90th minute that failed to beat the opposing keeper. Alí Ávila had the last great chance for Querétaro in the 86th minute, with a shot that went just wide of the right post. Neither side found the back of the net, and the scoreboard stayed at the 0-0 it had opened with.

The numbers behind the home side's dominance

The stats clearly reflect the gap in control between the two teams, though they also explain why that control never translated into goals.

The estimated post-match xG, calculated from shot locations, backs up Pumas' superiority: 1.298 compared to Querétaro's 0.664. Even so, the gap wasn't wide enough to guarantee a win, and in fact both teams finished with just 4 and 3 shots on target respectively, a sign that finishing was lacking at both ends.

A result that defied the preview

The projection published ahead of the match gave Pumas a 41% chance of victory, Querétaro 34%, and just 25% for a draw, with a total expected goals figure of 3.5 (1.83 for the home side and 1.67 for the visitors). The outcome ended up being exactly the least likely scenario under that forecast: a scoreless 0-0, far from the more than three goals that had been anticipated.

What the draw leaves behind

With this result, Pumas UNAM moves to 7 points in the tournament standings, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in 4 matches played, while Querétaro also sits on 7 points with the identical split of 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in its 4 outings. The two teams remain virtually level in the table, with no real gap in points between them, on a day when the attacking soccer shown by the home side wasn't enough to translate into all three points.