América's stand-in keeper Óscar Jiménez praised for 'fantastic' form | OneFootball

América manager Santiago Solari hailed Óscar Jiménez for his man-of-the-match performance in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Necaxa.

Álvaro Fidalgo’s 76th-minute header ultimately proved the difference, but it took a string of excellent saves from Jiménez to keep Los Rayos at bay before that at the Estadio Azteca.

The 32-year-old goalkeeper will be unhappy that he didn’t do more to prevent Alejandro Zendejas’ second-half equaliser, but his manager is delighted with how he is deputising for Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa who is away at the Olympics with Mexico.

“Necaxa has planted well on the field. They came from a defeat. They closed very well and found aerial balls and in the counter-attack,” Solari said.

“Jiménez seems fantastic to me. He played a good game. He is replacing Memo with flying colours and not only this year, he has done well throughout his career.”

The former Chiapas stopper has only made 25 appearances since joining the Azulcrema in 2017, and has kept nine clean sheets (via Transfermarkt).

But he has certainly stepped up to the mark so far in the 2021 Apertura, and is almost certain to keep his place for next Saturday’s clash with Puebla at the very least.