Quarter Finals
Videos of this week's gamesIt was a very interesting quarter final week, where both the good and bad of the play-off format was demonstrated, and there were a lot of goals and plenty of excitement. Two of the four ties were decided by higher league position after they finished level on 180 minutes, while the "winner" of the general table was eliminated.
Cruz Azul squeaked through against Jaguares on higher league position after a 2-2 aggregate draw. In the first leg in Tuxtla Jaguares gained a slender 1-0 advantage from an Itamar Baptista goal, despite having a man advantage for most of the second half after ex-Pumas captain Joaquin Beltrán was sent off for two fouls (the first a refereeing error). Early in the second leg in Mexico City Batista scored again to put the Chiapas team 2-0 up on aggregate. In the space of two second half minutes the "cementeros" pulled it back with Zeballos taking advantage of a ball bobbling about in the area, and then Sabah hit a shot into the post which bounced in off the keeper. The match ended in a brawl with booth sides involved after Fuentes was sent off and Jaguares finished with 4 red cards.
Monterrey put out "superlíder" and favourites Chivas after a Borgetti hatrick in the first leg helped them to a 4-1 win at home. Going to the Jalisco, in what proved to be Omar Bravo's last game (and last goal) for Chivas before signing for Deportivo La Coruña, "El Rebaño" therefore needed to win by three to go through, but in an enthralling end-to-end match it finished 4-4 with two for Carlos Ochoa for the away side. The most consistent team of the tournament were therefore eliminated by an astonishing 8-5 on aggregate.
In an even and tense affair between San Luis and Toluca, the"Potosinos" went through as the higher ranked team. After drawing 1-1 in the Bombonera in Toluca, when an Alfredo Moreno goal was cancelled out by a late Fernández equaliser, San Luis kept their composure and defensive order in the second leg, despite an increasingly desperate Toluca attack. Toluca were aggrieved to be denied a penalty that could have been given when Guerrero climbed on Da Silva but San Luis held on for a 1-1 aggregate scoreline. They have now advanced through both repechaje and quarter finals due to league position.
Santos went through with a 3-2 overall win over Necaxa. The damage was done in the first leg in Aguascalientes when a predictable Ludueña free kick gave the "laguneros" the lead. Necaxa equalised through Rodallega, but a terrible defensive error let in Jiménez for a 2-1 Santos victory. A one goal defeat would have been enough to put Santos through and they went one down to an otherwise unambitious Nexaca side in the second leg in Torreón. However they made the last ten minutes comfortable after Mauricio Morales decreed that "El Gato" Ortiz had fouled Benítez and Rodríguez converted from the spot.
The semi finals look like this:
Santos v Monterrey
Cruz Azul v San Luis
Meanwhile León became champions of Primera A after defeating Dorados of Culiacán. The first leg was level 2-2 in León but Paraguayan Fredy José Bareiro got the solitary goal in the return to give the "esmeraldas" a chance for promotion in the play off with Indios de Ciudad Juárez.
Cruz Azul squeaked through against Jaguares on higher league position after a 2-2 aggregate draw. In the first leg in Tuxtla Jaguares gained a slender 1-0 advantage from an Itamar Baptista goal, despite having a man advantage for most of the second half after ex-Pumas captain Joaquin Beltrán was sent off for two fouls (the first a refereeing error). Early in the second leg in Mexico City Batista scored again to put the Chiapas team 2-0 up on aggregate. In the space of two second half minutes the "cementeros" pulled it back with Zeballos taking advantage of a ball bobbling about in the area, and then Sabah hit a shot into the post which bounced in off the keeper. The match ended in a brawl with booth sides involved after Fuentes was sent off and Jaguares finished with 4 red cards.
Monterrey put out "superlíder" and favourites Chivas after a Borgetti hatrick in the first leg helped them to a 4-1 win at home. Going to the Jalisco, in what proved to be Omar Bravo's last game (and last goal) for Chivas before signing for Deportivo La Coruña, "El Rebaño" therefore needed to win by three to go through, but in an enthralling end-to-end match it finished 4-4 with two for Carlos Ochoa for the away side. The most consistent team of the tournament were therefore eliminated by an astonishing 8-5 on aggregate.
In an even and tense affair between San Luis and Toluca, the"Potosinos" went through as the higher ranked team. After drawing 1-1 in the Bombonera in Toluca, when an Alfredo Moreno goal was cancelled out by a late Fernández equaliser, San Luis kept their composure and defensive order in the second leg, despite an increasingly desperate Toluca attack. Toluca were aggrieved to be denied a penalty that could have been given when Guerrero climbed on Da Silva but San Luis held on for a 1-1 aggregate scoreline. They have now advanced through both repechaje and quarter finals due to league position.
Santos went through with a 3-2 overall win over Necaxa. The damage was done in the first leg in Aguascalientes when a predictable Ludueña free kick gave the "laguneros" the lead. Necaxa equalised through Rodallega, but a terrible defensive error let in Jiménez for a 2-1 Santos victory. A one goal defeat would have been enough to put Santos through and they went one down to an otherwise unambitious Nexaca side in the second leg in Torreón. However they made the last ten minutes comfortable after Mauricio Morales decreed that "El Gato" Ortiz had fouled Benítez and Rodríguez converted from the spot.
The semi finals look like this:
Santos v Monterrey
Cruz Azul v San Luis
Meanwhile León became champions of Primera A after defeating Dorados of Culiacán. The first leg was level 2-2 in León but Paraguayan Fredy José Bareiro got the solitary goal in the return to give the "esmeraldas" a chance for promotion in the play off with Indios de Ciudad Juárez.
Copa Libertadores
Both remaining Mexican teams did remarkably well this week. Atlas came away with a 2-2 draw in the Estadio José Amalfitani against Boca Juniors. Although they were stretched by the Boca attack, in particular the tricky Palacio, a Flores header from a corner put them one up. Boca drew level when a Palermo shot was deflected into his own goal by Ayala. Cáceres put the home side 2-1 up with half an hour left, put a late Jorge Torres header allowed the Guadalajara team to come away with a draw.
América gave themselves a good chance of progressing after beating Santos of Brazil 2-0 in the Azteca. Salvador Cabañas was again the hero with both goals, the first from a tight angle the second taking down beautifully a Villa through ball and sliding it past Fábio Costa. Guillermo Ochoa again played his part with two magnificent saves.
Next Up
The semi-finals take place this week. In the Libertadores quarter-finals Atlas entertain Boca on Wednesday, América play Santos on Thursday.
Both remaining Mexican teams did remarkably well this week. Atlas came away with a 2-2 draw in the Estadio José Amalfitani against Boca Juniors. Although they were stretched by the Boca attack, in particular the tricky Palacio, a Flores header from a corner put them one up. Boca drew level when a Palermo shot was deflected into his own goal by Ayala. Cáceres put the home side 2-1 up with half an hour left, put a late Jorge Torres header allowed the Guadalajara team to come away with a draw.
América gave themselves a good chance of progressing after beating Santos of Brazil 2-0 in the Azteca. Salvador Cabañas was again the hero with both goals, the first from a tight angle the second taking down beautifully a Villa through ball and sliding it past Fábio Costa. Guillermo Ochoa again played his part with two magnificent saves.
Next Up
The semi-finals take place this week. In the Libertadores quarter-finals Atlas entertain Boca on Wednesday, América play Santos on Thursday.
posted by John Kelly @ 12:37 pm
1 comments
1 Comments:
Hey!
Are Pumas in this years new look CONCACAF Champions League?
Cool!, and how come?
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