Photo Credit: Club America
By: Jonny Rico
Follow Jonny on Facebook and Twitter.
The first leg matches of the Liga MX semifinals were played on Wednesday and Thursday night. Tigres UNAL and Club America both hold small advantages over Club Leon and Club Necaxa respectively.
Tigres and America were both able to score ‘away-goals’ and will carry that advantage back home to the second leg match during the weekend. On top of the ‘away-goal’ advantage both Tigres and America hold higher seed position than their opposition which is another advantage since the league table is the second tie breaker.
Club Necaxa 1-1 Club America
Club America walked away from Estadio Victoria in Aguascaliente with a positive 1-1 draw, although it will feel disappointed not to have picked up the win. Necaxa has made a fortress of its home ground in Estadio Victoria, it has not lost a single match since winning promotion back to Liga MX for the start of the 2016 Apertura season.
Despite the difficulties that playing away to Necaxa represented, America had amble opportunity to score the goals to take a win back to Estadio Azteca. America pressured the majority of the game while Necaxa did what Necaxa does best, defend.
During an America give away in midfield Necaxa were able to break free and beat a poorly executed offside trap to open the scoring and take the surprising lead against the run of play. But the joy only lasted minutes as Club America tied the game quickly after that with plenty of pressure on a play that produced four shots on target before the ball went into the back of the net.
Despite not picking up the win, Club America brings back an advantage with the 1-1 draw. Necaxa will need to beat America at Estadio Azteca or pick up a draw with more than two goals. All America needs in order to reach yet another final will be any win, 0-0 draw or 1-1 draw.
Club Leon 0-1 Tigres UANL
The semifinals kicked off in Leon’s Nou Camp stadium. The host team was one of the hottest teams in Liga MX, finishing the regular season undefeated in the final 10 games. New manager Javier Torrente had not tasted defeat until the second leg of the quarterfinals against Tijuana Xolos but the loss did not bother him one bit since his side won the aggregate score and advanced to the semifinals.
Leon’s success under Torrente was based on its attacking strength. Leon tried to push Tigres back from the start looking for an early goal. But the Tigres, led by a wise veteran manager like Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti knew just how to absorb the Leon pressure and through possession of the ball cool the game down.
The Ferretti game plan for Tigres worked to perfection. On a fast counter attack star striker Andre Pierre-Gignac was able to cut through his marker and shot the ball past Mexican-American goalkeeper William Yarbrough. As Leon pushed forward with more force, Tigres could’ve and should’ve scored a second and even a third but let the late game chances go to waste.
Leon will not have to head to Monterrey and score a minimum of two goals. A 1-0 win will not be enough for Leon because Tigres would advance as the higher seeded team. Any victory after having scored two goals will get Leon to the Liga MX final; i.e. 0-2, 1-2, 2-3, etc. Tigres will require of any win, draw or 0-1 defeat in order to advance.
SEMIFINALS SECOND LEG SCHEDULE / TV LISTING:
Tigres UANL vs Club Leon
Saturday Dec. 3 at 8:00 PM (Eastern) / 5:00 PM (Pacific)
TV: Univision Deportes Network
Club America vs Club Necaxa
Sunday Dec. 4 at 9:00 PM (Eastern) / 6:00 PM (Pacific)
TV: Univision and Univision Deportes Network
