CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ENDS FOR XOLOITZCUINTLES
Cruz Azul 2-1 Club Tijuana Semifinals second leg (2-1 aggregate)
MEXICO CITY- Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente came up short in reaching the CONCACAF Champions League championship final after losing 2-0 to host Cruz Azul FC Wednesday night at Estadio Azul. Cruz Azul moves on to the final to face CD Toluca after winning the home-and-home series 2-1 against Club Tijuana.
Cruz Azul caught an early break in the second leg when Club Tijuana sent a ball into its own net two minutes into the match. A centered pass into the area hit Xoloitzcuintles midfielder Javier GUemez, redirecting the ball past Club Tijuana goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo. Cruz Azul took the 1-0 lead in the match, tying the aggregate score 1-1.
Cruz Azul took the lead in the 50th minute with a goal by Julio Dominguez. But the Xoloitzcuintles would not let off its offensive pressure on the host team. Club Tijuana created a barrage of scoring opportunities throughout the match but the ball would just not find the net. Coach Cesar Farias kept the attacking scheme from the start.
Guemez sent a shot a minute into the match while Joe Corona (28th and 31h) and Dario Benedetto (69th) both tried powerful shots on goal. The foot of a Cruz Azul defender blocked Corona’s second shot at the last moment. Benedetto’s curving blast from about 30-yards out was caught by a diving Jesus Corona, the Cruz Azul goalkeeper.
Club Tijuana, who beat Cruz Azul 1-0 in the first leg at Estadio Caliente last week, continued to try and find the aggregate tying goal that would put the visiting team into the final with the away goal tiebreaker.
Edgar Castillo sent a shot from inside the area and had it blocked by a defender at the goal line in the 85th minute. A few minutes later he would drive to the end of the baseline and send a rolling cross inches from the goal line but there was no one there to tap the ball into the open net.
Farias sent Saucedo at goal, Javier Gandolfi, Castillo, Juan Carlos Nuñez and Hernan Pellerano as his starting defenders. Fernando Arce, Corona and Guemez started at midfield while Fidel Martinez, Paul Arriola and Benedetto were the starting forwards. The Xoloitzcuintles dominated ball possession for several periods of the match with this lineup until the final whistle.
Club Tijuana used that to its advantage, keeping pressure on Cruz Azul with three substitutions that would add to the offense. Richard Ruiz came on in the 54th minute, Jaimen Ayovi in the 60st and Alberto Garcia in the 79th minute.
The intensity built up in the final minutes of the match as Club Tijuana tried for that much needed one goal. A scuffle between both teams broke out in the area when Cruz Azul goalkeeper Jesus Corona swung his elbow at Gandolfi. Club Tijuana’s Pellerano and Cruz Azul’s Corona received red cards after a series of shoving matches between members of both teams.
The final whistle blew and the Xoloitzcuintles were finished in the CONCACAF Champions League. Club Tijuana reached the semifinals after beating Major League Soccer’s L.A. Galaxy in the quarterfinals 4-3 aggregate and after finishing in first place with 10 points in the Group 7 standings. Club Tijuana went 3-0-1 in the group stage, scoring 10 goals and allowing two.
Club Tijuana will now focus on the rest of its LIGA Bancomer MX-2014 Clausura schedule as it visits UANL Tigres Saturday April 12 at Estadio Universitario de Nuevo Leon.
