Tigres get solid victory over Chivas in first leg of Quarterfinals
· Yahoo Sports
Tigres bounced back from giving up an early goal to get a 3-1 victory over Chivas in the first leg of their Quarterfinal series. Once again, Tigres were dominant over Chivas although the match was even in the 1st half before Tigres overtook it in the 2nd half. Chivas now needs to win by two goals in the return leg of the Quarterfinals on Saturday in Guadalajara.
The 1st half started with Mickey Tapias, Santiago Sandoval and Oscar Whalley being the main players to take the place of the Chivas players who were called up to the National team. A cross into the area was brilliantly lowered by Ricardo Marin, who got off a left footed shot past Tigres’ goalkeeper, Nahuel Guzman, to give Chivas the early 1-0 lead. On the play, Marin stepped up on the leg of Romulo Zwairg as he lowered the ball and all Tigres’ players asked for a foul to be called on the play but the referee decided the goal stood. A cross into the area was headed from close range by Rodrigo Aguirre but Whalley made a great save. After a harsh foul by Aguirre on Omar Govea, a small scuffle started that ended with both players getting Yellow cards. Juan Brunetta got off a left footed shot in the area that was deflected by defender Diego Campillo. Another controversial play happened when it looked like Fernando Gorriaran was brought down in the area but nothing was given. Off a free kick, Brunetta got off a good right footed shot that forced a good save from Whalley. From outside the area, Brunetta got off a right footed shot that forced another save from Whalley. Off the ensuing corner kick, the cross into the area was headed from close range by Jesus Alberto Angulo and it went past Whalley and into the net to score and tie the match at 1-1. The halftime whistle blew and an accident filled 45 minutes came to an end.
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The 2nd half started with Tigres subbing out Francisco Reyes for Diego Sanchez. Ruben Gonzalez got off a right footed shot from outside the area that went wide. A cross into the area would be brilliantly volleyed by Juan Brunetta past Whalley to score a great goal and give Tigres the 2-1 lead. Off a great counter, a brilliant past allowed Diego Sanchez to go on a 1 vs 1 and then get off a right footed shot past Whalley to score and increase Tigres’ lead to 3-1. From outside the area, Sanchez got off a right footed shot that was easily saved by Whalley. A combination play ended with Brunetta getting off a right footed shot that went just wide. Chivas subbed out Santiago Sandoval for Angel Sepulveda. Sanchez made a great run into the area and got off a cross that would just out of reach of Aguirre. Tigres subbed out Rodrigo Aguirre for Juan Pablo Vigon. Chivas subbed out Efrain Alvarez and Richard Ledezma for Yael Padilla and Miguel Gomez. A good cross into the area was headed wide by Marin. Off a counter, a great combination play ended with Brunetta getting a wide open chance in the area but he sent his right footed shot well wide, in a bad miss. Tigres subbed out Jesus Alberto Angulo for Jose Guerrero. Chivas subbed out Ricardo Marin for Sergio Aguayo. Off a corner kick, Sepulveda got off a header that went just wide. Tigres subbed out Diego Lainez and Juan Brunetta for Andre Pierre Gignac and Vladmir Loroña. A right footed shot from Angel Correa went well wide. Bryan Alonso Gonzalez got off a left footed shot that went wide. The match would end and Tigres had gotten a solid victory in their start of the Quarterfinal series.
After Tigres crushed Chivas in Monterrey by a 4-1 score in the regular season and with Chivas missing key players that were called up for the National team, they looked more favored than a normal 7th placed team facing the 2nd. Yet Chivas did well in the 1st half and even took the lead in a controversial play. Yet Tigres got a goal in injury time and then in the 2nd time, the substitution of Diego Sanchez changed the match and Tigres never looked back. Chivas was lucky in not allowing more goals and now they only need to get a two goal victory to get thru to the Semifinals. Yet it will be a tough task especially as they will probably be exposed to counter attacks, which proved costly on Saturday. Tigres have a great chance go move thru to the Semifinals as Chivas will need to improve a lot and the players needed to do so are already preparing to go to the World Cup.