November 23, 2009 MEXICAN LEAGUE APERTURA Liguilla roundup – quarterfinal 1st leg
MONTERREY 1. AMERICA 0
Fittingly enough, Aldo De Nigris scored the only goal in Monterrey’s bittersweet 1-0 win over Club America in the opening leg of their quarterfinal series Saturday at Estadio Tecnologico.
The day was dedicated to De Nigris’ older brother Antonio, who died of a heart attack last week, and whose ashes were given a pregame lap of honor around the stadium where he began his professional career with the Rayados.
De Nigris broke a scoreless tie in the 48th minute, catching goalkeeper Memo Ochoa off his line. Salvador Cabanas had America’s best chances to get back into the game, but could not find the target.
The series concludes next weekend at Estadio Azteca.
PUEBLA 4, CRUZ AZUL 4
Hosts Puebla exploded for four goals before halftime, but it was not enough to secure a quarterfinal advantage over stubborn Cruz Azul, who rallied to a 4-4 draw in Saturday’s first leg match at Estadio Cuauhtemoc.
Nicolas Olivera put Puebla on the board early, scoring before the game was 60 seconds old. Cruz Azul got their heads up quickly, however, leveling the score on Melvin Brown’s 12th-minute goal, and taking a 2-1 lead when Gerardo Torrero scored in the 21st.
Javier Acosta’s 28th-minute header left the teams deadlocked at 2-2, and Nicolas Vignieri restored Puebla’s lead in the 32nd. Jared Borgetti’s stoppage-time tally looked like a backbreaker, leaving Puebla with a 4-2 lead, but Cruz Azul caught a second wind after halftime.
Jaime Lozano struck twice after the intermission, in the 50th and 81st minutes, to tie things up and set the stage for an all-or-nothing finale next weekend at Azul Stadium. Pueblo will take the field without Roberto Carlos Juarez, who received a red card in the closing seconds of Saturday’s match.
SAN LUIS 1, TOLUCA 0
Superliders Toluca got a shock in the first leg of the Liguilla quarterfinals, falling 1-0 to San Luis in Sunday’s first leg match at Estadio Alfonso Lastras Ramirez.
Pablo Cesar Aguilar provided all the offense San Luis needed, beating goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera in the 76th minute.
Both teams had trouble finding the target early, with numerous chances on both sides going to waste. Aguilar finally connected with a header off Tressor Moreno’s corner kick. The final score easily could have been 2-0, but Talavera came up with a critical diving save on Adrian Garcia Arias on yet another set play minutes after Aguilar’s tally.
Toluca hosts the series finale next Sunday.
SANTOS LAGUNA 2, MORELIA 1
Monarcos Morelia, who fell from first to third in the standings on the last day of the Apertura season, continued their downward spiral on Sunday with a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to shorthanded Santos Laguna at Estadio Corona.
Carlos Ochoa scored both goals for Santos, in the 25th and 61st minutes. The game-winner came ten minutes after Vicente Matias Vuoso received his second yellow card, for dissent, and was ejected, leaving the home team with 10 men for the remainder of the match.
Hugo Droguett scored the one goal for Morelia, knotting the score 1-1 in the 49th minute.
After Ochoa’s second goal, Morelia tried desperately to equalize, culminating with Luis Gabriel Rey’s header off the crossbar in stoppage time.
