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Apertura Liguilla Round-Up: Santos Take The Advantage
The first leg of the Apertura 2008 quarterfinals was characterized by intense and entertaining encounters between the eight best teams in Mexican football. With three games ending in a draw, Santos Laguna was the only team that took an advantage from their home match thanks to talent-inspired performances by Daniel Ludueña and ‘El Cuau.’
Nov 23, 2008 11:34:16 PM
First Leg
Saturday, 22 of November
Cruz Azul 0 - 0 Pumas
Tigres 1 - 1 Atlante
Sunday, 23 of November
Tecos 0 - 0 Toluca
Santos 3 - 1 San Luis
Cruz Azul 0 - 0 Pumas
The first leg of the quarterfinals kicked-off with a scoreless draw between Pumas and Cruz Azul, in a extremely balanced and heavily disputed midfield encounter at Estadio Azul.
Both sides played to a fierce midfield battle which generated few scoring opportunities for their cause.
Despite the parity, the Cementeros enjoyed an early opportunity in the first 10 minutes of action, when a great header by forward Miguel Sabah struck the crossbar under the watchful gaze of Pumas goalkeeper Sergio Bernal.
Pumas would finally react in the 39th minute, when a spectacular scissor-kick by midfielder Fernando Espinoza was denied by the outstretched and alert Cruz Azul goalkeeper Yosgart Gutiérrez.
The second half did not showcase as much action, as the midfield battle intensified with fewer plays in front of both goals.
Still, the last play of the game was a header from inside the box by Cruz Azul forward Nicolás Vigneri, which posed no major problem for veteran ‘keeper Sergio Bernal.
Besides their lack of conviction in front of the goal, another problem was the capacity of the referees which failed to signal two clear penalties, one for each side.
Referee Gabriel Gómez did not call a clear foul by Pumas defender Marco Palacios, who forgot about the ball and went straight for the ankle of Sabah in the first half.
The second occasion came in the 80th minute, when forward Ismael Íñiguez was stepped-on by Cementero defender Jaime Lozano inside the box and no call was made.
With the scoreless draw, Pumas continue with the advantage by regulation, while Cruz Azul is obligated to play for the victory in the return match of the series next weekend.
Tigres 1 - 1 Atlante
In another match which did not favor the home side, Atlante earned an important away result with a 1-1 draw against Tigres.
The encounter lacked the spectacle and good football of the rest of the matches, due in large part to the tactical decisions made by the coaches, who effectively managed to nullify each other.
Tigres would open the score in the seventh minute, after a cross by talented playmaker Lucas Lobos was headed in by defender Hugo Sánchez Guerrero, leaving Atlante goalkeeper Federico Vilar without any options.
The major difference was an expulsion for the locals, which brought disorder to the well established pre-game formation of coach Manuel Lapuente.
Tigres defender José Rivas, was sent-off in the 62 minute for a late tackle which resulted in a second yellow card.
Lapuente made various modifications after the expulsion, but to little effect.
Atlante soon took advantage of the situation and the offensive initiative in the match.
The Potros would earn the parity in the 71st minute, when midfielder Gabriel Pereyra dribbled past a defender and into the box, then delivered a deflected cross off Tigres goalkeeper Óscar Pérez, which favored the arrival of forward Luis Gabriel Rey who scored in an empty goal for the final 1-1 score.
However, Tigres knew the value of a positive home result in the first leg. They would have the last opportunity in the 85th minute, when a powerful shot by midfielder Lucas Ayala shook the post and preserved the draw.
With the final 1-1 score, the Tigres have to take a victory from the fortress of Cancún where the Potros are virtually invincible.
For their part, due to their better position in the general table a series draw for Atlante would be enough to send them to the semifinals.
Tecos 0 - 0 Toluca
In the first Sunday quarterfinal encounter, Tecos proposed the attack, had on-field superiority and lost a great opportunity to take a series advantage over Toluca with a 0-0 draw.
The Tecolotes played a good match with the initiative to score and a dynamic attack, and soon began to generate scoring chances by way of Rodrigo ‘Pony’ Ruiz and Fredy Bareiro.
Veteran Argentine goalkeeper, Hernán Cristante, was clearly the player of the match with numerous interventions that prevented the fall of Toluca’s goal.
Cristante is the oldest active player in the Torneo Apertura 2008 at the age of 39.
Despite Cristante’s presence, the Zapopan side wasted five clear goal opportunities in the first leg home match, one of them struck the post and the rest were victim to their ineffective final touch in front of the goal.
The scoreless draw greatly favors the Diablos Rojos and significantly increases their advantage in the series, especially since they played most of the match with ten players.
In the 30 minute, forward Carlos Esquivel was sent-off for a reckless tackle on Uruguayan midfielder Marcelo Sosa.
Toluca were able to improve their formation and appeared more organized playing with one less player. The result was several counterattacking options in the second half that caused a range of problems for the Tecos, who since the start of the second half were completely devoted to attack.
The Tecolotes dominated, generated plays, but never scored, and are now obligated to look for a victory on the Diablos home turf.
Toluca head into the second leg with home field advantage and benefit from being a higher seed, which allows them to advance if the series score remains the same.
Santos 3 - 1 San Luis
With a great performance by Cuauhtémoc Blanco, current champion Santos Laguna took a big step towards the semifinals with a convincing and entertaining 3-1 victory against San Luis.
The quality of ‘El Cuau’ was on display for the full 90 minutes and it did not go unnoticed since he was involved in two goals and was an ever-present threat for the Gladiador defense.
The first goal arrived early in the 16 minute, when San Luis defender Óscar Yaroslav Mascorro headed a free-kick by Santos playmaker Daniel Ludueña in his own goal, to give the home side the 1-0 lead.
Two talents would team-up in the 25 minute, when Blanco shielded the ball from two defenders and gave a perfect pass to Ludueña, who dribbled past a defender and slotted it past San Luis goalkeeper Adrián Martínez, to go up 2-0 in the first half.
Superlider San Luis would not go down easy. In the final minutes of the first stanza pushed the Guerreros against their own goal and forced goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez to make exemplary saves.
In the 44 minute, the visitors would take advantage of a Santos mistake to get on the scoreboard. Argentine midfielder Eduardo ‘Chacho’ Coudet crossed a perfect ball to veteran Braulio Luna, who re-centered it to an unmarked Víctor Píriz, who simply headed into the empty goal for the 2-1 score.
After the break, San Luis fell in the game and was not the same side from the first half.
In turn, the Laguneros kept pressing forward in search of a more ample lead.
Blanco and Ludueña kept displaying a mastery of the midfield, only to be stopped by a constant stream of tackles and fouls by San Luis players, who fell into desperation.
The persistent attack of the locals would once again be reflected in the score in the 77th minute, when a shot by Edgar Castillo squeezed through the legs of goalkeeper Adrián Martínez, and amid confusion by the San Luis defense to clear the ball, Matías Vuoso took advantage to score the definitive 3-1 result.
With this result, Santos Laguna head into the second leg with a vital advantage, and a victory, draw or a defeat by the minimal difference will see them through.
For their part, next Saturday San Luis will have to win by a difference of two or more goals. In case of a draw in the aggregate-score they benefit from the top position during regular season and will advance to the semifinals.
-- César García covers México for Goal.com.
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