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InterLiga: Morelia Advances To Finals
In Group A, Morelia earned an important victory to send them through to the Final phase after Toluca and Tecos failed to obtain the objective.
Jan 9, 2009 2:16:28 AM
Matchday 5: Thursday, January 8
Home Depot Center, Carson, California
Monarcas Morelia 3 - 0 Pachuca
Toluca 2 - 0 Tecos
Monarcas Morelia 3 - 0 Pachuca
Morelia earned a dominant 3-0 victory against Pachuca to make them serious contenders to advance in the second spot of Group A to the Final phase of the InterLiga.
The Tuzos had a better start to the match deploying their characteristic good touch and ball control, but it was the Michoacan side who struck first.
In the 28th minute, playmaker Hugo Droguett filtered a perfect pass to Peruvian goalscoarer Andrés Mendoza who defeated goalkeeper Miguel Calero with a low shot for the early 1-0 lead.
Pachuca tried to respond but they failed to find the clarity of the first minutes. However, they benefited from the fact of having already qualified to the Final phase.
Morelia took advantage of this and immediately doubled their lead at the start of the second half, when youngster Elías Hernández sped past the Tuzos defense and served a ball to Droguett who scored the 2-0 lead in the 51st minute.
After a lively response by Pachuca with several scoring opportunities, Monarcas would seal the deal in the 69th minute when Brazilian Wilson Tiago made the most of a Tuzo defensive error to score the definitive 3-0 score.
With this result, Monarcas Morelia reached four points in Group A and depended on the score from the second match of the night between Toluca and Tecos to find out if they advanced.
For their part, Pachuca earned their qualification in the previous matchday and would await the other result to find out if they would advance in the first or second spot of Group A.
Goals
MON: Andrés Mendoza (28’), Hugo Droguett (51’), Wilson Tiago (69’)
Toluca 2 - 0 Tecos
In the closing match of Group A, Toluca defeated Tecos but stayed on the edge of advancing.
The win was not enough to send them through to the Finals since they needed only one more goal to eliminate Morelia from the InterLiga 2009.
The Diablos Rojos took an early lead in the 5th minute, when youngster Raúl Nava took advantage of a bad clearance by the Tecos defense and defeated goalkeeper Jesús Corona to put Toluca two goals away from qualification.
In the 84th minute, Toluca’s new signing Sergio Santana gave the league champions a glimmer of hope when he sprinted past two Tecos defenders and perfectly placed his shot for the 2-0 lead.
The remaining minutes were dramatic, but with few scoring opportunities that would inflict a last-minute change to the group standings.
Both sides had their good moments in the encounter but neither team had displayed the merits during the short tournament to advance to the Final round.
In Group A, Pachuca advances in the first spot with six points, followed by Monarcas Morelia with four points and a two goal difference.
Toluca and Tecos have been eliminated from the contest. The Diablos with four points, same as Morelia, but in the third spot due to goal differential. In turn, Tecos dropped to the last spot of the group with three points.
Goals
TOL: Raúl Nava (5’), Sergio Santana (84’)
--César García, Goal.com
Inside Goal.Com
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