In the second legs of the Quarter Finals at the weekend América held on to beat Pachuca 3-2 on aggregate, despite falling 1-0 in the Azteca, thanks to a well struck first half goal from Néstor Vidrio. Chucho Benitez missed a couple of good chances: he seems to have misplaced his shooting boots at the wrong time of the season.
Los Xolos of Tijuana put in another spirited performance at Monterrey, but a 2-2 draw saw them eliminated 4-3 on aggregate. Three players were sent off by the card happy Ricardo Arellano, most crucially for the Rayados including the never far from trouble Angel Reyna.
On Sunday Jaguares got an early goal in Torreón against Santos, but a quick response from Darwin Quintero and Oribe Peralta put the tie out of reach of the side from Chiapas (6-4 on aggregate).
Finally, while a large proportion of the country were watching a former Playboy Playmate stealing the show at a Presidential Election debate Morelia's Argentinian captain Federico Vilar was having an unhappy evening between the sticks against Tigres. It all went wrong in the last 25 minutes: despite only needing a 1-0 win to prevail the team from Michoacán went down 4-1 to go out 5-1 on aggregate. First a shot from defender Hugo Ayala took a deflection which Vilar struggled unsuccessfully to keep out of his net. Then ten minutes later a low Lucas Lobos free kick evaded his grasp, and just a minute later Edno made it 3-0. Miguel Sabah then finally spent enough time not on his arse to pull a goal back, but by then there were only four minutes left. Elás Hernández completed the rout from the spot in injury time.
So the Semi Final lineup is, as predicted, América v Monterrey and Tigres v Santos. The first legs are on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, with the reverse fixtures on Saturday and Sunday. Only América can prevent a second successive all northern final, but I don't think they will, unless Chucho starts scoring again. Monterrey have already won in the Azteca this tournament, though this time they won't have Angel Reyna's skills as a footballer and a wind up artist to call upon. They do have a stronger squad than anyone else though: there can't be many other sides in the country where Neri Cardozo would start a game on the bench. I'll go for a draw in the first leg, if not a victory for the visitors.
Meanwhile the other semi is a repeat of the last final, and closer to call. I'll go for Tigres greater organisation to once again overcome Santos' all guns blazing approach, though they'll need to take a lead to Torreón to stand a chance.
I'll be back next week to crow/make excuses and preview the final.
Ian
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