May 10, 2010 MEXICAN LEAGUE CLAUSURA Liguilla quarterfinals roundup – 2nd leg roundup
PACHUCA 2, MONTERREY 1
Pachuca punched their ticket to the Liguilla semifinals with Saturday’s 2-1 win over defending champions Monterrey at Estadio Tecnologico.
Luis Montez scored in the 87th minute to seal Saturday’s win, but Edy Brambila’s 46th-minute tally clinched the total-goals series for the Tuzos, who ended up with a 3-1 advantage.
Monterrey did their best to save face with their home fans, leveling the series at a goal apiece when Oswaldo Martinez scored in the 33rd minute, and earning a penalty kick in that would have leveled the aggregate score at 2-2 in the 58th minute. This time, however, Martinez could not get past netminder Rodolfo Cota, and Pachuca held on to take the match and the series.
Pachuca will open the two-leg semifinal Wednesday at home against Toluca.
MORELIA 1, CHIVAS 0
Morelia put faltering Chivas de Guadalajara out of their misery on Saturday, taking a 1-0 win at Estadio Jalisco that eliminated the Rojiblancos from the Liguilla by an aggregate score of 5-2.
Elias Hernandez sent the Monarcos through to the semifinals with a goal in the 57th minute.
Chivas’s energetic attack had problems putting the ball on target, although Marco Fabian sent defender Kalu Gastelum scrambling to clear a breakaway shot out of danger shortly before Hernandez scored.
Chivas, who started the Bicentenario with a record-breaking eight straight wins, never recovered from a raft of late-season World Cup training camp callups, but backed into the playoffs based on their early success.
Morelia will host Santos Laguna in the first semifinal leg, Wednesday at Estadio Morelos.
TOLUCA 2, AMERICA 0
Unanswered goals by Antonio Naelson and Manuel Perez sent Toluca through to the Liguilla semifinals with a 2-0 win over Club America Sunday at Estadio Nemesio Diez.
America, who played Toluca to a 2-2 draw in the opening leg of the quarterfinal series, was without forward Pavel Pardo, who was sidelined with a thigh injury early in last weekend’s series opener. Sunday’s result left Toluca with a 4-2 aggregate advantage.
Naelson scored what turned out to be the deciding goal in the 29th minute, and Perez added the insurance tally in the 88th.
Toluca will face Pachuca in the first of two semifinal matches, Wednesday at Estadio Hidalgo.
PUMAS 1, SANTOS LAGUNA 0
UNAM Pumas won the battle but lost the war, defeating Santos Laguna 1-0 Sunday at Estadio Olimpico Universitario but failing to advance to Wednesday’s Liguilla semifinals.
Santos won the two-leg quarterfinal series 2-1 and will travel for a first-leg match against Morelia Wednesday at Estadio Morelos.
Ismael Iniguez scored the game-winning goal for Pumas in the 53rd minute of Sunday’s match. UNAM had plenty of chances to collect the other goal(s) they needed to stay alive in the Liguilla, starting with Jehu Chiapas’ cracker off the crossbar before the match was ten minutes old. However, Iniguez was the only player able to beat veteran goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, leaving Pumas with a hollow victory.
