2014 Liga MX Clausura Liguilla: Final Eight first leg recap
Raul Jimenez
#5 seed America vs #4 Santos Laguna
America hosted the first leg of this match-up. Things started out great with Osvaldo Martinez scoring in the 11th minute to give the home club a 1-0 lead. Santos would even it up fourteen minutes later with a goal from Rodolfo Salinas. At the end of the first half the score stayed 1-1.
Santos jumped to an early lead after Carlos Darwin Quintero scored two minutes into the second half. Six minutes later Ribar Rodriguez would make it 3-1 for the road club, that is when America's Raul Jimenez took over and scored three goals in the 58th, 80th and 86th minutes to give America a 4-3 lead. Rubens Sambueza would make it 5-3 before the final whistle to the joy of the home crowd.
America had 14 total shots at the goal with eight being on target while Santos had only five shots on target on eight total shots. America had lots of chances with nine corner kicks compared to only two for Santos. The home club held a 61%-39% possession advantage on Santos. Santos had four yellow cards compared to one for America. America did receive a red card at the end of the match to dampen the night.
Which Club Wins Title
#8 Leon vs #1 Cruz Azul
Leon hosted this match-up with Cruz Azul. This match was total different from the first match of the tourney. Cruz jumped out to an early lead when Mariano Pavone scored in the third minute. Leon would answer in the 20th minute with a goal from Jose Cardenas. Neither team would fine the back of the net the rest of the night as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Leon put a whopping 25 shots on goal but only six were on target as Cruz also put six shots on target. Leon also held a 64%-36% time possession with the ball. The home club could not take advantage of their 10-4 corner advantage and will now have to go to Cruz looking to pull the upset to advance.
The match was fairly clean with Cruz receiving two yellow cards compared to one for Leon.
