TIJUANA. -

With a goal by Greg Garza towards the end of the game, Tijuana defeated Monterrey last night at "Estadio Tecnologico" which they now continue their undefeated streak, and Monterrey is also now obligated to score 2 goals to be able to advance in the playoffs.

Even though the team started off the game a bit slow, Tijuana was able to achieve their main objective, which was to win.

The Match:

The game started off with Tijuana having possession of the ball, where for the most part of the first half there was not a lot of action, in which then Monterrey started to take control of the ball, but was not able to penetrate the defenders zone of the canine squad.

There were not many exciting plays at the beginning, and the only noticeable one was at the 12 minute when Ayovi took a shot at goal that almost looked like a pass as well, but goalie Cirilo Saucedo was able to deflect the ball over the top cross bar.

At minute 32 of the first half a goal by Tijuana was annulled, because supposedly the player was offside, where a free kick by Tijuana's player Leandro was heading into the goalie box, and Riascos who took off in the proper position to head the ball in towards the goal was able to score, but Gandolfi was offside in the play in which they argued that he was not participating in the play, therefor he should not had been taken into consideration as being part of the play, and this is what caused a controversy in which many have divided opinions over.

This is how the first half now ended with this goal annulled, and where Monterey who was the home team, was trying as hard as they could to finish off the game with a 0-0 result.

Now starting the second half of the game Monterrey came out strong, by having all of their available players ready to attack, but Xolos defended very well in which they did not allow the Rayados to score.

At the 59th minute of the game Monterrey had their best shot to score, where Neri Cardozo filtered a pass through the defenders for De Nigris, who was able to turn and took a shot at goal that seemed like he hit the ball with an iron foot, but Cirilo Saucedo with two hands was able to stop the shot from going in that caught him a bit by surprise.

Now on minute 83 of the game Richard Ruiz had an opportunity inside the goalie box area, in which he was able to shake off the defender and took a shot at goal that veered left off the goalie arch, which this was one of the best opportunities the visiting team had, who was slowly but surely accomplishing their objective.

85th minute of the game Tijuana's patience paid off on a well elaborated play, where Ruiz seemed to had been trapped at the end of the field by the goal line, but was able to pass the ball back to Arce who was knocked down as he received the ball, and Riascos luckily received the ball instead and took a shot at goal with his left foot, but the ball deflected off on a defender Mier, which then landed in front of Garza who score the highly anticipated goal.

The game ended with a victory for Xolos, which now forces Monterrey to score now 2 goals to be able to advance, but that's only if Tijuana also does not score at all.

Xolos now have a very good chance of being in the semifinals with this result.

Here is how the line went:

Monterrey: Jonathan Orozco; Sergio Pérez, Hiram Mier, José María Basanta, Darvin Chávez; César Delgado, Walter Ayoví, Ángel Reyna, Jesús Corona (César de la Peña 79´); Neri Cardozo (Luis Madrigal 75´); Aldo de Nigris. DT: Víctor M. Vucetich.

Tijuana: Cirilo Saucedo; Juan Carlos Núñez, Javier Gandolfi, Joshua Ábrego, Edgar Castillo; Cristian Pellerano, Fernando Arce (Jorge Hernández 87´), Leandro Augusto (Greg Garza 78´); Duvier Riascos, Alfredo Moreno (Raúl Nava 66´), Richard Ruíz. DT: Antonio Mohamed.

Special Note: Greg Garza score his second professional goal, and Tijuana won for the first time at "Estadio Tecnologico" and continues to be unbeaten now for 16 consecutive games.

(MVP) Most Valuable Player of the game: Greg Garza for scoring the winning goal and intelligently defended the midfield.

Editorial@sandiegored.com