TIJUANA - Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles practically say good bye of any remote possibilities of the playoffs with a scoreless draw at home against Tigres. Xolos played the final 15 minutes of the match with a man advantage and up to four forwards; but were still unable to break through on the scoresheet.

The entire match was very close as neither team allowed the other to dominate. Tijuana had the most in possession but the visiting Tigers made sure no real danger was created on their goal.

The most dangerous play of the first half and even the game came in the first minute of play when Fernando Arce fed a through ball to Dario Benedetto who went one-on-one against Enrique Palos the Tigres goalkeeper. The goalie stood his ground and blocked the Argentine’s shot.

Tigres were not able to get a hold of the ball to create any chances but they weren’t worried. They’re number one priority was to shut down the Xolos attack. It wasn’t until the 30th minute of play that Tijuana goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo had any real work.

The second half brought more of the same. The home side which knew they needed the win trying their hardest to push forward in search of a goal with very little success. And a visiting Tigres well organized in the back not allowing anything by, but creating very little in the offensive part of the field.

The need of a win was so great that Club Tijuana manager had four forwards at one point (Fidel Martinez, Dario Benedetto, Herculez Gomez, and Paul Arriola). But even this was not enough to break through the tough Tigres defense.

The visitors dropped even further back as in the 75th Tigres midfielder Jose Rivas was ejected from the match and they were to play the final 15 minutes with one less player.

The draw helps none of these teams and will likely mean that Xolos will be eliminated from any possibilities of liguilla (playoffs) at the conclusion of Week 15 matches in Mexico. Tijuana will face struggling Atlante in the Estadio Caliente in one week’s time in the penultimate match day of the regular season.

Find all Tijuana Xolos news in English here.

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jonny.rico@sandiegored.com (@jonyrico)