An own goal from Diego Reyes lifted Cruz Azul to victory in Liga MX action over rivals Tigres on Saturday night at the Estadio Azul.
The hosts controlled the game in the early going, testing Tigres’ veteran shot-stopper Nahuel Guzman on multiple occasions in the 35th meeting between the two clubs.
Both sides created a few half-chances here and there throughout the first half, and Cruz Azul looked certain to go ahead after a slick cut-back pass from Mexican national team forward Uriel Antuna but Lorenzo Faravelli’s shot was blocked.
A draw looked like the most probable result — up until the 83rd minute. A low-driven cross from Antuna finally wound up in the back of the net, but it was off of Tigres substitute Reyes and not a fellow teammate,
The legendary Guzman pulled off save after save but couldn’t keep Reyes’ own goal out of his net, giving the home side a narrow 1-0 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in normal time. Despite a late scuffle to raise tensions, Cruz Azul prevailed to win their fifth game of the campaign while Tigres suffered their first defeat of the season.
GK: Nahuel Guzman – 8/10 – Pulled off save after save to keep his side in the match until his own teammate gave the hosts the lead.
CB: Samir Caetano – 5/10 – Couldn’t keep up with Uriel Antuna and was beaten a few times but managed to step in to block a sure-fire goal near the end of the first half.
CB: Juanjo Sanchez Purata – 7.5/10 – Defended valiantly throughout the game and blocked just about every Cruz Azul shot that came his way.
CB: Jesus Angulo – 7/10 – Put in an excellent shift at the back alongside Purata.
RM: Jesus Garza – 6/10 – Not the most inspiring performance at wing-back from the youngster.
CM: Fernando Gorriaran – 6/10 – A disappointing game from a player who’s shown in the past he can step up when the pressure is on.
CM: Rafael Carioca – 6/10 – Wasn’t the best showing from the experienced midfielder and his age, along with the amount of games played recently, was apparent.
CM: Juan Brunetta – 6.5/10 – Put in a teasing cross inside the first half four that didn’t find a Tigres forward.
LM: Diego Lainez – 6.5/10 – Threatened the Cruz Azul defense with a few clever runs in the wider areas but they amounted to nothing.
ST: Orriel Herrera – 6/10 – Suffered from the lack of service and crossed put in by his teammates.
ST: Andre-Pierre Gignac – 6/10 – Like Herrera, the legendary striker also found chances hard to come by and tried to make do with slim pickings.
SUB: Juan Pablo Vigon (62′ for Lainez) – 5/10 – Didn’t make an impact after coming on.
SUB: Marcelo Flores (62′ for Fernando Gorriaran) – 6.5/10 – Made a couple of darting runs into the opposition’s penalty area to try to make something happen.
SUB: Francisco Cordova (63′ for Juan Brunetta) – 6/10 – Couldn’t bring the magic off the bench like he’s done in the past.
SUB: Diego Reyes (75′ for Angulo) – 4/10 – Was unfortunate to concede the own goal not long after coming on.
SUB: Eduard Tercero (80′ for Garza) – N/A
Robert Siboldi – 4.5/10 – His starting lineup couldn’t create chances on a consistent basic as his two forwards were isolated for most of the match and it was as if Tigres were playing nine vs 11. To top it off, one of his substitutes scored the winning goal — for Cruz Azul.
