Tijuana clinches Liguilla appearance, defeats Chiapas 2-0

Tijuana got an early goal from Milton Caraglio and never looked back, defeating lowly Chiapas FC 2-0. With the 2-0 win, Xolos are guaranteed of a spot in the Liguilla and increased their lead over second place Pachuca to six points (although in fairness, Tuzos don’t play until tomorrow night at Chivas).

Xolos started out the night moving the ball well and probing the Chiapas defense early. It didn’t take long for them to find a weakness, as in the eighth minute Gabriel Hauche made a run down the right and crossed it to Milton Caraglio. Caraglio’s header was perfectly placed, and all Jaguares goalkeeper Federico Crivelli could do was wave at the ball as it sailed into the back of the net.

The off the ball movement from Hauche, Caraglio, and even Moreno was perfect, with Hauche making the run for the pass from Avilés Hurtado, Caraglio drifting wide and getting an aerial mismatch with Jose Ayoví, and Moreno drawing attention in the center of the box.

The pace of the match went from blistering in the first fifteen to twenty minutes to a more placid tempo for the remainder of the first half. Jaguares looked content to try and retain possession and Xolos were happy to allow them, looking for a counterattacking opportunity that never seemed to materialize. Dayro Moreno did have a free kick goal go in late in the first half, however Juan Carlos Valenzuela was clearly offside so the goal was waved off.

The second half was more of the same, with the pace grinding through the first thirty minutes or so. As the match wore on, the legs grew heavy while passes were more hopeful than accurate and men took far too long on the ball. Just as Chiapas started to gain some momentum, this happened:

Federico Crivelli’s indecision cost his team points this evening. He absolutely has to get rid of that ball before Milton Caraglio gets that close. Good work on the part of Caraglio for challenging Crivelli, and also great work by Moreno to recognize the opportunity Caraglio has created and move in to pick up the rebound and hammer it home.

Next week, Tijuana will head to Estadio Nemesio Diez to face Toluca while Chiapas returns to Tuxtla Gutierréz to host Querétaro.

Xolos: Federico Vilar; Juan Carlos Núñez, Emanuel Aguilera (Yasser Corona, 60’), Damián Pérez, Juan Valenzuela; Kevin Gutierrez, Avilés Hurtado, Gabriel Hauche (Victor Malcorra, 78’), Guido Rodríguez; Milton Caraglio, Dayro Moreno (Juninho, 86’)

Jaguares: Federico Crivelli; Julio Nava, Juan Patino, Felix Araujo, William Paredes (Alonso Zamora, 44’); Egidio Arévalo , Dieter Villalpando (Alejandro Durán, 75’), Alonso Escoboza (Adrián Marín, 63’), Jose Ayoví; Luis Mendoza, Jonathan Fabbro

Scoring: Xolos - Milton Caraglio (8’), Dayro Moreno (81’); Jaguares - None

Disciplinary: None