2017 Copa MX match recap: Atlante 1, Tijuana 1

After heavy rains from Tropical Storm Franklin soaked the Yucatan Peninsula for the past day, Xolos and Atlante went ahead as scheduled in Cancun, playing to a 1-1 draw.

In the 12th minute, Xolos had a great chance when Quick Mendoza was sprung on a great pass from Matias Pisano, but his shot hit the side netting. Three minutes later, Luis Chavez would try his luck from the left side but Eduardo Bravo would easily collect the slow roller.

In the 26th minute, Tijuana’s fortunes would change when Juan Lucero got on the end of a fantastic backheel flick by Quick Mendoza and fired a bullet past Bravo to put Tijuana up 1-0 on the Potros.

In the 30th minute, Oscar Uscanga had a shot from distance that Tono Rodriguez had a bit of difficulty handling but managed to grab before an onrushing Atlante player was able to pounce on it.

In the 38th minute, Quick seemed to get a step on the Atlante defender and was tugged down in the box, but the referee indicated no foul was committed. Moments later, Pisano drove in past two defenders and was in on Bravo alone but his shot was rushed and went high.

In the 45th minute, Quick was shown a straight red card for elbowing Manuel Marroquin in the face - although the contact looked slight and incidental.

In the second half Atlante would pile on pressure but the 10-man Xolos seemed to be able to keep up with the pressure. In the 65th minute, Luis Chavez played a good ball across to the feet of Alejandro Guido, who was parked in the box. Guido controlled the ball, turned, and fired all in one motion - but his shot went wide of the mark.

In the 75th minute Carlos Cauich was played in on a fantastic ball but his shot whistled wide of Tono Rodriguez’ net. In the 80th minute, Alfonso Luna a played in Marcelo Gracia , who took a step and fired well high of the net - much to the chagrin of two of his teammates who were wide open on the other side of the goal.

Xolos were able to keep men behind the ball and stuck to the script. While they were able to break occasionally, it wasn’t the main focus of the team and their commitment to defense allowed the team to hold on to the lead into extra time.

Moments before the final whistle, it all came crashing down.

Matias Aguirregaray tried dispossessing an onrushing Potro, falling down trying to draw a foul. The referee did not bite, and the ball was played into the mixer. Juan Carlos Nunez tried clearing the ball, but rang it off of the post instead and the ball fell directly to Carlos Cauich, who put the ball into the back of the net.

Xolos will look to get their first win in Liga MX this Friday against Puebla, while Atlante will play Atletico San Luis on Friday in the Ascenso MX.

Atlante: Eduardo Bravo; Gabriel Espana, Alfonso Luna, Manuel Marroquin, Jesus Vasquez, Carlos Cauich, David Izazola (Marcelo Gracia - 62’), Simon Rodriguez (Francisco Uscanga - 46’), Felipe Reynero (Ernesto Reyes - 68’), Diego Aguilar, Oscar Uscanga

Club Tijuana: Antonio Rodriguez, Matias Aguirregaray, Alejandro Donatti, Hiram Munoz, Juan Carlos Nunez, Enzo Kalinski, Luis Chavez (Juan Carlos Valenzuela - 73’), Alejandro Guido, Matias Pisano (Cesar Crespo - 83’), Luis Mendoza, Juan Lucero (Henry Martin - 70’)

Scoring: Atlante - None; Club Tijuana - Juan Lucero (26’)

Disciplinary: Atlante - David Izazola (Yellow - 48’); Club Tijuana - Enzo Kalinski (Yellow - 25’), Luis Mendoza (Red - 45’), Matias Aguirregaray (Yellow - 68’)