Match recap: Club Tijuana 2, Toluca FC 1

Match Recap

It wasn’t the prettiest game of soccer, but neither Tijuana nor Toluca were ever going to win points in a beauty contest. Instead, fans at Estadio Caliente witnessed the home side get a gritty 2-1 win that saw a combined nine yellow cards given out (and it could easily have ended with less than twenty-two men on the pitch).

Tijuana started the match out abuzz, with players flying up and down the artificial turf at Estadio Caliente. It would be Toluca who would get the first chance at goal however, when in the fourth minute Toluca feigned confusion on a set piece and when Miller Bolaños lost his man, Rubens Sambueza chipped the ball over the Ecuadoran to Ángel Reyna, who hit a shot that rang off of the far post.

In the 11th minute Sambueza went in hard on Damián Musto, stepping on his shins and ankles. Sambu was only shown a yellow card, however on any other night he could easily have seen red.

In the 14th minute, Juan Carlos “Topo” Valenzuela got his head onto a cross and the ball clattered off of the crossbar and out.

Tijuana seemed to favor aerial attacks against Diablos Rojos, with balls being put up into the air seemingly more often than shots being taken. It seemed to be working well, with Toluca goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera having to swat more than one shot away from his net.

Xolos would finally break through in the 28th minute when Bolaños and Gustavo “Pantera” Bou did a neat give and go. Bou bounced the ball over to Juan Lucero, who hit a shot that beat Talavera and put the hosts up 1-0.

In the 34th minute, Pantera Bou almost doubled the lead when he beat a defender and hit a shot that just missed the far post.

By this time however, Toluca looked mostly out of ideas. They seemed content to foul often and express their extreme and animated displeasure for perceived missed calls by referee Jorge Rojas.

The second half started out much like the first ended. It was gritty and physical but Juan Lucero would break through in the 50th minute to bag his second of the night. Pantera Bou was able to beat his man and hit a fantastic cutback pass toward Lucero, who calmly slotted it past Talavera to give the hosts the 2-0 lead.

In the 54th Bolaños would rip a right footed blast that just missed Talavera’s net. In the 60th, Lucero would hit a shot that Talavera had to make a diving save on. Although Tala would bobble the save, he was able to regain control before more damage was done.

In the 69th minute, Bolaños was brought down about 30 yards out. Luis Chávez hit the ensuing free kick which just skimmed the top of the bar.

The partnership between Pantera Bou and Juan Lucero almost paid off again when Bou was able to hit a fantastic pass up to Lucero. While Lucero was played physically by the Toluca defense there wasn’t enough for referee Rojas to award the penalty.

As the game grew closer to the 90 minute mark, the teams both seemed intent on slowing the game down and fouling as much as possible. Toluca was able to draw one back deep into added time when Sambu hit a free kick into the box. Pablo Barrientos got his head onto the ball and redirected it to Fernando Uribe, whose header beat Gibran Lajud.

The teams will head to Toluca with Tijuana up 2-1. They’ll resume the series on Sunday in the early match.

Game: Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente vs. Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V

Date: Thursday, May 10th

Time: 10:30 p.m. Eastern, 9:30 p.m. Central, 7:30 p.m. Pacific, 2:30 a.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Caliente (Tijuana, B.C.)

Referees: REF: Jorge Isaac Rojas Castillo, AR1: José Luis Camargo Callado, AR2: Jose Ibrahim Martinez Chavarria, 4TH: Adonai Escobedo Gonzalez

Television: United States - Univision Deportes Network; Mexico - Azteca 7

Streaming: Fanatiz, fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling (Free trial + monthly subscription), Univision NOW, Facebook Live

Lineups

Club Tijuana: Gibran Lajud: Damián Pérez, Juan Carlos Valenzuela, Pablo Aguilar, Omar Mendoza; Damián Musto, Miller Bolaños (Alejandro Guido, 78’), Luis Chávez, Luis Mendoza (Julio Angulo, 89’); Gustavo Bou (Igancio Malcorra, 83’), Juan Lucero

Toluca FC: Alfredo Talavera; Cristian Borja, Santiago García, Osvaldo González, Rodrigo Salinas; Antonio Ríos; Luis Quiñones (Martin Abundiz, 74’), Pablo Barrientos, Ángel Reyna (Jorge Sartaguín, 62’), Rubens Sambueza; Fernando Uribe

Scoring: Club Tijuana - Juan Lucero (28’, 50’); Toluca FC - Fernando Uribe (90+4’)

Disciplinary: Club Tijuana - Damián Musto (Yellow - 44’), Luis Mendoza (Yellow - 52’), Juan Lucero (Yellow - 57’), Miller Bolaños (Yellow - 78’), Luis Mendoza (Yellow - 89’); Toluca FC - Luis Quiñones (Yellow - 8’), Rubens Sambueza (Yellow - 11’), Pablo Barrientos (Yellow - 88’)