Match recap: Guadalajara 0, Tijuana 1

Ariel Nahuelpán was the hero tonight as Tijuana downs Guadalajara 1-0 at Estadio Akron. It was an important road win for Tijuana, as they continue to press for a Liguilla berth while Chivas suffered yet another frustrating result.

Chivas did well early on to retain possession and win the battles in the midfield, but most attempts going forward were snuffed out by the Xolos defense. Play was pretty even until the 22nd minute when Loroña played Bolaños in on goal. Bolaños drew the defense over to him on the right and hit a centering ball on the ground to Ariel Nahuelpán, and Nahuelpán’s shot beat Toño Rodríguez for the goal.

In the 29th, Jesús Molina had a shot from distance that went just over the crossbar. In the 35th it was Molina with another shot through traffic that Lajud was able to stop. Chivas kept pressing but Tijuana was able to absorb the pressure and not permit Chivas to get many good looks at goal.

After the half it was much more of the same. Chivas pressured looking for an equalizer but Xolos was able to deflect and parry the Chivas advances by clogging passing lanes and pressuring Chivas into making a poor pass. Chivas had something resembling a chance in the 59th minute when 10 played a good ball into the box, but in the resulting scrum Chivas wasn’t able to control the ball and Lajud was able to fall on it.

In the 63rd, Alan Pulido made a nice slashing run into the box but the ball was expertly tackled away by Kevin Balanta. Pulido would have another opportunity in the 69th when a ball was played in by Eduardo “Chofis” López. Balanta this time missed the tackle and Pulido was in on goal but Lajud came off of his line to make a fantastic slide tackle to dispossess Pulido and remove the danger.

In the 72nd minute, Alexis Vega hit a curling shot that beat Lajud but smacked flush off of the post and out. In the 81st it was Chofis with a curler that just missed the net. There was some controversy in the 85th minute when on a free kick Chofis hit a beautiful curling shot that hit the side netting but then somehow went into the goal. Initially ruled a goal it was waved off and then confirmed as not a goal by VAR.

VAR also played a part in stoppage time when Chofis went up for a ball in the box and seemed to get tangled with Julián Velázquez and went down. Upon further review, no penalty was awarded, much to the dismay of the fans at Estadio Akron. Xolos parked the bus and Chivas was not able to break through, giving the visitors all three points on the evening.

Chivas heads to Toluca to face Diablos Rojos on Sunday while Tijuana heads to Juárez to face Los Bravos in a matchup between the two border clubs.

Guadalajara: Antonio Rodríguez; Miguel Ponce, Gilberto Sepúlveda, Hiram Mier, Jesús Sánchez; Gael Sandoval (Oribe Peralta, 67’), Jesús Molina, Alan Cervantes (Eduardo López, 46’); Alexis Vega, Alan Pulido, Isaac Brizuela

Tijuana: Gibran Lajud; Jordan Silva, Diego Braghieri, Julián Velázquez, Vladimir Loroña; Kevin Balanta; Mauro Lainez (Aldo Cruz, 63’), Ignacio Rivero, Leonel Miranda (Washington Camacho, 68’), Miller Bolaños (Fernando Arce, Jr., 87’); Ariel Nahuelpán

Scoring: Guadalajara - None; Tijuana - Ariel Nahuelpán (22’)

Disciplinary: Guadalajara - Gael Sandoval (Yellow - 30’), Gilberto Sepúlveda (Yellow - 62’), Jesús Molina (Yellow - 88’); Tijuana - Miller Bolaños (Yellow - 5’), Kevin Balanta (Yellow - 36’), Mauro Lainez (Yellow - 46’)