Necaxa stun a very poor Queretaro and practically punch ticket to Semifinals

Necaxa took a huge step towards the Semifinals after getting a 3-0 win against Queretaro in the first leg of their Liguilla matchup. After a very even and boring first half, Necaxa got the better opportunity and took advantage of a slow Gallos Blancos that lacked offensive ideas. Necaxa now need to go to Queretaro where they have a clear advantage in the scoreline and didn’t receive a single away goal in Aguascalientes.

The first half started with Necaxa having the better chances as the away team, Queretaro, sat back. Nonetheless, the best chance of the first half may have fallen to Gallos Blancos when Ayron del Valle fell in the area, but no penalty was given. The replay showed that he might have dived, and in taking the dive he wasted what was probably Querétaro’s best opportunity of scoring. The first half then went on without a score and without much action or excitement.

The second half kicked off with Necaxa going on the offense, trying to take advantage of their home conditions. It didn’t take long for them to break things open, when after a cross and a bad defensive display in the area, the ball fell to Cristian Calderon, who got off a left footed shot in the area and scored to give Necaxa the 1-0 lead.

Trailing, Queretaro went onto the attack and Gonzalez had to come up big to make a save from a close range shot from Ake Loba.

Necaxa sat back with the lead, and Queretaro took the possession thereafter. The Rayos moved to countering and got close to making it count when Calderon had a chance to add his second, but he couldn’t get it past Queretaro’s keeper Gil Alcala.

But off a free kick, Necaxa once again made Queretaro pay. Felipe Gallegos took the free kick and scored a marvelous left footed goal that went past a diving Alcala in the left top corner.

With the 2-0 lead, things got heated and Calderon got into a shoving match with Jesus Escoboza that left both of them with yellow cards. Queretaro then tried to attack, but they had a lousy display in trying to get a goal. In the last minutes, a good combination play had Maxi Salas heading the ball in the area and into the feet of Necaxa’s forward Eduardo Herrera, who scrambled it past Alcala for the 3-0. Necaxa finished off Queretaro in the process and looked to have put one foot in the Semifinals.

The scoreline is a big step for Necaxa and a very bad result for a Queretaro that looks as if they gifted Necaxa the win. While Necaxa was the better team, they didn’t look to be 3-0 superior. However, Queretaro had defensive mistakes and also had a bad offensive response, especially when they went down 2-0. Moreover, Queretaro might be playing well at home, but Necaxa is a team that doesn’t get scored on much and they will be a danger off the counter, especially since they have co-goal scoring champion in Mauro Quiroga. Queretaro is a solid team, but it looks like they are in a hole too deep to dig themselves out of.