Match recap: Tijuana 0, Tigres UANL 0

A match that came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. Tijuana and Tigres had a tough, physical first half followed by a calmer second half, however neither team was fully able to figure out the other and the teams came away with a 0-0 draw.

Tijuana got quite a scare early on when before the first minue had passed Tigres were able to string together a couple of good passes and a final cross into the box just missed the foot of Edu Vargas. Tijuana was able to settle down and in the fidfth minute had a good flurry that culminated with Fabián Castillo floating a cross into the box that found the head of Ariel Nahuelpán, but the big man’s header went just wide of the net.

The game then devolved into a series of fouls that choked off any momentum that either team had hoped to produce. Between long stretches of the teams mauling one another, André-Pierre Gignac was able to break through Xolos’ defense in the 13th minute and get off a shot, but the angle was poor at best and Jonathan Orozco was able to stop the shot. In the 15th minute, Luis Quiñones rang one off of the crossbar, but Tijuana was able to hold firm and clear the rebound.

In the 30th minute, Miguel Barbieri went in hard on Quiñones. The teams had a bit of a pushing and shoving match, which saw Rafael Carioca and Barbieri pick up the game’s first yellow cards. Miller Bolaños had a shot in the 40th that Guzmán was perfectly positioned for and swallowed up.

The opening minutes of the second half were tame compared to the first. Tijuana was able to apply some pressure early on thanks in great part to great dribbling by Fabián Castillo and constant pressure from Miller Bolaños. Tigres had a great chance in the 57th when Javier Aquino unleashed a shot that Orozco did well to punch out for a corner.

Xolos was able to keep up a decent amount of pressure, nullifying Tigres’ ability to find a rhythm and get chances of their own. In the 77th, Miguel Barbieri got his head onto a corner kick but it missed the post by a fraction of an inch. In the 81st it looked like Tigres had scored when a Gignac header went in past Orozco, but the play had been offside and the goal was disallowed.

As the game wore on, the teams became more conservative and looked comfortable conceding a 0-0 draw. Tijuana got a point against a very good Tigres team while Tigres can celebrate a point on the road. Next week is a doble jornada, and Tijuana will host Atlético San Luis on Wednesday before heading out to León for a rivalry match on Monday, August 17. Tigres will return home to host Puebla on Tuesday before heading to Toluca to play Los Diablos on Sunday.

Tijuana: Jonathan Orozco; Jorge Aguilar, Miguel Barbieri, Víctor Guzmán, Jaime Gómez (Aldo Cruz, 74’); Marcel Ruiz, Luis Gamíz, Jordi Cortizo; Fabián Castillo (Clifford Aboagye, 87’), Ariel Nahuelpán (Bryan Angulo, 74’), Miller Bolaños (Cristian Rivera, 90+2’)

Tigres UANL: Nahuel Guzmán; Jesus Dueñas, Hugo Ayala, Francisco Meza, Luis Rodríguez; Javier Aquino, Guido Pizarro, Rafael Carioca, Luis Quiñones (Julián Quiñones, 66’); André-Pierre Gignac, Eduardo Vargas (Leonardo Fernndez, 72’)

Scoring: Tijuana - None; Tigres UANL - None

Disciplinary: Tijuana - Miguel Barbieri (Yellow - 29’), Víctor Guzmán (Yellow - 33’), Jorge Aguilar (Yellow - 79’); Tigres UANL - Rafael Carioca (Yellow - 29’), Guido Pizarro (Yellow - 55’), Francisco Meza (Yellow - 63’)