América crowned Clausura 2024 champions after defeating Cruz Azul

Club América have won ‘la 15’ and become bicampeón after defeating Cruz Azul at the Azteca on a rainy Sunday night. A controversial penalty call in the 70th minute all but sealed the fate of La Máquina who overall looked better than the Águilas, but ultimately the referee confirmed his decision and Henry Martin converted the goal that gave the Águilas the win.

The action started pretty quickly as América were awarded a free kick after a foul on Henry Martin as he got a cleat to his face. The subsequent free kick went straight to the hands of Mier. A minute later the Aguilas had another chance as Julian Quiñones sent in a cross into the box headed for Martin but the ball was defended out before it could find its target. Two minutes later Quiñones attempted his own header but the ball was defended out right before he could get to the ball. Cruz Azul got their first shot on goal in the 10th minute as Carlos Rotondi took a shot towards goal but the ball went straight to the hands of Luis Angel Malagon. Two minutes later Diego Valdés was fouled outside of the box and he stepped up to take the free kick. His shot went straight to the hands of Mier once again. In the 15th minute Cruz Azul had a chance to score when Uriel Antuna got his head on the ball and sent it towards goal but Malagon made an incredible save and stopped the ball from going in. Once again Malagon came up with an incredible save after another Cruz Azul header towards goal. La Maquina had another great chance at goal after Gonzalo Piovi took a shot from distance that Malagon couldn’t get a hold of initially but thankfully no other Cruz Azul player was close by to get the rebound. In the 38th minute Rotondi took a shot at goal that went to the hands of Malagon who put the ball into play immediately for a counter attack that didn’t work out as Cruz Azul was able to disarm the threat. A minute later Ignacio Rivero missed a sitter right in front of goal where he sent the ball into the stands instead. América had their own chance right after as Henry Martin did everything he could to save the ball from going out but Alvaro Fidalgo sent the ball above the crossbar when he usually makes those kinds of shots. The half then came to an end with everything to play for in the final 45 minutes.

In the first minute of the second half there was some miscommunication as Alejandro Zendejas sent a ball backwards towards his own goal but the ball went out for a corner instead of in the back of his own net. The subsequent corner led to nothing as Cruz Azul was not able to capitalize on the corner. A few minutes later Zendejas missed a chance at goal when his header went above the crossbar when usually he makes those kinds of shots. In the 53rd minute the deadlock was broken when Cruz Azul scored. Well, it looked like they did but the goal was called back due to offsides and a foul on Igor Lichnovsky. América was saved. 10 minutes later Zendejas battled it out to save a ball from going out for a goal kick but ultimately he couldn’t save it. The ball should’ve never gone out as for some reason his teammates had many opportunities to send the ball towards goal but instead they passed it back and forth until it went out. It was then in the 70th minute when the controversy started.

Zendejas was right outside of the box when he sent the ball off into the box right before he was taken down. The ball made its way to Israel Reyes as he was taken down in the box and the referee blew his whistle signaling a penalty for América. Once the replays began playing it showed that when Rotondi made the sweep he did touch the ball. The referee was even called to VAR where he confirmed his original decision, a penalty. Henry Martin stepped up to take the penalty and he sent Mier the wrong way as the ball went into the back of the net.

Cruz Azul had now 12 minutes plus stoppage time to find the equalizer that would send the game into extra-time. Instead of going for goal, La Maquina found themselves without the ball as the Aguilas went for a second goal as Quiñones attempted a shot at goal but Mier sent the ball out for a corner. The corner led to nothing as the Aguilas took a short corner attempting to slow down the game and the ball was eventually cleared out. A minute later Fidalgo had his own chance to score but his shot went just above the crossbar. In the 88th minute Cruz Azul were awarded a corner but they could not capitalize on the chance. The game then went into stoppage time and La Maquina had eight minutes to find a goal. One minute into stoppage time Rivero attempted a shot on goal but somehow Malagon was able to get the ball. Moments later Richard Sanchez, who had been subbed on five minutes earlier, took his own shot from distance but it went above the crossbar. Cruz Azul had one last opportunity to score but the ball went to the hands of Malagon who had made three incredible saves to keep the visitors from scoring. That was the last opportunity La Maquina had as the referee blew his whistle and América was crowned campeon of Clausura 2024 and bicampeones.

While Club América had not played their best games during liguilla, they did just enough to win the trophy. Unfortunately this trophy will always be marred in controversy because of the penalty call. Cruz Azul played the better game but it was not enough to win. Many believed they weren’t going to make a liguilla appearance because of how they started the season but instead they made their way into the final. They had many chances to score but they did not and at the end of the day it is all about which team scores even if the better team did not win. Club América won ‘la 15’ and were crowned the best team in Liga MX.

Club América: L. Malagon; I. Reyes, I. Lichnovsky, R. Juárez Del Castillo, C. Calderón; J. dos Santos, A. Fidalgo, A. Zendejas, D. Valdés, J. Quiñones; H. Martin

Cruz Azul: K. Mier; C. Rotondi, G. Piovi, C. Salcedo, W. Ditta, R. Huescas; I. Rivero, C. Rodriguez, L. Faravelli, U. Antuna; A. Sepulveda