It has been said that it is difficult to play down in Mexico and LAFC and Nashville found that out the hard way. Both MLS teams lost their games against Liga MX as they found it difficult to compete against teams when the playing field is even. Now Tigres and Toluca will face off against each other in the final scheduled for later this month as the MLS realizes that the gap between themselves and Liga MX isn’t as small as they thought.
Tigres 1 – 0 Nashville (2 – 0 aggregate)
Nashville traveled down to Nuevo León to face Tigres in the second leg of the semifinals where they still had a chance to advance to the final. They were only down by one goal so it was possible to pull out the win. The Boys in Gold were able to hold on for the majority of the match as Tigres didn’t fully dominate the game. The issue was that the visitors were unable to finish their chances while Tigres did. Angel Correa made his way into the box on the left side of the field as he easily got past the Nashville defender. The Argentinian could have taken the shot himself but he opted to pass to Juan Brunetta who made his way unmarked into the box. Brunetta wasn’t the only player who was open as both Juan Vigón and Diego Lainez were open up the middle and right side of the field. The Nashville defenders were so focused on the ball that they weren’t watching their mark. Correa could have passed the ball to any of his teammates but he opted for Brunetta who did not waste his chance. Goalkeeper Brian Schwake was rightfully angry at his defenders for their lack of concentration. After their goal Tigres still had chances to double their lead but they did not finish their chances. They slowed down the game and did just enough to be able to keep Nashville from scoring. Now Tigres have the opportunity to win just their second Concacaf Champions trophy and in the process allow club legend André-Pierre Gignac end his illustrious career with another trophy.
Toluca 4 – 0 LAFC (5 – 2 aggregate)
LAFC traveled to Toluca on a 2-1 advantage with one foot in the door of the final. All they had to do was maintain this scoreline in a stadium that is nicknamed “el Infierno/Hell” and that is what Toluca put them through. The first half ended in a scoreless draw but not because the visitors outplayed the home side but because Toluca was unable to finish any of their chances. They had 18 shots with seven of them being on target but none of those went in. Meanwhile LAFC only had four shots with one on target. The stats were lopsided and the visitors were going to need to make changes in the second half if they wanted to win but that was not the case. All four goals came in the second half with the first in the form of a penalty in the 49th minute. The second goal came 10 minutes later with a stunner from outside the box. This left the visitors with 30 minutes left to level the game and win it. Unfortunately that did not happen as Toluca put the nail in the coffin in added time with a brace from Paulinho. LAFC was no match for Toluca as their forwards were unable to score any goals and their defense crumbled under the Toluca pressure. Now Toluca have the opportunity to win their third Concacaf Champions Cup and to show the world that they can dominate on the international stage.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
