Cruz Azul beat Tigres 2-1 in the seventh week of the Clausura 2020
Cruz Azul again showed they have a shot at the title this season, beating Tigres with two goals from Romo and Aldrete.
Cruz Azul are making a statement with their incredible recent run: in their last five games, they haven’t lost. So far they have three victories in a row while Tigres can’t seem to wake up in this Clausura 2020 and they are now outside of the playoff positions.
The beginning of the game was explosive and in the sixth minute Tigres had their first attempt on goal, Carlos Salcedo heading just wide from a corner. Seconds later, Cruz Azul counter-attacked and Luis Romo made no mistake from Juan Escobar's fine cross to score the first goal of the game. For the second game in a row, Jesús Corona was one of Cruz Azul’s best players, because in the 10th minute he blocked a shot from Jesús Dueñas.
In the 30th minute, the referee did not award a penalty kick to Tigres after Roberto Alvarado hit the ball with his hand. VAR told the referee to check the play, but he upheld his decision.
After that, Corona blocked two goal opportunities from Luis Quiñones and Enner Valencia to ensure Cruz Azul went in for the break 1-0 ahead.
The second half started in as electrifying fashion as the first half and in the 58th minute Jonathan Rodríguez scored a header from a corner kick to make the score 2-0 in favour of Cruz Azul, but VAR checked the play and confirmed that he was offside, so the goal was disallowed.
Tigres kept pressuring and in the 61st minute Corona blocked a shot from Quiñones and Javier Aquino took advantage of the rebound to tie the game against his former club. Aquino even kissed the Tigres badge during his celebration, even though he started his career with Cruz Azul.
The home team would have the last laugh 10 minutes before the end of the game, with Adrián Aldrete scoring again from a free kick to give Cruz Azul a 2-1 lead. Now Cruz Azul will face Portmore United and Tigres will receive Alianza, both in the second leg of the last 16 of the Concacaf Champions League this week.