Tigres 1-1  Club América: summary, score, goals, highlights Liga MX Apertura 2023 final

So, after one of the most forgettable first 45 minutes of football seen in a Liga MX final for some time, the game finally sprang to life in the second half with America striker Henry Martin calmly slotting home a spot kick after Quiñones was upended in the box to put the side from Coapa ahead shortly after the restart.

Some bold changes from Siboldi eventually paid off after Herrera nodded home a Cordova corner to tie the game in the 71st minute and it appeared that both sides seemed content with the draw.

One area of concern for Tigres was a under-par performance from striker Gignac who, at times was little more than a spectator.

On the balance of play and taking into account that the return leg will be played at the Estadio Azteca, one has to feel that Club America are in a solid position to secure the long awaited 14th Liga MX title.

FT: Tigres 1-1 America

That's it ... all over at El Volcan ...

So, all to play for on Sunday...

America with the advantage of the home game.

Tired legs now also playing a part in the pace of the game.

We'll have a further six minutes of additional time.

Changes for America

Alvarez and Reyes on 

Zendejas and Quinoñes are replaced

Final minute of the half as both sides make forays into the the opposing half.

Looks like both sides would settle for the draw.

Final five minutes remaining in the first leg.

Changes for America

Dos Santos and Valdes leave 

Rodriguez and Sanchez on

Cordova carded as he clips Fuemtes

Into the final ten minutes of the game.

Tigres pressing and looking for a winner but one senses that both managers would settle for the tie now.

Diego Valdes with another shot but this time the America striker drives the ball well wide.

Tigres draw level

The Tigres find their voices again as the clock ticks down.

Final fifteen of the action.

Dos Santos needs medical assistance after an akward fall. 

Game on at el Volcan.

A much, much better half of football after a really poot first 45'.

Malagon tips over from a Reyes header.

Another Tigres corner and the home side draw level as Herrera scores.

Gooooooool.

Change for Tigres

Ibañez on with Gorriaran being replaced

Tigres with two strikers on the field 

Too many Tigres players have not stepped up tonight with Gignac a total passenger with the French striker involved in very little of the action.

Tigres are now leaving spaces at the back as they search for an equaliser.

Martin sees a chance snuffed out by Tigres.

Changes for Tigres

Herrera and Fulgencio on

Lainez and Vigon off

Lainez is starting to do well down the Tigres left channel now and is testing Layun. 

The ball falls to Carioca on the edge of the box and miscues and sends the ball out for a throw-in.

A Lainez corner falls to Cordova but no problems for Malagon in the America goal.

There is an urgency about Tigres now as they look for an equaliser.

Heading to Mexico City trailing is far from ideal for the UANL side.

We've had a better eight minutes in the second half in terms of action and incident than we did in the entire first 45 minutes of the final.

Tigres 0-1 America

Cool as you like spot kick from Martin

Clear penalty for the visitors.

Henry Martin to take.

The America striker slots the ball home... America lead.

Spot kick as Quiñones is fouled and America are awarded a spot kick as Angulo collides with the striker.

Quiñones shoots and Guzman is forced to react quickly and saves well.

Great chance for America.

America start the second half.

The sides are back on then pitch and the second half is just moments away.

Fear was the key factor apparent from both teams with the fear of losing clearly greater than the desire to win.

Tigres 0-0 America

All square at the interval.

So, not too much to get excited about after a tense first 45 minutes.

Tigres shading things in terms of possession but it's America who have created the better chances with Layun and Valdes going close.

The whistle sounds and no goals at the break in Monterrey.

Dangerous free for Tigres as Dos Santos fouls Gorriaran.

Gignac to strike ... Malagon saves well and the game comes alive ...finally

Samir can't continue and is replaced by Reyes.

Tigres sub

Diego Valdes almost finds the corner of the next as he drives a right footed effort just wide.

That Vigon header is the first effort on goal from either side in the entire game.

Five minutes of additional time to be added as Tigres win another corner.

Vigon heads but straight at Malagon.

Caceres getting medical attention but seems okay to carry on.

America go close again and once again it's Layun who carves out the danger.

The American man looks for Martin but the ball is back with the Tigres keeper.

Tigres turn now to find themselves under pressure from America as they fail to string any passes together.

Five minutes remain in the half and it's not been a free flowing festival of football.

Too much tension with neither side prepared to take any risks.

The Layun chance

The closest thing we've had to a goal so far this evening.

Quiñones catches Samir with his studs but fortunately the Tigres defender is okay to carry on.

Neither side yet to muster a shot on target in the 32 minutes of action we've had.

Layun is starting to get more space down the America right flank.

We pass the half an hour mark as Layun almost opens the scoring with a shot from an acute angle that flashes by the Tigres post.

Closest thing we've had to a goal all evening.

Gignac just one goal away from bagging 200 in a Tigres shirt.

We've seen little so far this evening of the French forward.

Tigres shading matters in terms of possession.

First 20 minutes of the final and still yet to see either side carve out a clear-cut chance.

The midfielders are having the bulk of the ball at the moment.

Zendejas finds himself in acres of space but the America man delivers a shockingly bad cross and Tigres can breathe easily.

Tigres refusing to let America players have any time on the ball.

We saw this strategy in place in the games against Pumas... a high intensity press.

First corner of the night goes to Tigres as Lainez sees a cross deflected.

The ball goes over the bar and Fuentes is on hand to avert the danger for America.

First ten minutes of the game and Tigres are now starting to edge their way into what has been a far from flowing start to the final.

Another card and this time it's for Lichnovsky as he holds back Gignac.

America looking to try and impose themselves on the game...

Valdes still struggling as America order two subs to warm up as a precautionary measure.

Now Quiñones goes down after a trip from Aquino.

A stop-start feel to the opening phase of the game with nothing resembling a pattern developing.

America take the free but the wall does its job.

Carioca carded for the foul.

Play held up as an America player is fouled ..Diego Valdes

A minute's silence before the game commences.

Off we go....

The whistle sounds and Tigres start the action.

Kick-off slightly behind the scheduled published start of 10pm (ET) as the teams line up and we're just seconds away from the game starting.

First up... the national anthem of Mexico.

The teams take to the pitch.

A massive blue and yellow mosaic greets the sides.

Tigres in their classic home kit of all yellow tonight.

Club America tonight in blue shirts and yellow shorts.

The teams are in the tunnel and the level of expectation in the stand is palpable.

Few Club America fans here at El Volcan. 

The third Liga MX final meeting between both teams, a win a piece for each side.

Tigres yet to beat America in last eight meetings.

As Tigres coach Siboldi said... take nothing from the stats but Tigres have struggled against the side from Coapa in recent times.

Team news reminder

A wonderful light show greets the fans with fireworks and smoke engulfing El Volcan with kick-off just moments away.

A tight tense affair is guaranteed tonight and am convinced that a draw is the likely result that will emerge from the first leg with all to be decided on Sunday.

In the last meeting here in the league, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Fans flocking into El Volcan as kick-off looms

The Estadio Universitario will be a riot of yellow and blue as the start of the first leg looms closer with all 42,000 tickets sold out.

Tigres-America: match official

Marco Antonio Ortiz Nava has been assigned to oversee tonight's final.

The 35-year-old has overseen 11 Liga MX regular season games this season and was in charge for three games in the post season liguilla. 

America starting XI

Jardine opts for the following eleven players to start ahead of the Apertura 2023 final (first leg) with Martin and Quiñones leading the line.

Tigres XI

The good news for Tigres fans is that French striker Gignac starts for the UANL side after overcoming a groin complaint.

Tigres UANL looking to affirm dominance

Tigres are looking to secure back-to-back titles with a win over Club America after the UANL side overcame Chivas in the 2023 Clausura tournament.

A win for the Nuevo Leon men would reinforce the new epicenter of men's and women's soccer in Mexico is controlled further up north in the city of Monterrey, instead of its more traditional home in the capital city.

Just weeks after Tigres claimed the Liga MX Femenil title in November -- extending their league record of championships to six -- Tigres' men's side are looking to join level with Cruz Azul in claiming a ninth Liga MX title.

Tigres' path to the final

Pre-game: Jardine reveals the key to beating Tigres

America boss André Jardine joined his players on Media Day to give his thoughts on the 2023 Apertura final against Tigres. The América coach warned of the dangers that his team will encounter in both legs. He added that his team must be focused - especially in defence. Tigres ended the regular phase as the second top scorers on 32 goals (five goals behind Jardine’s América) and added another seven during the Liguilla, underlining their threat as a highly effective side in front of goal. Jardine however is hopeful that his team will prevail.

“It’s never easy against Tigres. You have to be completely focused and you have to be at your best,” the Brazilian coach told reporters. “We will also need to pay extra attention to their forwards. They are a very dangerous, forceful, attacking team and are also very well organized.

Pre-game: Siboldi: “Stats are important, but we live in the present, not the past”

Tigres head coach Robert Siboldi recognized that while the statistics show rivals América as the favorites to lift the trophy, at the end of the day they are just numbers. He insists that his players should focus solely on tonight’s first leg and the decider on Sunday.

“Statistics are important, but we live in the present,” Siboldi explained on the eve of the first leg. “Both teams have great players, excellent fans... I think both of us have made an important effort to get this far, we’ve shown that we are competitive teams. Let’s live in the present, it is important to have references, but it doesn’t determine anything. The present of both teams is the same and both of us are deservedly where we are today”.

Gignac to start

Everything points to Gignac starting for Tigres tonight after the veteran French striker missed the starting XI of the semifinal clashes against Pumas only making a late appearance as sub in the second leg. 

Liga MX Apertura final first leg possible starting XIs:

Tigres

GK: Nahuel Guzmán

DEF: Javier Aquino - Guido Pizarro - Samir - Jesús Angulo

MID: Rafael Carioca - Fernando Gorriarán - Diego Lainez - Juan Pablo Vigón - Sebastián Córdova

ATT: André Pierre Gignac

America 

GK: Luis Malagón

DEF: Luis Fuentes - Igor Lichnovsky - Sebastián Cáceres - Miguel Layún

MID: Jonathan Dos Santos - Alejandro Zendejas - Álvaro Fidalgo - Diego Valdés

ATT: Julián Quiñones - Henry Martín

The road to the final: Tigres

Tigres, meanwhile, were the third-best team during the regular season, finishing in the third spot. Los Auriazules then managed to beat Puebla and then Pumas in a hard-fought semifinal tie to advance to the final, which will be played over two legs.

The road to the final: America

America finished in top spot in the regular season and in the quarterfinals, they defeated Club Leon, while in the next round, they got the better of Atletico San Luis despite losing 0-2 at home in the second leg, a comfortable 0-5. first leg win at San Luis saw the side from Coapa in command.

Tonight's game is the first instalment in determining the Apertura 2023 champion with the second leg to take place at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Sunday night.

Extra time and penalty kicks are now used in the final should the aggregate two legged score be tied.

Tigras-America

The rivalry of the decade claim Liga MX ahead of the Apertura final.

The first leg between Tigres and Club América will be played at the Estadio Universitario on Thursday 14 December 2023.

Kick-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the first leg of the 2023 Apertura final as Tigres UANL face Club América.