Tigres defeat Monterrey to reach Liga MX Clausura 2023 playoff final after late drama

Sebastián Córdova scored the only goal as Tigres edged out Monterrey at Estadio BBVA to qualify for the final of the Liga MX Clausura 2023 playoffs, where they will face either Club América or Chivas.

Uneventful first half

The second leg of the semi-final played out in a similar way to the first, with both sides looking to give little away and hoping to capitalise on an error from their opponents. That led to relatively few clear-cut chances throughout the 90 minutes, with a header from Rayados striker German Berterame, which bounced wide of Nahuel Guzman’s goal on the quarter-of-an-hour mark, one of the only moments of danger in the first half.

Indeed, the most noteworthy incident of the opening period was an accidental clash of heads between Rogelio Funes Mori and Jesús Angulo after 27 minutes, which gave the medical staff of both sides work to do and caused a delay of several minutes. Both players were eventually able to play on, although Angulo didn’t reappear for the second half.

Late second-half drama as Moreno goal disallowed

Things heated up a bit after the restart, with the visitors doing much of the running. Rafael Carioca came close to breaking the deadlock on the hour with a fierce strike from distance, which Esteben Andrada in the Monterrey goal did superbly well to keep out.

Coaches Víctor Manuel Vucetich and Robert Dante Siboldi made a series of changes in the hope they would lead to a winning goal and it looked as if they had paid off for the hosts with just over 15 minutes left to play. Héctor Moreno prodded the ball into the Tigres net from a corner but the defender was ruled to have been offside as the ball broke his way.

And Los Auriazules struck in the very next attack moments later. Luis Quiñones’ cross from the right matched up perfectly with the run of Córdova, who found the net for the fifth game running with a textbook downward header.

Late Monterrey pressure leads to nothing

The goal opened the game right up, with Monterrey forced to attack at all costs. However, it was Tigres who came closest to adding a second in the closing stages, with star striker André-Pierre Gignac squandering a decent chance to ease the pressure on his team in the final few minutes.

With time running out, Rayados frantically pushed bodies forward in search of a last-gasp equaliser, but their efforts were to no avail as they were once again eliminated from the playoffs, this time by their bitter rivals. A defeat made all the more painful by their superb performance during the regular season.

Tigres’ Vucetich hoodoo over

Vucetich led Monterrey to Liga MX titles in 2009 and 2019 and had never lost to Tigres in a playoff tie but it’s Siboldi who will have the chance to lift silverware this time around, with his team awaiting the winner of the América vs Chivas semi-final.