In what was a very lackluster game overall, the Tijuana Xolos lost 1-0 to Queretaro at Subaru Park in Chester, PA., and are now eliminated from the Leagues Cup. With the loss, this now means Club Tijuana will not be playing in any official matches for about three weeks due to scheduling for this tournament.

Subaru Park was nearly empty for this match, which did not bring very many moments of excitement throughout the 90 minutes. Neither team generated much of anything in the opening 45 minutes of the clash, but Queretaro did open the scoring in the final moments of the first half.

Emanuel Gularte scored off a header from a cross by Angel Sepulveda to make it a 1-0 game for Los Gallos Blancos. Club Tijuana was arguably the better team in the first half, with 56 percent possession and better play overall. However, the finishing and offensive creativity was not there for Club Tijuana in the first 45 minutes or in the entire match.

In the second half, the Tijuana Xolos were the only team in the game offensively and still did not really generate much action. Tijuana’s best scoring opportunity in the second half was not even off a shot by a Xolos player, as a header by Oscar Manzanares that hit the post of his own net was the closest the border city team was to scoring.

In the dying minutes of the match, Alexis Canelo had a shot that went straight to the hands of Queretaro goalkeeper Fernando Tapia. Tapia had a solid game in net but was not really tested by any potent strikes by the Xolos’ offense, most were just straight to the 22-year-old shot-stopper.

Club Tijuana played this game without Nicolas Diaz or Kevin Balanta, as both players were serving a suspension from a red card in their first game against Philadelphia Union. Goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez also sat this game out after coming off for an injury in the match against Philadelphia.

All of Miguel Herrera’s substitutions were offensive-minded, bringing on players like Lucas Cavallini and Eduardo Armenta, but none of the four players that “Piojo” brought on made much of an impact.

Club Tijuana finished bottom of this Leagues Cup group with zero points from two games played in what was a highly disappointing tournament for the Border City Dogs. It will be interesting to see if the Xolos set up at least a friendly match in the following weeks with no official games for at least three weeks.

Xolos Lineup: Jesus Corona, Francisco Contreras, Rodrigo Godinez, Rafael Fernandez (90′ Ivan Tona), Diego Barbosa (70′ Eduardo Armenta), Christian Rivera, Fernando Madrigal (46′ Kevin Castaneda), Lucas Rodriguez, Alejandro Martinez (46′ Lucas Cavallini), Alexis Canelo, Carlos Gonzalez

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.