Tijuana Xolos Liga MX 2020 Clausura Recap: Xolos snap winless streak, defeat Pachuca 3-2
Tijuana, Baja California, 13 de marzo de 2020. , durante el juego de la jornada 10 del torneo Clausura 2020 de la Liga BBVA MX, entre Xolos de Tijuana y Tuzos del Pachuca, celebrado en el estadio Caliente. Foto: Imago7/Alejandro Gutiérrez Mora
Tijuana, Mexico
The Liga MX is one of the only top soccer leagues in the world still in full swing after the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The Xolos played their Week 10 match against Pachuca this Friday, March 13, at the Estadio Caliente, amid the severe health concerns.
The Border City Dogs were headed into this match on a massive eight-game winless streak and a two-game losing streak at home. Friday the 13th proved to be lucky for Club Tijuana as the Xoloitzcuintles snapped that horrendous winless run with a 3-2 win.
Pachuca looked like the better team out of the gate as Los Tuzos opened the scoring in the 25th minute of the clash with a goal via a penalty by Franco Jara. However, the Xolos were able to tie it up in the 36th minute as Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez scored his second goal of the season.
The first half of the encounter ended 1-1, but the game was very intense as more goals were almost guaranteed to come. Mauro Lainez scored six minutes into the second half with a wonder goal that seemed to defy physics. The “golazo” gave Club Tijuana the 2-1 lead, which became a 3-1 lead in the 58th minute thanks to Alexis Castro.
Castro scored with a header off a rebound in what was a mess of a goal with horrid defending from Pachuca. The visiting team kept it close as Franco Jara scored his second of the night in the 70th minute. The goal was the product of a terrible mistake from young goalkeeper Carlos Higuera.
Xolos manager Gustavo Quinteros then opted to try and be conservative and hang on to the lead as he brought on defender Jordan Silva for attacking midfielder Edwin Cardona in the 73rd minute. Quinteros also brought on Emilio Sanchez for Alexis Castro and Erick Torres for Mauro Lainez.
The Xolos were able to hang onto the slim lead in the dying minutes of the match and took the 3-2 victory. As mentioned before, the win snapped a colossal eight-game winless streak for Club Tijuana as the border city team has looked progressively better this season.
The significant change in Gustavo Quinteros’ lineup for this match was that young goalkeeper Carlos Higuera replaced Gibran Lajud in between the sticks. Higuera had a solid game up until his massive error that cost Club Tijuana a goal in the 70th minute.
The win is a significant one for Club Tijuana as the season is reportedly now in danger of being suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic. Liga MX is reportedly set to move the scheduled to move the Week 11 games to midweek this upcoming week, according to TV Azteca reporter David Medrano.
The Xoloitzcuintles would consequently play Pumas UNAM away from home on Tuesday, March 17, or Wednesday, March 18, if the league acted upon this.
Mauro Lainez’s golazo for #Xolos in case you missed it. #LigaMXeng pic.twitter.com/QDll9pLgx4
— Francisco Velasco (@FranciscoEfV) March 14, 2020
Xolos Lineup: Carlos Higuera, Aldo Cruz, Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez, Miguel Barbieri, Vladimir Lorona, Christian Rivera, Ignacio Rivero, Alexis Castro (80′ Emilio Sanchez), Mauro Lainez (85′ Erick Torres), Edwin Cardona (73′ Jordan Silva), Bryan Angulo
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.