Cruz Azul advanced to the final of the Guard1anes Clausura-2021 Mexican soccer tournament on Saturday by beating Pachuca 1-0, in the second leg of their semifinal played at the Azteca Stadium.
Argentine Santiago Giménez scored Cruz Azul’s goal in the 51st minute. In the first leg, played at the Hidalgo Stadium, both teams signed a goalless draw.
After the initial minutes, Cruz Azul’s ‘La Maquina’ began to impose conditions and generate dangerous plays. At minute 8, located inside the area, the Uruguayan Jonathan Rodríguez connected the first shot to the goal, but the Argentine goalkeeper Oscar Ustari controlled the ball.
At 13, the Uruguayan Ignacio Rivero attacked on the left side and sent a service to the far post of Pachuca, but Orbelín Pineda could not connect to the ball even when it was launched into the small area.
Pachuca’s ‘Tuzos’ responded to the 17th with a header from Colombian Oscar Murillo that ended up in the hands of goalkeeper Jesús Corona.
Cruz Azul attacked from the outside again at 22, this time with an arrival from the right by Paraguayan Juan Escobar who sent a delayed diagonal for Luis Romo who connected a shot to the goal that ended up frozen in Ustari’s gloves.
Pachuca was saved at 45 + 1 when ‘Cabecita’ Rodríguez crashed a shot into the post.
At 48, the ‘Tuzos’ caused a scare to the blue team with a shot from Víctor Guzmán from outside the area that forced Corona’s saving throw.
‘The Machine’ responded to 49 in a vertical attack that the Argentine Santiago Giménez concluded within the Pachuco area with a shot at the hands of Ustari.
In his next appearance, at 51, ‘Bebote’ Giménez scored the 1-0 for the celestial team with a header from Romo.
Then, at 58, Corona saved Cruz Azul by covering a powerful head from Murillo.
The sky-blue goalkeeper stayed on target by first containing a header from Argentine Mauro Quiroga and then a mid-range shot from Luis Chávez.
Cruz Azul was close to a second goal, but Ustari stopped a shot from Argentine Walter Montoya at 89.
The match ended and ‘La Maquina’ qualified for the final with a 1-0 aggregate victory.
The second finalist will leave the Cuauhtémoc stadium on Sunday where Santos’ ‘Warriors’ will present with a 3-0 advantage over Puebla’s’ La Franja’. (GG) (AFP)