Club Tijuana played the second leg of the quarterfinal series against Cruz Azul in Mexico City this Saturday, November 30th.

The game was played at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, which was expected to be a very difficult game for Xolos.

The Border City Dogs had a massive 3-0 lead in the first leg, which was a dominant performance from the Xoloitzcuintles. Going into this game, Xolos’ goal was not to lose by three goals or more, which seemed like a doable task.

However, since Cruz Azul had the best offense in the league, this was no easy task. Club Tijuana had already lost 3-0 to Cruz Azul in the regular season and this game was very similar.

Juan Carlos Osorio only made three changes to his line-up in the first leg, which is quite modest by his standards. Carlos Gonzalez and Raul Zuniga formed the attack, while Nicolas Diaz started after his two-game ban.

Cruz Azul was the much more dominant team in the first half, but only managed one goal. The goal came in the 44th minute and started with a play from Carlos Rotondi on the left. The Argentine midfielder crossed the ball into the penalty area and the ball deflected into the air as Ignacio Rivero was able to head the ball into the net.

Club Tijuana only had 23 percent possession in the first half but let Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier work. Juan Carlos Osorio made his first substitution of the game in the 30th minute, bringing on Kevin Castaneda for Fernando Monarrez.

Osorio then made three changes at the start of the second half as Carlos Gonzalez, Nicolas Diaz and Rafael Fernandez were replaced by Ivan Tona, Emanuel Reynoso and Efrain Alvarez. This was a fairly aggressive approach from the Colombian coach as he used two defenders against two midfielders.

This tactic didn’t work for the Colombian coach as Club Tijuana seemed to lose balance within the team. Cruz Azul sent everything forward and was able to score the second goal in the 54th minute.

The goal-dangerous game began again with a wing play from Carlos Rotondi and a cross into the penalty area. It was a pretty chaotic goal as Angel Sepulveda fired a shot that deflected into the net off Greek striker Giorgios Giakoumakis. La Maquina kept up the offensive attack and were able to score the elusive third goal in the 74th minute.

After a series of frustrating attempts that went nowhere, Angel Sepulveda scored the decisive third goal. A long ball found Gabriel Fernandez, who headed the ball to Sepulveda, who was able to break free and take advantage of this chance in front of the net.

Even with a more attacking lineup, Club Tijuana struggled to generate much offense after the third goal Los Cementeros. The Aztec Canines were now on the offensive while Cruz Azul sat back and defended the lead. Frustration grew for the Xoloitzcuintles and the goal they needed never came in this game.

Club Tijuana’s season ended in this quarterfinal stage and some would argue that Xolos lost this series in the first game. While the Border City team won the first leg 3-0, Osorio stopped applying offensive pressure in the second half of the game. This happened with a man advantage as Cruz Azul’s Jorge Sanchez received a red card.

Juan Carlos Osorio left a lot of life for the best team in Liga MX in this series, which cost the team its season. However, this was still a huge improvement over last season or any other season in the last five and a half years.

Juan Carlos Osorio’s fantastic work should not go unnoticed given the circumstances in what has been a spectacular season for Club Tijuana.

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

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