▲ Jean Meneses (right) and Carlos Rodolfo Rotondi, in the Nemesio Diez.Photo @TolucaFC
From the Editorial
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, April 28, 2024, p. a10
In past seasons of the Liga Mx, the last day was played simultaneously in all the places to define relegations and classifications to the league. Neither team could know the result of the other, if not for radio transmissions or reports that came from some envoys.
La Maquina defeated Toluca 1-0 and took away the possibility of being the leader in the final phase, on a night when Tiago Volpi missed two penalties. The celestials played with the same idea that had worked for them since their return from the FIFA date in March: they took risks when defending and attacked as many times as they could against the Diablos who had not lost a game at the Nemesio Diez stadium.
A header from defender Willer Ditta, behind the former sky blue captain and now scarlet defender, Juan Escobar, was enough to make a difference on the scoreboard from the 18th minute. The Colombian only had to direct the center that Carlos Rodolfo Rotondi sent from the left to beat goalkeeper Tiago Volpi.
With the lead defended until half-time, Martín Anselmi’s team suffered the unexpected loss of defender Gonzalo Piovi after a broken collarbone, resulting from a collision with Jean Meneses. That changed, in some way, the face of the sky blue players, who saw the Argentine as one of their greatest pillars. Despite this, luck remained on the side.
Volpi had the Devils’ tie on his feet on a couple of occasions from the penalty spot, in a period of 10 minutes. In both, however, the ball hit his colleague Kevin Mier’s right post and caused deep sighs among his thousands of fans. The victory took the Machine to second place in the table, behind the leader América and ahead of the Mexicans.
On the other hand, in San Nicolás de los Garza, Tigres made their weight count as hosts. They beat Tijuana 4-1 and reached fourth place, with two points more than their archrival, Monterrey. The Frenchman André-Pierre advanced the cats (13) while Sebastián Córdova (61), Juan Brunetta (81, from a penalty) and Nicolás Ibáñez (90+3) resolved the victory. José Zúñiga scored for Xolos (83).
Pachuca draw with Mazatlán
Finally, in Ciudad Juárez, the León missed the last opportunity he had to enter the play-in by drawing 1-1 with Braves. They needed to win at the Benito Juárez Olympic stadium and could only rescue a point, thus catching up with Querétaro, which has the same 24 units, but was left out due to the criterion of goal difference.
Edson da Silva scored the goal for the border team (40), while Adonis Frías (59) tied the scores. Already in compensation time, Victor Barajas was sent off.
Pachuca tied 1-1 with Mazatlán and was momentarily in sixth place, with 29 units.
2024-04-28 09:11:12
#Maquina #beats #Toluca #Volpi #missed #penalties
