By FRANCO PANIZO
Joe Corona may not have helped Club Tijuana avoid a second straight defeat to start the season, but he likely helped his cause for more starts with a strong performance.
Corona helped set up a penalty kick for Tijuana that marked the opener in their visit to Club America on Saturday, but Xolos conceded twice in the second half en route to a 2-1 loss that dropped them to 0-2 in the Apertura campaign. Corona started his first game of the season in the match at Estadio Azteca, hit a pass that helped set up a 20th-minute penalty kick, and lasted 77 minutes for a Tijuana team that surprisingly sits in 16th place in the Liga MX table after two weeks.
Conor O’Brien also made his first start of the season for Odense BK on Friday, but they were handed a 3-1 defeat by FC Vestsjaelland. O’Brien went the distance in the forgettable road game that saw Odense fall to last place in the Superligaen.
There were some bad performances mixed in with the more notable ones for the Americans Abroad contingent this weekend. Gabriel Fafan’s substitute showing for Jaguares de Chiapas saw him score an own goal in a 2-1 victory over Toluca on Saturday. Sacha Kljestan was limited to just seven minutes off the bench in RSC Anderlecht’s season-opening 3-1 win over recently-promoted Royal Mouscron-Peruwelz on Sunday.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan came off the bench and played seven minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 3-1 win vs. Royal Mouscron-Peruwelz on Sunday.
DENMARK
- Conor O’Brien started and played 90 minutes in Odense BK’s 3-1 loss vs. FC Vestsjaelland on Friday.
NORWAY
- Mix Diskerud started and played 74 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 3-1 loss vs. Molde FK on Sunday.
- Ethan Horvath dressed but did not play in Molde FK’s 3-1 win vs. Rosenborg BK on Sunday.
- Josh Gatt did not dress for Molde FK. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Zarek Valentin did not dress in FK Bodo/Glimt’s 4-3 loss vs. Sarpsborg 08 on Sunday. He is recovering from an Achilles injury.
- Michael Stephens and Stabaek IF did not play this weekend.
MEXICO
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 0-0 draw vs. Veracruz on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Atlas’ 2-0 win vs. Morelia on Friday.
- Jose Torres started and played 88 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 4-2 win vs. Club Leon on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 24 minutes for Tigres UANL.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Queretaro’s 1-0 win vs. Universidad de Guadalajara on Sunday.
- Greg Garza started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 2-1 loss vs. Club America on Saturday.
- Joe Corona started and played 77 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Amando Moreno did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez did not dress in Monterrey’s 1-0 win vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
- Gabriel Farfan came off the bench, played 32 minutes and scored an own goal in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 2-1 win vs. Toluca on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Impressed with Corona’s showing for Xolos? Surprised to see Kljestan only get seven minutes?
Share your thoughts below.