There was plenty of drama in Sunday’s final but, when all was said and done, Tigres stood tall as Liga MX champions.
A trio of red cards were issued in extra time, including one to Ventura Alvarado, before Tigres defeated Club America, 3-0, in penalty kicks following a second 1-1 draw in the Apertura final. The win earns Tigres the club’s fifth Liga MX crown while sealing Club America’s defeat in the club’s centennial season.
Five red cards were assessed in Sunday’s finale, including one to Alvarado late in extra time. The American defender never actually entered the match, but was sent off alongside Paolo Goltz and Jose Arturo Rivas following a sideline fracas. Tigres’ Jorge Torres and America’s Rubens Sanmbueza also earned dismissals throughout what proved to be yet another wild Liga MX final for reasons both good and bad.
Regular time ended scoreless, sending the match into an extra time period that saw a 95th minute Edson Alvarez goal push America into the lead. With just one minute remaining, Jesus Duenas provided Tigres with a shocking equalizer, sending the match into penalty kicks.
Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman then saved penalties from William da Silva, Silvio Romero and Javier Guemez, all but sealing the win in penalty kicks.
Check out highlights of Sunday’s match below:
This game was crazy even by Liga MX standards…after a sluggish first half, things got interesting-Peralta missed a sitter from 5 yards out, then Tigres should have scored on several occasions, hit the cross bar twice…then the brawl, the equalizer in the last seconds of overtime, and then the Tigres goalie basically pulling a “thou shall not pass” in the penalty shootout.
What a Christmas treat this one was, and, the better team won…
That brawl was crazy, Alavarado looked like a thug and a hot head with how he acted. He should have stayed in the background like. Grata to Tigers. Jurgen Damm played amazing. He will def be in Europe soon.
“Five red cards were assessed in Sunday’s finale, including one to Alvarado late in extra time. The American defender never actually entered the match, but was sent off alongside Paolo Goltz and Jose Arturo Rivas following a sideline fracas.”
Way to make an impact…