Vigon was wearing a bandage around his forehead after he cut his eyebrow when he butted heads with Gonzalez in overly euphoric goal celebrations. Midfielder Juan Pablo Vigon was an unlikely hero, but one that seemed to encapsulate Pumas' performance and even season, in which the team has lost only twice in 21 games. Seeing Cruz Azul players Rafa Baca and Yoshi Yotun arguing with 15 minutes to go highlighted the tension and wasn't a great look. With only one goal required and Cruz Azul starting to sit deeper, the home team just needed one chance. La Maquina did control more of the second half with the Pumas players tiring, but created very little all game (ending with an Expected Goals (xG) of 0.39 and only one shot on target), with star striker Jonathan Rodriguez isolated. That sentiment only increased when a penalty for Cruz Azul on the stroke of half-time was over-ruled by VAR not for the actual foul, but the slightest of off-sides in the build-up. When Dinenno added his second in the 37th and then Carlos Gonzalez the team's third four minutes later, the miracle was within reach. And the inclusion of 23-year-old Sebastian Jurado in goal making his club debut instead of the injured Jesus Corona was concerning. Pumas pounced on Cruz Azul early to overcome a four-goal deficit. Manuel Velasquez/Getty ImagesĪ four-goal cushion should've made the series comfortable, but perhaps sitting back wasn't the right option. And this Cruz Azul team had won more Liga MX matches (18) in 2020 than any other team aside from Leon (21) and scored more goals (57) than anyone aside from Leon (68). But it seemed counterintuitive given just one away goal would've meant Pumas required six goals to advance to the final. Unusually, Cruz Azul manager Robert Siboldi had employed a back five to try to stem the expected early Pumas attack. Instead, Sunday's 4-0 loss in Estadio Olimpico Universitario was a new low.Īrgentine Juan Dinenno netted for Pumas in the fourth minute to give a slim bit of hope, but it also felt early on that Cruz Azul appeared to be playing into the home team's hands. It was also noted that the last team Cruz Azul won the title, it was against this season's finalist Leon. America's goalkeeper Moises Munoz scored the equalizer and Las Aguilas won on penalties.įast forward to this current season and when Cruz Azul and Mexico midfielder Luis Romo was asked to give a message to fans in the post-game flash interview following the dominant performance in the first leg against Pumas, he told them to get "excited." Outside the club, more than one pundit threw out the idea that Cruz Azul finally breaking its title curse in this crazy year of 2020 would somehow be fitting. La Maquina was 2-0 up on aggregate against city rival Club America in the 88th minute at Estadio Azteca. The 2013 Clausura final second leg was the one that hurt the most. Since then, they have finished runners-up on six occasions. " Cruzazulear" has become an increasingly used verb in Mexican Spanish meaning basically "to screw things up from an advantageous situation," or "to fail at something when it looks as though everything is going your way."Ĭruz Azul is one of Liga MX's "big four" clubs, but is without a league title since 1997. Until, that is, Sunday marked the ultimate " cruzazuleada." La Maquina had a 4-0 lead over Mexico City rival Pumas UNAM from last Thursday's first leg and Pumas were given less than a 1% chance of making the final by FiveThirtyEight. You can bet that more than one journalist had started and even filed their Leon vs. MEXICO CITY - There was little reason to think Cruz Azul wouldn't be preparing to face Leon in the Liga MX final come Monday morning. Cruz Azul crashed out of the Liga MX playoffs in a grand, yet familiar, fashion. Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images
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