León visits Tigres to kick off Liga MX semifinals

Tigres squeak past Santos in dramatic fashion

The Tigres – with the third-highest payroll in Liga MX at $84.3 million dollars (behind only crosstown rivals Monterrey and América) – posted a 7-7-3 record (28 points, with a league-leading 26 goals scored, 14 goals allowed), losing only one of its last eight matches (4-3-1).

The strong finish allowed “los felinos” to sneak into a Top 4 seed, earning a first-round playoff bye. No. 5 seed Santos Laguna was their opponent in the Liga MX quarterfinals.

Despite losing the first leg in Coahuila, the Tigres came home for the second leg with a positive feeling after Gignac sent a sizzler into the net in minute 74 to narrow the deficit to 2-1. With the new Liga MX playoff rules in place, that meant the club only had to win by one goal in the return match to advance (aggregate ties were awarded to the higher-seed team).

The Guerreros sat back for most of the match at Estadio Universitario on Sunday, shutting off passing lanes and looking for double-teams when possible. With the clock ticking down, who should step up but much-maligned defender Carlos Salcedo.

The Tigres were maintaining possession in attack with numbers forward when the ball was cleared back to goalie Nahuel Guzmán. He booted a long ball that would have bounced to his counterpart Carlos Acevedo, but Santos defender Doria headed a clearance that Salcedo headed down to Gignac who flicked wide to Quiñones. The Colombian had time, surveyed the area and sent a low cross that Gignac who deflected the errant cross to Salcedo at the top of the box. “El Titán” controlled with his right foot, quickly turned inside to his left foot and blasted a shot into the upper right corner. The 1-0 result (2-2 aggregate) set the Tigres into the semifinals.