Cruz Azul’s late heroics were not enough as Mazatlan’s goalkeeper Ricardo Gutierrez saved the day at the end, after a 2-2 90-minute draw and a 3-1 penalty shootout win for Los Cañoneros at Audi Field to advance to the quarter-finals of the Leagues Cup.
Los Cementeros tried to generate chances early on, but the few they had they could not convert even after two consecutive Ignacio Rivero shots from inside the box and another one by Luis Romo from long range that was deflected in the 16th minute.
Los Cañoneros, on the other hand, were determined when finishing their attacks. In the 40th minute, Bryan Colula started off a play near midfield and passed the ball to Brian Rubio; he saw Alonso Escoboza running on the left and delivered a ball to him for a long cross inside the box that the very same Colula finished with a brilliant header to open up the score.
That was not all. Cruz Azul took a corner kick one minute into stoppage time that after a header, goalkeeper Ricardo Gutierrez saved with his foot preventing a game-tying goal. Then Mazatlan stole the ball away and started off a counter attack that ended with an Edgar Barcenas soft touch to score the second goal after a Jordan Sierra pass that left goalkeeper Kevin Mier with no chance.
Cruz Azul tried to regroup during halftime but Gonzalo Piovi saw a second yellow card, that equaled a red card after tackling Sierra near midfield and it was a higher mountain to climb for La Maquina Celeste, as they were left with only 10 men for the rest of the game.
Mazatlan used that to their advantage but the men in blue were not going to be denied. In the 84th minute they found a way to put one on the board after a long ball that Giorgos Giakoumakis won for Uriel Antuna and the Mexican international finished it to the far post to put the score 2-1.
The late heroics continued in the first minute of the seven added on when on a set piece from the right, Willer Ditta jumped over every defender for a header that tied up the game as the Cruz Azul faithful cheered on and the 2-2 score prevailed at the end of regulation.
The penalty shootout was a different story for Los Cementeros, as the players that were involved in the team’s goals were the ones that missed from 12 yards. Both Antuna and Ditta failed to score as Ricardo Gutierrez saved the first and third penalty and then Giakoumakis kicked the ball to the post.
Mazatlan did not miss their tries and won the penalty round 3-1 to eliminate the Liga MX leader and advance to the quarter-finals, where they will meet Philadelphia Union for a spot in the semifinals of the most important tournament in North America.
It was all smiles in the Cañoneros locker room after the game. “We had a very good first half, we started the second period well, it is obvious that we made some mistakes, we stopped being solid at certain times,” said Victor Manuel Vucetich, the head coach of Mazatlan FC. “Despite the mistakes we made in the second half and that we did not know how to manage the lead, we had the character to overcome it and in the penalty shootout we showed that and had that desire to continue advancing,” he added, visibly happy with the result.
For the Cruz Azul head coach, the feelings were far from happiness after the elimination. “We wanted to make it to the last day, that was our goal, we came to play this tournament in the United States with that goal in mind and I can’t stop to think about what the result leaves me with, at this moment, it’s just not having advanced.” But Martín Anselmi did acknowledge what his team did to come back after a two-goal deficit and with one man down. “We have to evaluate what we did in this competition, but we thank the players for their dedication until the end.”
