Monterrey’s Tigres have won the Mexican Liga MX title, after defeating Guadalajara — or “Chivas” as the team is more ubiquitously known — with a score of 3-2 after two games, in an enthralling comeback in Jalisco late on Sunday night.
Having avoided defeat in the first leg in Monterrey after a 0-0 draw, Guadalajara was feeling confident, heading to their home field, the Akron Stadium, in Zapopan, aiming to lift a record-equalling 13th national championship title, which would make them even with their bitter rivals, Mexico City’s Club América.
The electric atmosphere in the stadium — something for which Chivas fans are famed — reached fever pitch after Guadalajara’s Roberto Alvarado buried the opener after only 11 minutes. When Víctor Gúzman scored a second for the Jalisco side, nine minutes later, it seemed as if Chivas was well on its way to victory.
Los Tigres, however, had other ideas. Two half-time substitutions shored up the formation, with Nico López and Fernando Gorriarán providing much-needed stability for the Monterrey side. Twenty minutes into the second half, André-Pierre Gignac, a veteran of the French national team, scored a penalty to narrow the score, before a 71st-minute equalizer from Sebastián Córdova sent the game to extra time.
Córdoba’s goal came at the expense of Chivas wingback Alan Mozo, who left the striker unmarked at the far post, with devastating consequences.
Tigres piled on the pressure in extra time, before finding their reward in the game’s 110th minute, as Argentina’s Guido Pizarro smashed the ball home after a frenetic goalmouth scramble, sending Tigres’ fans into delirium and silencing a previously uproarious Akron Stadium.
The fifth goal of the game proved to be the last, as Guadalajara looked defeated, playing out the remaining 10 minutes offering little attacking threat.
Victory against Guadalajara marks Tigres’ first title since 2019, and their eighth national title overall.
With reporting by El Universal
