Chivas says goodbye to Liguilla as they fall at home to Xolos 1-0

Under hopes for a miracle to qualify for the 2019 Apertura Liguilla MX, Las Chivas de Guadalajara hosted Los Xolos de Tijuana. With 4 games remaining on the regular season Los Tapatios were mathematically still elegible to qualify for the playoffs at the beginning of this game.

Tijuana hit first at minute 23 thanks to Ariel Nahuelpán on an assist by Miller Bollaños. Los Xolos filtered a ball into the area breaking all of the defensive line, then Bolaños set up a pass for Nahuelpan to easily just push the ball in.

Chivas couldn’t break through a solid defensive line from Xolos for the remainder of the 1st half.

For the 2nd half Chivas continued with more possession of the ball as they pushed all their lines forward. They began taking shots on goal over and over again but without accuracy.

Javier Lopez came into the field for the 2nd half, increasing Chivas power on the offensive side.

At minute 72 Alexis Vega took a shot from outside the 18th yard zone, hitting the right post in one of the closest opportunities that Chivas had of getting the equalizer.

 Perhaps one of the weirdest play that I’ve seen in a long time came at minute 85 when Javier Lopez took a shot on a free kick sending the ball inside the net but from the outside of the right post, the balll slide through the net into the goal.

The commentators called the goal, but after a review from the VAR the goal was invalidated.

The loss took Chivas hopes for the Liguilla away and made it almost impossible for them to qualify. This will be Chivas fifth consecutive time without making it into the Liguilla.

As for Xolos, they reached 7th place in the rankings, making them eligible for a spot in the playoffs.