Morelia upsets Leon with 2-1 win, move on to semifinals

Similar to their first leg, Leon and Morelia provided plenty of fireworks with back and forth goals and a VAR decision that will leave Leon’s fan shaking their head in dismay.

The first goal came at the hands of Ismael Sosa in the 67th minute. Sosa passed the ball to himself on the left side of the pitch to allude a Morelia defender. He then proceeded to strike at the goal, which surprised the keeper as Macias was charing down the box, and made it 1-0 for the home team.

Morelia then scored 2 back to back goals to put the team from Guanajuato on the brink of elimination.

Morelia’s 2nd goal was a beauty from Edison Flores. The Peruvian striker launched a rocket into the top right corner of Rodolfo Cota’s goal after Morelia stole the ball near the halfway line.

Unfortunately, the game was stopped momentarily after homophobic chants were heard throughout the stadium. This was the second time in the series that the game had been stopped due to chants from the fans.

Consequently, stoppage time in the game was extended by 11minutes. This gave Leon an opportunity to grab a late equalizer and move on to the semifinals.

Leon’s Angel Mena scored what seemed to be the tying goal at the 96th minute. But after a VAR review, it was determined that Joel Campbell tackled a Morelia defender that was about to clear the incoming cross and the goal was waived off. Morelia went on to hold on to the lead and move on to the semifinals.

No one was expecting this series to provide as many fireworks and controversies as it did but no one is complaining about the entertainment factor it has brought to La Liguilla.

Leon had a record-breaking 2019 but now have nothing to show for it. Leon’s management, Nacho Ambriz and his players will have a lot to think about to bring some hardware in 2020. Morelia will await Sunday’s results to see who they will face next.