Tigres Advance to Leagues Cup Semifinals After A 1-0 Victory Against Salt Lake
A shot during the 56th minute by Eduardo Vargas that was deflected by Real Salt Lake defenders and went past Nick Rimando was all it took for Tigres to advance to the semifinals of the Leagues Cup on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
In the final game of the first round of the Leagues Cup tournament, the 2019 Clausura Champions Tigres, played against Real Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday evening to decide who would play Club America who had just won their match against the Houston Dynamo in a penalty shootout.
A game in which both teams seemed ready to go on the offensive and try to win the game since the first 10 minutes of the game. The boys in burgundy (Real Salt Lake) were the firsts to send a warning strike in this game as in the fourth minute Jefferson Savarino send a shot towards goal that was deflected away Goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman.
In the 8th minute of the game Tigres had the first clear opportunity of danger as Jorge Torres Nilo was able to shake off two defenders and get into the 18-yard box, he sends a through ball looking for one of the Tigres forwards but is cleared away by Real defenders.
The rest of the first half saw both teams continue to force their way to the opposing attacking third of the field create opportunities but none of them were able to be converted into goals.
The last clear opportunity of the half came by way of Salt Lake who sent a cross into Nahual’s box that was headed by Damir Kreilach but was caught mid-air by Nahuel.
The second half of the game opened up with a goal for Real Salt Lake by Kreilich but was taken away after the sideline referee determined he was offsides. Not so long after in the 55th minute, Joao Plata stole a ball from Luis Alfonso “El Chaka” Rodriguez in the midfield and took it all the way inside the 18-yard box and sent a shot that rattled off the goal post and was cleared away by the Tigres defenders.
A clear opportunity missed by Real that would cost them big as two minutes later in the 57th minute Eduardo Vargas sent a shot from way outside that is deflected off a defender and Nick Rimando was unable to block and the ball finds the back of the net for the first and only goal of the game.
Towards the end of the game Salt Lake defender, Brooks Lennon received a yellow card after challenging Javier Aquino with a dangerously high foot that hit the Tigres midfielder. The referee was immediately called to VAR and review the play and in the 82nd minute upgraded the foul to a red card.
Real Salt Lake was unable to equalize the game and Tigres finished the game with a 1-0 victory. Tigres moves on to the semifinal round of the Leagues Cup to face Club America in Houston.
