Photo Credit: Itzel Segura / Prost Amerika
By: Jonny Rico
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Tijuana Xolos defeated Veracruz on Saturday evening 1-0 at Estadio Caliente in the final match of the regular season of the 2017 Clausura. The win took Xolos to 31 points and secured a first place finish for Tijuana heading into the Liga MX playoffs.
Club Tijuana becomes the first ever team in Liga MX to finish at the top of the league table in consecutive seasons since the Mexican Soccer Federation changed to short semester long seasons back in 1996. The Xolos finished the 2016 Apertura with 33 points at the top of the standings.
The lone goal of the evening came late in the game by Xolos youth product Luis Gerardo Chavez. The 21-year old midfielder struck a left-footed free kick into the top corner scoring his first ever top flight goal while giving his side the win and three points that secures the historic finish.
“I’m very happy, it is something I have always dreamed of,” said Chavez to the official Tijuana Xolos website after the match. “I’ve always been able to strike that ball like that but I also learned a lot from guys like Juan Arango when I got to play alongside him when he was here.
“We can’t get too confident the fact that we finished in first place does not mean we will be champions. We learned that the hard way last season so now we have to focus on what’s ahead of us.”
The Xoloitzcuintles will head to the Liga MX playoffs as the top seeded team. They will always be matched up against the lowest seeded team left and will always be able to close out the series at home. The Xolos quarterfinals opponent is set, they will go up against the surprising Monarcas Morelia who with a stoppage time goal avoided relegation, sneaked into the playoffs and in the process eliminated the two most recently crowned CONCACAF Champions League winners Club America and Pachuca.
This series against Morelia will be a good chance at vengeance for the Xolos. Morelia came into the Estadio Caliente during the quarterfinals of the Copa MX a few weeks ago and handed Tijuana a 2-0 loss leaving them out of the cup competition.
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