Photo Credit: Itzel Segura / Prost Amerika
By: Jonny Rico
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Tijuana Xolos suffered its first loss at home of the 2017 Clausura season on Friday against Club Necaxa. The visitors took all three points home with a 2-1 win over the then league leading Xolos. Claudio Riaño scored twice for Necaxa in the second half to lead his side to victory. Martin Lucero scored his first Liga MX goal late into stoppage time to deny the visitors the shutout.
With the loss Club Tijuana also loses the top spot in the league table. Toluca FC with its 1-0 win over Veracruz on Sunday afternoon over takes the Xolos.
The home side had plenty of goal scoring opportunities but were denied by the Necaxa defense, goalkeeper and even the posts on several occasions.
“We did not have fortune on our side at the top to finish our chances,” said Xolos manager Miguel Herrera in his post-game news conference. “The opportunities were there. We generated quality football, we controlled the ball well. We’ll have to work on the concentration aspect more.
“We need to have good concentration. If fortune is not favoring us up top then we need to be very careful in the back to not concede any goals.”
Next up for the Xoloitzcuintles will be a long travel to Mexico City where on Sunday February 19 it will take on Pumas UNAM at the C.U. stadium. It will then stay on the road for its February 21 Copa MX match away to Correcaminos.
SOMETHING TO REMEMBER
Despite losing the match 2-1 against Necaxa on Friday evening, Xolos will take one small bright spot from the game. The 94th minute Martin Lucero goal goes down as the 600th goal in club history during official matches. The goal was also Lucero’s first in Liga MX since joining Club Tijuana during the off season from Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta’zim.
“It is always important for a striker to score and take advantage of the moments you are given,” Lucero said. “Unfortunately, the game ended out of our hands. We had many chances in the first half that we couldn’t capitalize on.”
Check out the best pictures from this match at Estadio Caliente by Prost Amerika photographers Itzel Segura and Valeria Vital.
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