It took almost three years for Cruz Azul fans to They could be proud of their colors by once again occupying the leadership of the Liga MX as they did in Clausura 2021 when they won their last Mexican soccer title.
QIt will be the night watchman, but now with five consecutive victories, the Celestial Machine will dawn as leader of Mexican soccer by defeating the Tigres de la UANL, in a high-level duel at the Ciudad de los Deportes Stadium.
An important victory, not only because of the result, but because of the actions of the team led by Martín Anselmi, who little by little is covering the mouths of all those who questioned his arrival in Mexican football, considering that his ignorance of Aztec football would lead him to to be one of the foreign coaches who only come to our country to sell smoke.
To measure Cruz Azul’s moment in the current tournament, it would be necessary to review that in the previous tournament, Apertura 2023, it added 17 points in the 17 dates it played and now in seven days of Clausura 2024, it has 16 points. That is to say, his margin of error has grown enormously and he is walking with a firm step as in the title championship in Clausura 2021 under the command of the Peruvian Juan Reynos. But calm down and we wake up.
Now with Anselmi, he has been the exception to the rule and with discreet work, without appearing with exaggerated statements in the media, he has put together a competitive team that in its first big test against a high-octane rival like Tigres did not owe anything .
On the contrary, even without the presence of two important starters such as the Uruguayans Gabriel ‘Toro’ Fernández and Ignacio Rivero, the first injured and out for the entire tournament and the second, returning from his country where he traveled due to the death of his mother, The cement team was a competitive rival for the powerful northern cats.
Perhaps it might seem insignificant, but the reality is that the way of approaching the games, overwhelming the rival from the start, has given Cruz Azul the possibility of billing the results because it is always closer to winning than losing.
It is true that it should not be exaggerated, that the tournament still has a lot to pay, but the way coach Anselmi puts together his scheme makes one think about important things, especially because from the goal with the Colombian Kevin Mier, security is perceived.
Then in defense, with Gonzalo Piovi and Willer Ditta in the center, Carlos Rotondi and Alexis Gutiérrez on the sides, Erick Lira in front of them, along with Rodrigo Huescas, Lorenzo Faravelli, Carlos Rodríguez, Carlos Antuna, in the midfield, while Ángel Sepúlveda, at the axis of the attack, generated enough football to defeat a rival with a long and twisted fang like felines.
Because defeating Tigres with players like the Argentine Nahuel Guzmán, the Brazilians Samir de Souza and Rafael De Souza, the Uruguayan Fernando Gorraría, the Frenchman André Pierre Gignac, as well as the Mexicans Diego Reyes and Diego Lainez, is not easy and the cement producers do it they achieved throughout the match.
In this way, the quality of the two rivals resulted in a spectacular game, with actions such as Uriel Antuna’s shots that led to great shots by the Tigres’ Argentine goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán.
As well as the intensity of the La Noria team, which overwhelmed the cats in the 90 minutes and in the 83rd minute allowed the winning goal with an own goal by defender Diego Reyes when trying to avoid a cross from Uriel Antuna towards Nacho Rivero, He ended up putting the ball in his own goal.
Shortly after, rookie Mateo Levy made it 2-0, but goalkeeper Guzmán avoided the second score, but there was no time for other things, but only to score the most important victory so far in Martín Anselmi’s project.
Keep reading:
– Argentine Juan Brunetta debuts as a scorer with Tigres
– The show was expensive for Tigres goalkeeper, Nahuel Guzmán
– Cruz Azul ends eleven-year home drought against Tigres