TIJUANA (October 25, 2013) –Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente remained unbeaten at home after playing to a 0-0 tie against visiting Tigres UANL in a Week 15 match of the LIGA Bancomer MX-2013 Apertura Friday night at Estadio Caliente.
The Xoloitzcuintles have earned at least one point in eight home matches, totaling 18 overall points for the season in the league standings. Club Tijuana is 4-5-6 with two matches left in the Mexican First Division as the team vies for a spot in the eight-team playoffs.
“The players did a great job and played their best. We just didn’t have enough,” Almiron said. “The team tried all game long. We didn’t have the touch when it came to the time to score. Out of the clear opportunities we had we couldn’t finish them. That hurt us. We don’t control our destiny now. We have to depend on other results.”
Coach Jorge Almiron’s team came out looking to score from the start against a Tigres team that finished with 10-men after Jose Rivas was ejected with a red card in the 79th minute. The Xoloitzcuintles tried to take advantage and continued to pressure offensively much the same way it did from the start.
Dario Benedetto didn’t waste time trying to score when he took a Cristian Pellerano pass into the penalty area, beating his defender with only the goalkeeper to beat but Enrique Palo slapped the shot away. Benedetto had another shot in the 23rd minute. He tried to rainbow a shot into an empty net but the ball sailed over the crossbar after Tigres goalkeeper Enrique Palos came off his line to stop Paul Arriola on a breakaway.
Almiron’s team controlled possession in the later moments of the match but couldn’t find the net. Ecuadorian striker Fidel Martinez tried to break the tie in the 87th minute with a left-footed shot from inside the area near the six-yard box but his shot was stopped by Tigres’ goalkeeper Palos.
Martinez gave his team another opportunity, this time in injury time, when he sent a lobbing ball into the area where it found Pablo Aguilar and Daniel Marquez open at the mouth of the Tigres’ goal. Aguilar couldn’t get a head on the pass as it flew by and then deflected off Marquez’ shin and out-of-bounds.
Marquez came on for Arriola in the 76th minute. Almiron also used Herculez Gomez and Javier Guemez as second half subs. Cirilo Saucedo started at goal for the Xoloitzcuintles while Javier Gandolfi, Juan Carlos Nunez, Edgar Castillo and Aguilar were the backline. Joe Corona, Fernando Arce, Pellerano, Arriola, Benedetto and Martinez were also in the starting lineup.
Club Tijuana will next face Atlante FC in a Week 16 match at Estadio Caliente Friday Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.