Cruz Azul holds off Galaxy, joins Tigres in Final
Golazo by Orbelín Pineda pushes Cementeros past makeshift MLS rival in semifinal.
Cruz Azul had to sweat the full 90 minutes, but La Máquina Azul did more than enough to brush aside a second-choice LA Galaxy line-up and advance to the Leagues Cup Final where they will face the Tigres who defeated América in the other semifinal earlier Tuesday.
Orbelín Pineda showed his class with a magical, curling shot from 20 meters that soared over Galaxy goalie Matt Lampson and nestled into the net in the right corner of the goal. Pineda’s strike came in minute 47 after Cruz Azul took a throw-in deep down the right sideline. The Galaxy scraped it out of the box, but Yoshimar Yotún collected the clearance and zipped it to Pineda just left of the half-moon. The 23-year-old- trapped the ball smoothly and let fly with his right foot, giving Cruz Azul a lead they would not give up.
The Cementeros had opened the scoring before the 5-minute mark with Pineda providing the service. Left back Adrián Aldrete got to the touch line and sent in a low cross that was blocked by the Galaxy defense. Pineda pounced and wrested control from two Galaxy defenders, spun and fed right back José Madueña who had moved into the middle of the field. Madueña one-timed a left-footer that got past Lampson at the right post.
The Cementeros enjoyed the majority of possession throughout the game, but were sloppy with their passing in the final third, especially in the first half. Their wastefulness came back to haunt them when Emil Cuello blazed a shot that Cruz Azul keeper Jesús Corona misplayed and the score was tied.
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After Pineda restored the Cruz Azul lead, the Máquina Azul pressed forward for the clincher, but could not find the net. The Cementeros only had 3 shots on goal all night and squandered a handful of fast-break opportunities with poor decision making. Edgar Méndez was guilty of aborting two promising counter-attacks midway through the second half when he turned away from pressure despite a numbers advantage and opted to maintain possession.
The Galaxy made Cruz Azul finish out the game but could not take advantage of several set-piece chances late on. Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotte again decided to save his star players for MLS play as his team is fighting for a playoff spot with 8 games remaining.
The first-ever Leagues Cup final will be played on Sept. 18 in Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium.