Yesterday we got two highly emotional games in the Liga MX playoffs that literally went down to the wire. If you like matchups with a lot of goals then the Toluca vs Santos game was certainly your cup of tea. Toluca got out to a 2-0 lead early. Santos came back to make it 2-3 in their favor. Ultimately though Toluca again put up two unanswered goals to take the game 4-3.
The Monterrey game was a bit of a let-down particularly since we were all hyped after the emotional roll coaster that was the Toluca game. Tigres in many respects played the game that they wanted to play against Pachuca. They slowed the game down as much as they could and ultimately they were able to find a goal in the final minutes of the match to take the lead in the series. What do each of the two teams that are heading into the weekend down in the scoreboard need to do to win their respective series?
What Santos Needs To Do To Come Out On Top
The first thing that Santos needs to do is realize that they are playing a game in the early stages of the contest. You can’t afford to come out and go down even one score in the second leg game. What Santos has going for them is that the Toluca back line is a joke. We said that coming into the first game as well. Juarez was all over Toluca in their wild card game, but they were able to hold up out of sheer luck at times. Santos needs to keep doing what they’re doing offensively. Although you’d expect Toluca to not leave themselves too wide open to counters like they did in the first contest.
If Santos can minimize their mental mistakes on defense they’re going to be ok. That last minute penalty kick that cost them the game comes off of one of the most atrocious handballs of the season. In the modern game you can’t defend on the wing with your arms stretched out like Carlos Acevedo in one of his amazing saves. Speaking of Acevedo he has to make sure that he’s not giving up second chance opportunities. He was able to regroup and make a great save in the first game, but those are going to come back to bite you sooner rather than later.
Pachuca Needs To Go Out & Disrespect Tigres
Nahuel Guzman was key in Tigres’ win last night. The big problem for Tigres is that they have an old and slow midfield. Last night from minute 55 onward Tigres’ midfield was virtually non existent. In those moments Pachuca needs to be able to take the ball away and just over power Tigres. Now, the issue coming into this second game is that Tigres doesn’t need to stretch the team out too far to go out and get a goal. They can play closer together and just hope for the counter. Pachuca, seem to have more than enough good players particularly in the middle third of the field to be able to find those open spots in the Tigres defense.
What was concerning is that LigaMX lead goalscorer Nico Ibañez didn’t find open shots on goal. That needs to change for Pachuca heading into this second game. It’s ok if Nahuel Guzman makes a couple of saves as long as you’re able to put at least one ball past him. This is going to be a hard fought in which Pachuca may need to be a bit patient. That could be one of the things that this team lacks! Particularly from the top down. Memo Almada, their coach, goes crazy in games. That’s not necessarily a good thing in these types of matchups.
