Guadalajara Chivas and Tijuana met at Estadio Akron on Friday evening in the fifth round of Liga MX's Apertura, and the hosts ran out five-two winners. The scoreline tells one story, but watching the match unfold suggests another — a first-half surge that carried through despite a second half where Tijuana had possession and created more shots. By then, the visitors were already chasing.
S. Sandoval opened the scoring in the twenty-third minute, and R. Marin added a second just before the break. The first half ended with a penalty for Marin in the forty-fifth minute, plus two yellow cards — E. Alvarez for Chivas in the eighth, and R. Arciga for Tijuana in the forty-fifth. Three substitutions came straight after the interval from the home side, all at once, which is always a statement of intent.
R. Alvarado made it three-one in the fifty-ninth minute, and D. Campillo Del Campo extended the lead to four in the sixty-ninth. Tijuana pulled one back, or rather, they didn't — the goal was Elias Manoel for Chivas in the seventy-fifth minute. The visitors picked up a booking through L. Romo in the seventy-third, and the home side brought on G. Mora in the seventy-ninth.
Elias Manoel completed his brace in the ninety-second minute, and the match was effectively over. Red cards were absent from both sides, and the yellow cards came in clusters — Chivas collected three, Tijuana one. The substitutions were frequent on both benches, but the home side made the most of their changes.
Chivas finished with fifty-nine per cent possession and eight shots on target, while Tijuana had forty-one per cent and four. The visitors took thirteen shots overall, but only four found the target — twenty-five per cent accuracy compared to Chivas's sixty-two. Expected goals would tell a similar story: many shots with few goals means chances went begging.
Chivas sit fifth on eleven points from six games, four behind leaders. Tijuana remain third on thirteen points, but this result closes the gap to the top four and gives the home side momentum heading into the next round. The support of the fans could be called devoted, but that is an assessment, not a fact. The fact is that the club sits top of the table