Toluca See Out Semi-Final Victory Over Leon
Toluca beat Leon 2-0 in the Liga Cup semi-finals at their home ground on Wednesday. The hosts controlled the tempo throughout and broke through in the forty-first minute through F. Pereira. Leon never really threatened until late, and then the game turned ugly. By then, the visitors had already lost their discipline.
J. Gandolfi picked up a yellow card in the eighteenth minute, and the tension built from there. Two more bookings came on the half-hour mark before Pereira's strike gave Toluca the lead they deserved. The visitors tried to respond, but their chances evaporated quickly. F. Vinas doubled the advantage in the sixty-ninth minute, and that was effectively the end of the contest.
What followed was a spectacle of frustration. J. Romana went off in the seventy-fifth minute with a straight red after picking up his second yellow. Bruno Mendez received his marching orders in the eighty-ninth minute, and Leon were left to see out the final ten minutes with ten men. Six substitutions were made by both sides in that period, desperate attempts to change the mood.
The numbers tell the story clearly enough. Toluca held 56 per cent of possession and created five big chances. Leon managed zero. Seven shots on target against one — the visitors simply could not find a way through. The shots accuracy figures show the difference: thirty-three per cent for the hosts compared to nine for the visitors.
This victory puts Toluca one step closer to the final. They had already beaten Juarez and Austin in the knockout stages, and now they have Leon out of the picture. The semi-final second leg will decide everything, but the hosts are in a strong position. There is unrest in the dressing room for Leon, and that is not something you can hide from.
