Uruguayan Leonardo Fernández scored the goal on Wednesday with which Toluca defeated América 2-1 at home and took the lead in the semifinals of the Apertura 2022 tournament of Mexican football.
In the first leg of the semifinals, Haret Ortega was the other scorer for Toluca. Emilio Lara reduced the lead for América, who will host the second leg on Saturday.
Águilas dominated the first 20 minutes of the match, where they took possession of the ball and constantly attacked the rival’s area, however, they only managed to have one dangerous shot when in the 5th minute Chilean Diego Valdés shot a ball that passed close to a post.
After that, Toluca took the lead on a set piece. In the 23rd minute, Leo Fernández took a free kick from the right side that goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa failed to clear properly, causing a series of rebounds in the area that Haret Ortega took advantage of to score 1-0.
The goal allowed Toluca to take control of the game, with América disappearing. Toluca's dominance turned into another goal in the 40th minute. Emilio Lara committed a penalty against Chilean Jean Meneses, which Fernández converted into 2-0 by deceiving Ochoa.
América regained control of the match in the second half, but faltered at times. In the 54th minute, Brazilian Camilo Sanvezzo scored a goal for Toluca that was disallowed for offside, and in the 71st minute, Ochoa made a save that prevented a goal from Meneses.
After Toluca's reaction, Águilas once again dominated possession of the ball, driven by the entrances of Uruguayan Brian Rodríguez and Colombian Roger Martínez.
In the 76th minute, Martínez passed to Brian Rodríguez, but Brazilian goalkeeper Tiago Volpi rejected the shot. Three minutes later, América scored with a cross from Henry Martín that Lara, with his right foot, converted into 2-1.
The second leg of this semifinal series will be played on Saturday at Estadio Azteca, home of América.
Source: EFE
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