Tijuana Xolos Liga MX 2020 Clausura Recap: Xolos fall 3-0 to “sister-club” Queretaro
Queretaro, Mexico
The Tijuana Xolos played their second game of the Liga MX 2020 Clausura season this Sunday, Jan.19, as the Aztec Canines visited Queretaro. The game was set to be an even matchup but was far from it as Queretaro came away with a dominant 3-0 victory at the Estadio Corregidora.
Former Xolos striker Ariel Nahuelpan opened the scoring in just the 15th minute as the Argentine fired a shot from inside of the penalty box that found the back of the net. Los Gallos Blancos did not stop as Marcel Ruiz made it 2-0 for Queretaro in the 38th minute.
The goal was the result of a beautiful string of passes by Victor Vucetich’s team ending with Fabian Castillo crossing the ball to Marcel Ruiz. The first half ended 2-0 in Queretaro’s favor as the Xoloitzcuintles were simply out of the game at the end of the first 45 minutes.
Xolos manager Gustavo Quinteros made his first substitution at the half as he replaced Cesar Falletti with newcomer Christian Rivera. Alexis Castro then made his debut with Club Tijuana in the 59th minute as he came on for Emilio Sanchez.
Bryan Angulo also debuted for the border city club as he came on for Mauro Lainez in the 75th minute. All of these substitutions proved to be ineffective as Queretaro scored a third goal in the 82nd minute.
Former Xolos winger Fabian Castillo used his immense speed to burst past Club Tijuana’s backline, and he finished nicely. Xolos’ goalkeeper Gibran Lajud grazed the ball, but his effort was not enough to stop Castillo’s shot.
The game finished 3-0 in Queretaro’s favor as the result was an embarrassing one for the Xoloitzcuintles. The result was even more of an embarrassment considering that Queretaro had three players that played for Club Tijuana last year.
This includes Ariel Nahuelpan and Julian Velazquez, who were transferred over to Queretaro after Los Gallos Blancos were bought by Grupo Caliente. The Xoloitzcuintles are now seeing the short-term consequences of multi ownership as these are players that were key to Club Tijuana last season.
The little brother defeated the big brother on Sunday afternoon as the Xolos will look to bounce back in Week 3 against Club America at home.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.