The Tijuana Xolos played their eighth game in the Liga MX 2024 Apertura this Saturday, September 14. The Border City Dogs visited Toluca for their first league road match since July 19 in San Luis.

Club Tijuana has been historically bad on the road, and this season has been no different. The Aztec Canines shockingly started the season  with a road win  in Queretaro but have been unable to win away from home since then.

The border city team suffered a 4-0 loss to Toluca in what is considered to be one of the toughest stadiums to visit in Liga MX. Juan Carlos Osorio did have a big surprise in the starting lineup, as he gave Emanuel Reynoso his first start since coming back from injury. Reynoso was a key signing, but given Gilberto Mora’s immense run of form, it was a bit surprising not to see the 15-year-old in the starting 11.

The Tijuana Xolos stayed in the match for the majority of the first half but ran into some misfortune near the end of it. Toluca’s Jesus Angulo fired a weak shot that was deflected by Xolos’ Rafael Fernandez. The bounce off the deflection confused Xolos’ goalkeeper, Antonio Rodriguez, and the ball deflected off Rodriguez’s foot to find the back of the net.

Angulo was awarded with the goal, but it was a very bizarre play that put a sour taste for Club Tijuana at the end of the first half. Juan Carlos Osorio made some changes at the half as he brought in Nicolas Diaz and Alan Vega for Francisco Contreras and Jaime Alvarez. However, this clearly was the not the ideal change as Xolos’ offense grew stagnant in the second half.

In the 50th minute, Marcel Ruiz scored via a header off a corner kick against his former team to give Toluca a 2-0 advantage. Gilberto Mora and Jose Zuniga came on to try and spark the offense, but these changes made little to no impact.

Club Tijuana was clearly out of the game after that second goal, and the deficit only increased. In the 79th minute, Jesus Angulo was awarded his second goal of the match, which was a strike inside of the box off a cross by Claudio Baeza. In stoppage time, Paulinho scored the final goal of the night with a strike from inside of the penalty area. Juan Pablo Dominguez began the scoring drive with an impressive run and assist to Paulinho.

This was a highly disappointing game for the Border City Dogs after a run of three-game undefeated run at home. However, the team is clearly improving from last season as Miguel Herrera could not even get those type of results at the Estadio Caliente. Club Tijuana will have another tough away match next as the Xoloitzcuintles face Pumas UNAM at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario on September 22.

Francisco Velasco

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.