Toluca 2 – 1 Cruz Azul

In the first game of the Clausura ’06 quarterfinals, Toluca defeated Cruz Azul 2-1 at home, but squandered the chance to take a bigger first leg lead in the aggregate series.

Ten minutes into the match, the Blue Machine’s defensive breakdown left Ismael Valadez alone in the box, and Amaury Ponce lobbed the ball for Valadez to head into the net.

In the 34th minute Erick Espinoza was sent off with a red card, but having ten men did not hinder the Red Devils attack.

Before the half, Uruguayan Vicente Sanchez outlasted Oscar ‘conejo’ Perez, softly rebounding a shot blocked by the Cru Azul goalkeeper.

In the second half Cruz Azul went on the offensive, spending a good portion of the period in the Devils goal area, but with few open shots.

Until the 82nd minute when Cesar Villaluz cleaned up misses by Delgado and Sabah to cut the lead in half.

The rematch is set for Saturday May 6th, where Cruz Azul will hope not to repeat last year’s first round elimination by the same Toluca team.

San Luis 1 – 0 Atlante

The magic is still not over for San Luis as they hung on to beat Atlante 1-0 at home to take the slight lead in the aggregate quarterfinals series, when just a few days ago they were on the brink of relegation.

With a defensive mindset in the first half, the Colts barely left their side, barely challenging the San Luis net-minder.

Brazilian Sebastian “Didi” Pereira struck the net in the 69th minute for the game’s only score.

San Luis will look to further their historic run in Saturday’s rematch at Atlante. A tie or win of any kind in the next game would see the Tuneros through to the semifinals.

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