Club America players (pictured) acknowledge their fans after drawing with visiting Cruz Azul in their Liga MX Apertura quarterfinal, second leg on November 26, 2017, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo: Mexsport)
MEXICO CITY – Despite not scoring in 180 minutes of 2017 Liga MX Apertura quarterfinal play, 12-time champion Club America progressed to the final four by virtue of having a better regular-season record than Cruz Azul after their series ended 0-0 on aggregate.
Regardless of how it was accomplished, Aguilas head coach Miguel Herrera said that moving on was all that mattered.
“I don’t know if we were better, but we advanced,” remarked the 49-year-old following Sunday’s second leg at the Estadio Azteca. “There it is for all those who say that table position doesn’t matter. Today, thanks to those 30 points, we are in the semifinals.
“We didn’t play badly. We had chances and we did not finish them. Today, the necessity to score a goal was theirs and we understood that we had to go out to defend the scoreline.”
For Club America, the scoreless draw marked its third consecutive clean sheet and sixth of the season, another sign of the evolution shown in Herrera’s second managerial spell with the club.
“The team is being effective in defense,” he finished. “I like the order of the team. They’re not losing their heads and on this we will try to improve. I would be going crazy if the team did not have chances. We will work so goals are scored. What’s most important is that we are creating.”
Club America will meet Tigres in the semifinals.
