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Bizarre field invasion, 14-year-old debuts in InterLiga
by Ridge Mahoney, January 7th, 2008 8:55AM
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TAGS:  mexico


Two spots in the InterLiga semifinals remain in play following another round of matches over the weekend. Club America clinched a spot in the semis Sunday and Atlas took command of second place by winning in Group A action at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

Club America topped Toluca, 2-1, and Atlas eliminated Morelia, 2-0. On Saturday, San Luis blanked UNAM, 2-0, to nail down a semifinal slot, and Cruz Azul won its first InterLiga game, 1-0, over Monterrey to tie UNAM in second place.

Alejandro Arguello and Richard Nunez tallied 11 minutes apart in the second half to wipe out a 1-0 halftime Toluca lead forged by Vicente Sanchez's early goal. A match of plentiful chances and sharp saves ended with a player sent off and two spectators ushered off after a bizarre if benign field invasion.

Israel Lopez elbowed America's Jose Mosqueda in the final minute and will miss the group finale against Morelia Wednesday. In the wake of Lopez's red card, two female fans ran onto the field; one headed for keeper Guillermo Ochoa and tried to plant a kiss on his cheek, but she and her running mate were collared by security guards.

Argentine Bruno Marioni scored both goals for Atlas, which revived an attack that had slumbered for most of a 0-0 tie with Toluca in its group opener.

Marioni followed up a Eduardo Rergis shot that was blocked drill his first goal in the 14th minute, and midway through the second half he collected a Jorge Achcarro backheel and turned away from the tight marking of defender Omar Trujillio to strike the second.

Group play concludes Wednesday at Home Depot Center.

To sneak past Atlas (1-0-1, 4 points) into second place, Toluca (0-0-1, 1 point) needs to beat Morelia (0-0-2, 0 points) and hope Atlas loses to Club America (2-0-0) heavily enough to pass it on goal difference.

The teams tied 0-0 on the first day of play in the group and Atlas leads on goal difference, plus 2 to minus-1. If Toluca wins 2-0, an Atlas loss by the same score would be enough.

On Saturday, a pair of Morenos -- Tressor and Alfredo - scored to propel San Luis to the top of Group B and into the semifinals at the expense of UNAM, 2-0 at Robertson Stadium in Houston.

Tressor Moreno scored in the ninth minute and Alfredo Moreno, who tallied his team's goal in its 1-0 win over Cruz Azul last Wednesday, got the second before halftime.

Cruz Azul claimed its first InterLiga victory after losing five and tying two of seven matches by beating and thus eliminating Monterrey, 1-0, with a goal by Edgar Andrade, who converted Cesar Villaluz's setup in the 19th minute.

Los Cementeros staved off numerous attacks to post the victory that marked the pro debut of 14-year-old Martin Galvan, who came on in the 85th minute.

Born in Acapulco, Galvan turns 15 on Feb. 2.

San Luis (2-0-0, 6 points) will win the group by beating or tying Monterrey (0-0-0, 0 points) Tuesday when group play concludes at HDC. Cruz Azul and UNAM square off while tied with 1-0-0 records and three points. Both have a zero goal difference, but UNAM leads on goals scored, 2-1, which is the next tiebreaker.

 



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