After a chaotic two legs Tigres Femenil have been crowned champions of Liga MX Femenil. The Amazonas overcame a three goal deficit in the first leg and Diana Ordóñez scored the lone goal to claim their seventh trophy. This loss is number five for Club América under head coach Angel Villacampa.
The first leg was played at the Cuidad de los Deportes in Mexico City where the Aguilas cruised on through in the first half where they scored three goals. The game and the final looked to be wrapped up but
Tigres made a comeback in the second half as they drew the game level at 3-3. América’s defense completely fell apart as they allowed an opponent to make their way back from a large deficit. The final leg at the Volcan was going to be a big test mentally, which has been a big weakness for América in the past. Everyone knew going into Sunday’s final that the game was going to be a tough one for both sides. While the Aguilas had allowed Tigres to make a comeback, they were the better team between the two. América had been solid all season long while Tigres looked bad this season and was bailed out due to their talented roster. A roster who has more experience in winning titles as they had won six trophies up to this point. Meanwhile the Aguilas had seven losses in finals. This difference was showcased during this two-legged game.
The only goal of the second leg came in the 17th minute of the game off a mistake by the Aguilas. Annie Karich got a hold of the ball by her goal and attempted to pass the ball back to teammate Annia Mejia who was not expecting the ball at all. Due to the miscommunication the ball went past Mejia and Diana Ordóñez was able to pounce on the loose ball and get it past Sandra Paños to open the score at home.
It was still early on in the game for América to equalize before the half but the Tigres defense held on, specifically Greta Espinoza and Aaliyah Farmer. Farmer had won her starting role over Cristina Ferral who had been the undisputed starter up to this point. Head coach Pedro Losa opted for Farmer over Ferral and while many criticized this decision it paid off in the end. Farmer had a big chip on her shoulders to be partnered with Espinoza and she played her part well. She had stopped multiple attacks from América’s offense, whether the attacks came from Scarlett Camberos, Irene Guerrero or Kiana Palacios, they were all stopped in their tracks.
In the second half América had everything to make a comeback. Tigres had chances in front of goal but were unable to capitalize on them. The visitors needed to take advantage of these missed opportunities. Instead the players became visibly frustrated and fouled Tigres players left and right. The frustration came to a boiling point when Nancy Antonio was given a red card due to a reckless foul on Jenni Hermoso. The central referee did not see the original foul but she was eventually called to the monitor and gave Antonio a red card. The night went from bad to worse for América.
Even though they were down a player, it did not affect them as they continued to attack. They had a big chance to equalize near the end when Ceci Santiago was unable to hold onto a long ball and Palacios attempted to take advantage but she missed the ball and it was cleared out for a corner kick. Nothing came out of the subsequent corner. América were then given an additional five minutes to equalize due to stoppage time. The players were desperate for a goal and committed some fouls that did them no favor. The Aguilas pushed until the last second but it was not enough as the central referee blew the whistle and Tigres made history with their seventh trophy.
