Watch: Heroic Gignac saves Tigres in Liga MX final first-leg draw vs. Chivas
Tigres UANL was staring at the prospects of a 2-0 deficit while heading to Chivas Guadalajara's home stadium for the second leg of the Liga MX final–that is, until its hero rose to the occasion.
French international Andre-Pierre Gignac scored twice in the final five minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Clausura final, leaving all in the balance ahead of Sunday's final.
Alan Pulido and Rodolfo Pizarro each scored for Chivas, which carried a 2-0 lead into halftime at a stunned Estadio Universitario. It stayed that way until the 85th minute, when Gignac hit for his first, scoring on a left-footed, first-time effort from the center of the box.
Three minutes later, Gignac scored a sensational equalizer, running onto a long, defense-splitting pass, rounding the goalkeeper and finding the target from a ways out on a tight angle, which sent the home supporters (and broadcast team) into hysterics. The goals were his fifth and sixth of the Liguilla, after a four-goal showing in the quarterfinals vs. Monterrey. He scored eight goals during the regular season.
The heroics certainly seize all momentum that Chivas had built in hopes of securing a 12th Liga MX title, which would tie the club with bitter rival America for most in the country's history. It's also setting out to pull off the Copa MX-Liga MX domestic double, which hasn't been done since 1995.
Tigres, meanwhile is hoping to repeat after its Apertura championship, which would make it the first club to do that since Leon in 2013-14.
