América defeated the Rayados in the first leg of the Liga MX final

Club América is poised to claim its third consecutive Mexican Football League title after an impressive 2-1 win in the first leg of the Liga MX Finals against the Rayados of Monterrey.

Monterrey was the first to score with a stylish shot from defender Sergio Canales. Club Ámerica defender Kevin Álvarez equalized the score in the 39th minute. At the start of the second half, midfielder Alejandro Zendejas scored the goal that won the game for Ámerica.

The second leg of the final will be played on Sunday evening at the Estadio BBVA Bancomer in Monterrey.

América’s quest for a third consecutive championship seemed unlikely after Club América, known to fans as “Águilas,” endured a disappointing regular season.

The team had to survive a wild card match against Tijuana to secure the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, then defeated No. 2 seed Toluca in the quarterfinals by a combined score of 4-0.

In the semifinals, the Águilas faced No. 1 seed Cruz Azul in a rematch of last season’s finals, defeating the Cementeros thanks to a late penalty in the second leg.

At the Cuauhtémoc Stadium in Puebla on Thursday, the Águilas put in a dominant performance, defeating Monterrey 13-6. Without the great performance of Rayados goalkeeper Luis Cárdenas, América might have won 5-1. Cárdenas made three spectacular saves among his four stops, while his counterpart Luis Malagón only saw one shot on net all night.

Monterrey’s only shot on goal was a beauty that Malagón couldn’t stop. Canales collected a loose ball with his back to goal, turned quickly and fired a seeing shot from 28 meters that raced into the top left corner of the América goal.

The Rayados had little time to celebrate. América burst forward on the left when Álvaro Fidalgo found Víctor Dávila in the penalty area and Dávila fired from a tight angle. The Rayados goalkeeper made a reflexive save, but the ball ended up in the middle of the penalty area, where two Águilas were unmarked. Midfielder Zendejas swung and missed his attempt, but the ball spun towards Águilas defender Álvarez at the back, who equalized.

Just four minutes into the second half, Zendejas made up for the deficit. He took a pass from Fidalgo and spun into the box to the right of Rayados goalkeeper Cárdenas before ripping a low left-footed shot that landed in the net behind the far post.

El pase la reception😤

Tremendous connection: Fidalgo➡️Zendejas

I’ll leave you in a few minutes.@ClubAmerica 2-1 @Rayados 🦅🆚🤠#NuestraFiesta. pic.twitter.com/93cn4uxSfS

— Liga BBVA MX (@LigaBBVAMX) December 13, 2024

Monterrey will need to win by two goals at home on Sunday to deny América a historic three-peat – no Liga MX team has won three straight titles since the league switched to the short-season format in 1996. América only needs a draw to clinch its third consecutive trophy.

The Rayados are 7-2-2 at home (including playoffs) this season, while América has won three straight away games in these playoffs.

With reports from ESPN, El Universal And Record