Santiago Sandoval Lifts C.d. Guadalajara Past Cruz Azul Rebound

c.d. guadalajara got the goal it needed from Santiago Sandoval, who scored after Kevin Mier failed to control a weak shot in the semifinal against Cruz Azul. The rebound finish gave Chivas an edge and put Sandoval on three goals in the Liguilla.

Sandoval and Mier

The sequence started when Ricardo Marín combined with Sandoval on a counterattack before the shot that forced the save. Mier could not hold it cleanly, and Sandoval pushed the loose ball into the net. It was Sandoval’s third goal in the final phase, another sign that the Chivas youth attacker has moved from prospect to primary scorer in this run.

That finish also followed a doublete against Tigres the previous weekend, so the semifinal goal was not a one-off touch from a player heating up late. Sandoval has now scored in back-to-back playoff outings, and Chivas has leaned on that efficiency while the matches have tightened.

Estadio Jalisco on May 16

The semifinal second leg will be played on Saturday, May 16, at Estadio Jalisco at 19:07 hours, Mexico City time. Richy Ledezma and the rest of the group now carry that lead into a home setting where one more clean attacking sequence could decide the tie.

For Guadalajara, the biggest shift is simple: Sandoval is not just scoring, he is finishing the kind of chance that arrives when pressure forces a goalkeeper into a mistake. He remains Chivas’ best scorer in the Final Phase, and that puts the semifinal under a different lens for the return match at Estadio Jalisco.