📝 Roger Martinez brace powers Club América to 3-1 quarter-final lead | OneFootball

Despite falling behind early, América rallied behind a pair of goals from Roger Martinez to defeat rivals Cruz Azul 3-1 in the first leg of the Liguilla quarter-finals.

The return leg will take place on Sunday.

The match was really intense from the beginning and unfortunately for Cruz Azul, Orbelín Pineda was forced off the pitch just nine minutes into the match after a collision with Agustín Marchesín.

However, Cruz Azul’s luck changed just a few minutes later, Milton Caraglio buried his effort past Marchesín to give Cruz Azul the advantage just 15 minutes into the contest.

The lead did not last for long as Renato Ibarra’s corner was headed on by Bruno Valdez, which took a deflection off Igor Lichnovsky and into the net to even the score.

The two sides would go back and forth but it was clear that Cruz Azul had lost their confidence and América would pounce just before the half-time whistle.

Las Aguilas used route one football and needed less than 10 seconds from the goal kick for Roger Martinez to blast the ball into the bottom corner to give his side a 2-1 lead heading into the dressing room.

Though Cruz Azul had many chances to equalise, Roger Martinez would give his side a massive advantage heading into the second leg.

Andrés Ibargüen received the ball on the left side and drew seemingly every defender to him before calmly feeding Martinez, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner for the third and final goal of the match.