MEXICO CITY (AP) -Toluca beat 12th seeded San Luis and Morelia rallied past Santos on Sunday to join Monterrey and Cruz Azul in the Mexican Apertura semifinals.
Chilean striker Hector Mancilla converted a Diego Novareti cross in the 79th minute at Nemesio Diez stadium to give Toluca a 1-0 win that leveled the two-leg quarterfinal series 1-1. Toluca advanced based on its superior record in the regular season.
Toluca, the first seed in the Mexican playoffs, avoided an early elimination for the second tournament in a row after it was bundled out of this years Clausura tournament by Ciudad Juarez.
"This is just a step, we need to beat another two teams to become champions. We will take it one step a time," said Toluca manager Jose Manuel de la Torre. "Our greatest asset was that we gave a great effort until the end, we knew that we could not afford to become desperate against a good team as San Luis".
At Morelos stadium, Brazilian Wilson Tiago, Miguel Sabah and Mauricio Romero scored goals as Monarcas defeated Santos 3-0 and progressed on a 4-2 aggregated.
Toluca will next meet Monterrey, which defeated America 2-1, while Cruz Azul, a 7-6 aggregate winner over Puebla, will play Monarcas.
Tiago scored from a seventh minute cross by Sabah, who push the lead to 2-0 with his goal in the 39th, and Romero sealed the win in the 84th.
On Saturday, Cesar Villaluz scored in the 19th, Julio Dominguez in the 34th and Fausto Pinto in the 52nd for Cruz Azul, which qualified for the semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons.
Cruz Azul, which has not won a league title since 1997, was the runner-up in the two 2008 tournaments.
"We know that this team needs a title, we are working on it, let's see what the future holds", said Cruz Azul manager Enrique Meza.
Andres Olivera scored twice for Puebla.
"They played better and are the rightful winners, I think that they are going to become champions", Puebla coach Jose Luis Sanchez said.
At estadio Azteca, goalkpeer Jonathan Orozco made key saves and Chilean striker Humberto Suazo scored with 10 minutes left in regulation to give Monterrey a 1-1 draw with America.
Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas scored for the Eagles in the 52nd.
