Monterrey's fantastic 2019 season ended on the highest note possible. After winning the CONCACAF Champions League and finishing in third place at the Club World Cup, Los Rayados won Liga MX on Sunday night in Mexico City, beating America in penalty kicks.
The second leg saw America win 2-1 to force extra time with goals from Federico Vinas and Richard Sanchez. But neither team could get a goal in the extra 30 minutes, forcing a dramatic shootout where the visitors scored four of their five shots to win 4-2. Monterrey was 15 minutes away from losing before Rogelio Funes Mori connected on a pass from Dorlan Pabon after an error at the back for America to equalize. Funes Mori also scored a crazy bicycle kick in the final minutes of the first leg.
Leonel Vangioni scored the winning penalty kick, sending Guillermo Ochoa the other way. Take a look:
¡Vangioni le da el título a Rayados! 👏🏆
— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) December 30, 2019
¡Rayados es campeón! 👏🏆#ClubAmerica | #Rayados | #TUGranFinal pic.twitter.com/iG1aETkKpA
You can watch the complete highlights here:
What a turnaround of a season it was for Monterrey. After getting rid of Diego Alonso and bringing in Antonio Mohamed as coach, the team did a complete 180. With Monterrey looking unlikely to make the playoffs, Mohamed returned in October after a short stint at Celta Vigo and did not lose a game the rest of the way (aside from the 2-1 result in the final of the second leg), to win yet another trophy. The Argentine manager has now won five trophies -- the 2010 Copa Sudameriana with Independiente, the 2012 Apertura with Tijuana, the 2014 Apertura with America, the 2017 Copa MX with Monterrey and Sunday's title.
There isn't much time to celebrate though, because the Clausura season begins in less than 12 weeks. You can watch the biggest Liga MX games all season long on fuboTV (Try for free).
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