Football
Tom Marshall, Mexico correspondent 6y

Honors even between Tigres and Leon; Toluca fights back to beat Morelia

Chile international Eduardo Vargas' second half equalizer handed Tigres a 1-1 away draw with Leon on Wednesday in the first leg of the Liga MX 2017 Apertura quarterfinal.

The result gives second seed Tigres a slight advantage heading into Saturday's second leg in Estadio Universitario, with the away goals rule in place for the Liga MX playoffs.

Vargas received the ball from Jesus Duenas on the edge of the penalty area in the 76th minute and shot low into the right-hand corner of the goal.

2017 Apertura top goal-scorer Mauro Boselli opened the scoring in the 59th minute, having been put through on goal by Alvaro Ramos.

Tigres dominated possession against seventh seed Leon, but the result was a fair reflection of the game, with La Fiera countering well and causing the Tigres defense some problems.

French striker Andre-Pierre Gignac came close to netting when he hit the crossbar for Tigres in the 63rd minute, with United States goalkeeper William Yarbrough slipping in his attempt to save the shot.

For Leon, Andres Andrade came close in the 72nd minute, but Argentina international Nahuel Guzman got down to his right to save.

In the first quarterfinal earlier on Wednesday, Toluca completed a remarkable late comeback to defeat Morelia 2-1 in Estadio Nemesio Diez.

Colombian Fernando Uribe finished to level the scores in the 91st minute, before a deflected shot three minutes later from Pablo Barrientos handed Toluca victory.

Morelia had taken the lead from a Raul Ruidiaz penalty in the 66th minute in a fairly even game, which burst into life in the second half after a cagey opening 45 minutes.

The second leg will take place in Estadio Morelos on Saturday.

The other quarterfinal first legs will take place Thursday, with Atlas hosting Monterrey and Club America traveling to Cruz Azul.

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