Mexico City, Mexico (SportsNetwork.com) - Cruz Azul was eliminated from the Liga MX playoffs on Saturday after settling for a second-leg 2-2 draw with Leon, which allowed Leon to advance to the semifinals on away goals.
The sides battled to a 1-1 draw in the first leg on April 30, and it appeared Cruz Azul, the top seed in the tournament, was on its way to advancing when Mariano Pavone and Mauro Formica scored inside the half-hour mark to give the club a 2-0 second leg and a 3-1 aggregate lead.
But Leon responded with goals from Mauro Boselli and Luis Montes before the hour mark to make it a 3-3 tie on aggregate. Cruz Azul pushed numbers forward needing a goal to advance, but they never found it and Leon went through to the next round.
Also on Saturday in Mexico, Santos earned a 3-1 second-leg victory over America to advance to the semifinals via away goals after the clubs finished level on aggregate, 6-6.
America claimed the first leg with a wild 5-3 victory, but the second leg of the tie was a different story.
Santos opened the scoring in the 28th minute via a Juan Valenzuela own goal, while Ribair Rodr���guez and Andres Renteria scored inside the final 10 minutes for a 3-0 second leg lead.
Rubens Sambueza scored in stoppage time to draw the sides level on aggregate, but America needed another goal to advance and it never came.
On Sunday, Enner Valencia scored a hat trick to lead Pachuca to a 4-2 second- leg and 5-3 aggregate victory over UNAM, while Antonio Martinez, Miguel Ponce and Edgar Benitez scored to hand Toluca a 3-1 second-leg victory over Tijuana following a scoreless draw in the opening leg.
Toluca will face Leon, while Santos battles Pachuca in the semifinals, which will get underway with first-leg matches on Saturday.
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