MEXICO CITY, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Defending champions UNAM won 2-1 away to 10-man Atlas to reach the Mexican Apertura championship final at the weekend.
Goals either side of halftime from Mexico striker Francisco
Fonseca and Jose Luis Lopez silenced the crowd at Guadalajara's
Jalisco stadium as the Pumas, coached by former Real Madrid and
Mexico forward Hugo Sanchez, completed a 6-4 aggregate win in
their semi-final.
Bolivia striker Joaquin Botero was involved in both goals as
he set up Fonseca's header in the 44th minute and provided the
pass for Lopez to fire in the second from close range two
minutes into the second half.
Atlas had Juan Pablo Garcia sent off in the 68th minute but
pulled one goal back through Brazilian Robert de Pinho with four
minutes to play.
Curiously, the Pumas have benefited from a format which has
often been criticised as unfair by their coach Sanchez, who has
demanded a conventional league system for the championship.
They picked up only 23 points in 17 games as they finished
second in Group One of the qualifying stage, where the 18 teams
play each other once but are divided into four groups.
Atlas finished with eight points more as they finished
second in Group Two.
Leading scorer Guillermo Franco scored twice as Monterrey
beat Atlante 3-1 to complete a 7-3 aggregate win in the other
tie.
Monterrey, who won the 2003 Clausura championship under
former Argentina captain Daniel Passarella who has since left
the club, went ahead through Franco in the 23rd minute.
The Argentine took his tally to 19 goals as he added the
second in the 59th minute and Sergio Perez scored the third 10
minutes later.
Atlante, who beat Monterrey 7-1 during the qualifying stage,
managed a late consolation through Mario Hernandez.
