TÁguilas del América will always be controversial, win or lose. On this occasion, the discussion centers on the recent exit from the quarter-final stage of the Apertura 2025 play-offs at the hands of Rayados del Monterrey, who prevented Andre Jardín’s side from reaching the semi-finals eight times in a row. There were three controversial plays that were talked about among Mexican soccer fans.
Aguilas was minutes away from advancing to the semifinals. In the second leg, they managed to take a 2-0 lead and could advance as they moved up in the overall standings. However, the German Belterrame silenced the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes. It was mentioned that there was a foul on Sebastian Caceres in the play leading up to the goal, and central referee Cesar Arturo Palazuelos should have given the appropriate sanction.
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What happened on Monterrey’s goal play against the United States?
After the end of the series at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, a video was released alleging an earlier foul on the naturalized Mexican’s goal. In this result, Roberto de la Rosa is suspected of charging from behind as Uruguayan Sebastian Caceres tried to take the ball out of the area. A few seconds later, the ball was cleared, after which a second play appeared, which ended with a goal from German Bertelame. Belterrame beat Kevin Alvarez and fired a shot past Angel Malagon.
In addition to Belterrame’s goal and Caceres’ suspected foul, there was also Raul Zuniga’s canceled goal. Was it the right decision? The play gave the Americans a 3-0 lead, but it was a key moment in how the duel would go. America’s deadly counterattack, Ramos Parazuelos and VAR activated, the goal was disallowed and Azulclemas earned their ticket to the semi-finals. The reason the goal didn’t appear on the scoreboard was that it was slightly offside by just a few millimeters, according to the line drawn.
What other officiating controversy occurred in the second leg between USA and Monterrey?
In the final minutes of the match, Sergio Ramos tackled Ramon Juárez inside the penalty area, which many claimed was a foul, but Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos did not call this out in the 97th minute, but another controversy erupted. The Spaniard launched himself in search of the ball, but footage from the match showed that he made contact with the central defender’s humanity as he tried to connect with the ball, and ended up on the grass in severe pain, with the referee letting him go and him being forced into full-time action.
Some argued in favor of the Americans because the referee did not call a penalty after Jonathan dos Santos’ handball. The play, which occurred in the 79th minute, saw Germany’s Bertelame head in a cross and the ball hit an Azulklema player in the arm. Ramos Parazuelos didn’t even go to VAR to review the play. All these officiating situations that may or may not have been right were combined with decisions made in the first leg by Jesús López Valle and Adonay Escobedo, who served as central referees and were in charge of VAR, which made two key plays controversial.
