Guadalajara, America get InterLiga wins

FRISCO, Texas (AP) -Guadalajara and America positioned themselves to progress from the group stage of the InterLiga with matching 3-1 wins on Tuesday.

Guadalajara beat Atlas and America downed UANL Tigres, meaning both need only draws in the final Group B games on Friday to progress to the final playoffs.

Played in the neutral United States, the InterLiga is a playoff between eight Mexican clubs to determine which two compete in the upcoming Copa Libertadores - South America's club championship.

Guadalajara took the lead with a 21st minute penalty converted by Ramon Morales, and should have been two up in the 66th when Carlos Ochoa stumbled over the ball in the area when clear.

That missed opportunity looked costly when Atlas equalized in the 75th as Bruno Marioni pounced on a rebound from a save.

Atlas almost went ahead immediately after, but Dario Botinelli's 25-yard blast hit the crossbar.

Ochoa made up for his earlier mistake, restoring Guadalajara's lead in the 79th minute as he got on the end of a pass, sliding to poke the ball home.

He made certain of the victory in the 84th, converting a counter attack.

In the early game of a double-header, Tigres took the lead in the 22nd minute when a shot rebounded off a post to Guillermo Marino to stab home.

America keeper Guillermo Ochoa made a series of saves to keep his side in the contest and was rewarded when America drew level in the 36th minute, as Enrique Vera knocked in a rebound.

America went ahead just before half time when Salvador Cabanas' shot deflected off a defender and over Tigres keeper Alfredo Talavera.

They extended the lead to 3-1 in the 59th minute when Robert de Pinho converted his own penalty after being bundled over by Talavera .