Pachuca 3-2 Morelia

Chiapas 2-0 Toluca

Leon 1-2 Guadalajara

America 2-0 Santos Laguna

UANL Tigres 2-0 Cruz Azul

Atlas 0-0 Queretaro

Puebla 2-3 Monterrey

Pumas UNAM 0-1 San Luis Potosi

Atlante 1-2 Tijuana

 

Tijuana the Top Dogs

Tijuana took over at the top of the Apertura this week with victory over Atlante in the final game of the weekend as Toluca suffered their first defeat away at Chiapas. America beat champions Santos Laguna, and Monterrey climbed into fifth as they won at Puebla. Club Leon remain third despite losing at home to Guadalajara whilst UANL Tigres beat Cruz Azul at Estadio Universitaro.

 

Two quick-fire goals just after half time were enough to take Tijuana to the top of Liga MX at the end of the weekend,  Duvier Riascos and then Alfredo Moreno netting for the visitors to give them all three points at Atlante. First, Riascos curled home from close range, and after Riascos had then hit the post, Moreno followed up to tap into an empty net. Esteban Paredes pulled one back for Atlante with two minutes remaining but it was too late to get them back into the game.

 

Toluca came into the weekend still undefeated, however they came undone at Chiapas as Jorge Rodriguez’s double gave the hosts all three points. After beating his man for pace, Rodriguez curled into the top left hand corner from just inside the box for his first, and with just 10 minutes remaining a howler from goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera allowed the Uruguayan to roll the ball into an empty net to secure the victory.

 

Second half goals from Raul Jimenez and Christian Benitez meant America beat champions Santos Laguna at Estadio Azteca. Both sides spurned chances in the first half before Jimenez broke the deadlock just after half time. His bundled effort was ruled to have crossed the line before Ecuadorian international Benitez’s close range header wrapped up the points on 74 minutes.

 

Angel Reyna’s dramatic winner stole the points for Monterrey as their charge up the Apertura continued. Neri Cardozo’s cross was converted by Cesar Delgado to open the scoring, and the visitors doubled their lead on the stroke of half time as Aldo De Nigris saw his header beat Victor Hernandez. Diego De Buen curled a shot into the bottom corner to spark a comeback and good build up on 70 minutes saw the ball fall to Isaac Romo who tapped home to level the score line. However just three minutes later, Reyna beat the offside trap and steadied himself before firing home from 18 yards to send the travelling fans wild.

 

League newcomers Club Leon fell to a late Guadalajara double, even though the away side had Xavier Baez dismissed for a high challenge in the first half. Jose Vazquez had given the promoted side the lead from the spot after Juan Carlos Rojas was fouled. But after Jorge Enriquez headed home from a corner, Rafael Marquez hit a stunning free kick into the top corner as the game ticked into the eighth minute of added time in what was the visitors’ second away win of the season.

 

In the opening game of the weekend, Pachuca and Morelia played out a cracker in Hidalgo. Felix Borja’s early double put Hugo Sanchez’s men into a commanding position after just 25 minutes, only for Leobardo Lopez to divert the ball past Rodolfo Costa into his own net to make it 2-1. Francisco Torres hit a speculative touchline free kick which deceived everybody and found the far corner just before the hour, and whilst Carlos Ochoa narrowed the advantage with a neat volley 15 minutes from time it was not enough to save Morelia from defeat.

 

UANL Tigres had Luis Garcia to thank for three points, as a goal in each half gave them victory over Cruz Azul. Tigres captain Lucas Lobos spurned the chance to give his side the lead after just six minutes, as Jose de Jesus Corona saved his tame spot kick. However the breakthrough came right before the break, with Garcia reacting fastest to tap home after Corona had spilt. And on the hour the Spanish forward found Jorge Torres on the left, he pulled his cross back into the path of Garcia who poked home to wrap up the points.

 

Pumas UNAM hosted San Luis Potosi as two sides in the bottom half went head to head. However it was the away side who recorded their first win of the season, as Facundo Pereyra’s saw his effort kept out by Odin Patino, only for Luis Angel Mendoza to react quickest and finish through the legs of the Mexican keeper.

 

Atlas made most of the running at a sodden Estadio Jalisco but they failed to break the deadlock against a stubborn Queretaro side. The home side had the majority of the chances, but the best opening fell to Carlos Bueno who over ran the ball and stabbed wide of an empty goal under pressure from Facundo Erpen. Gregorio Torres was shown a red card late on, but it made no difference to the score line and the points were shared.

 

PAUL ABRAHAMS

@Abes89