Nicolas Pavlovich drew a penalty kick in the 90th minute and teammate Mariano Trujillo converted the spot kick in Morelia's 2-1 win on Saturday. Photo by Luis Bueno/LASoccerNews.com
CHIVAS 4, NECAXA 2
Omar Bravo had a hat trick as Chivas overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit in Estadio Victoria.
Bravo scored goals in the 53rd, 55th and 82nd minutes as Chivas moved into a first-place tie with Atlas atop Group 1 and atop the overall league table.
Ramon Morales scored the game-winning goal on a blistering 25-yard bomb in the 74th minute.
Necaxa: Ivan Vazquez; Mario Perez, Joaquin Beltran, Pablo Quatrocchi (Jaime Ruiz, 62), Luis Omar Hernandez; Gerardo Galindo, Horacio Cervantes, Juan Manuel Salguiero (Emmanuel Sanchez, 25), Everaldo Barbosa; Alfredo Moreno, Kleber Boas.
Chivas: Luis Ernesto Michel; Diego Martinez, Hector Reynoso, Francisco Javier Rodriguez; Jonny Magallon, Ramon Morales, Edgar Mejia, Gonzalo Pineda (Arturo Javier Ledesma, 85), Sergio Santana (Adolfo Bautista, 46); Alberto Medina (Manuel Sol, 89), Omar Bravo.
Toluca nearly finished the match with its seventh draw in seven games but instead lost its first game of the season when Mariano Trujillo converted a late penalty kick to give the hosts the victory.
Toluca defender Emilio Hassan Viades tripped Morelia’s Nicolas Pavlovich inside the penalty area in second-half stoppage time. Viades, who was called in for Mexico’s game Wednesday against Venezuela, was sent off for his challenge from behind.
Morelia: Moises Munoz; Omar Trujillo, Hugo Sanchez, Andres Orozco, Roberto Vargas (Walter Montillo, 84); Wilson Tiago Mathias, Mariano Trujillo, Ignacio Carrasco, Fernando Arce; Alejandro Leyva (Nicolas Pavlovich, 64), Rafael Marquez (Edgar Solano, 78).
Toluca: Hernan Cristante; Sergio Amaury Ponce (Carlos Esquivel, 55), Miguel Almazan, Paulo Da Silva, Emilio Hassan Viades; Carlos Morales (Moises Velasco, 71), Erick Espinoza (Diego De la Torre, 46), Javier Rosada, Zinha; Erwin Avalos, Vicente Sanchez.
Atlas struggled to score and could not put away lowly Atlante in Estadio Jalisco.
Atlante surprised Atlas with an early goal and forced the hosts to play from behind for the rest of the first half. Andres Olivera equalized in the 56th minute when he ripped a long-range shot past Atlante goalkeeper Federico Vilar. However. Atlas goalkeeper Mario Rodriguez was sent off moments earlier and Atlas was reduced to 10 men.
Atlas had multiple shots late in the match but Vilar stood firm in Atlante’s nets.
Atlas: Mario Rodriguez; Carlos Balcazar, Juan Pablo Santiago, Luis Robles, Denis Caniza; Andres Guardado, Cesar Gradito (Hugo Ayala, 60), Juan Carlos Medina, Daniel Osorno (Antonio Perez, 49); Andres Olivera, Jair Garcia (Gregorio Torres, 67).
Atlante: Federico Vilar; Daniel Alcantar, David Oteo, Javier Munoz, Clemente Olvalle; Jose Joel Gonzalez, Hugo Garcia, Arturo Munoz, Cristian Canio (Adalberto Robles, 46); Franco Mendoza (Jose Maria Cardenas, 13 (Andres Ugalde 82)), Gustavo Biscayzacu.
Goals
Atlante – Mendoza 7
Atlas – Olivera 56
TIGRES 1, VERACRUZ 0
Francisco “Kikin” Fonseca knocked in a rebound midway through the first half as Tigres won at home.
Veracruz lost its first game under coach Emilio Gallegos after changing coaches two weeks ago.
Tigres: Cirilo Saucedo; Omar Briceno, Jesus Roberto Chavez (Juan Montano, 73), Julio Cesar Caceres, Javier Saavedra; Javier Restrepo, Jesus Palacios, Walter Gaitan, Francisco Fonseca (Edgar Garcia, 89); Emmanuel Cerda, Aldo De Nigris (Juan Pablo Garcia, 77).
Veracruz: Jorge Bernal; Mario Rosales, Edgar Zapata, Mauricio Victorino, Oscar Razo; Lucas Ayala, Omar Rivera (Juan Augusto Gomez, 62), Alonso Sandoval, Cesareo Victorino (Miguel Hernandez, 78); Hector Raul Mancilla (Luis Antonio Martinez, 71), Sebastian Gonzalez.
Goals
Tigres – Fonseca 27
SAN LUIS 1, JAGUARES 0
Victor Manuel Vucetich’s positive impact lasted exactly one game as Jaguares returned to their losing ways.
Braulio Luna scored the game’s only goal in the first minute of the second half as San Luis won at home.
Jaguares upset Morelia week ago in Vucetich’s first game in charge of Jaguares. Vucetich had replaced the deposed Eduardo De la Torre.
San Luis: Adrian Martinez; Israel Martinez, Michael Orozco, Carlos Alberto Sanchez, Alvaro Ortiz (Sebastiao Pereira, 46); Leonel Olmedo, Octavio Valdez, Irenio Soares, Braulio Luna; Marcelo Guerrero (Omar Dominguez, 90), Sebastian Abreu (Rodolfo Salinas, 78).
Jaguares: Omar Ortiz; Jose de Jesus Gutierrez (Alejandro Vela, 57), Johnnie Garcia, Melvin Brown, Heriberto Ramon Morales; Felipe Ayala, Walter Fretes, Alejandro Corona, Oscar Emilio Rojas; Juan de Dios Hernandez (Santiago Salcedo, 70), Javier Campora (Ulises Mendevil, 70).
Goals
San Luis – Luna 46
QUERETARO 2, MONTERREY 1
Finally, a goal. Queretaro scored two, in fact, and beat visiting Monterrey.
Queretaro entered the match with no goals in its first six games. Still, its defense had accounted for five shutouts. Now, Queretaro is suddenly within sight of playoff contention.
Queretaro’s Mateo Figoli scored his team’s first goal of the Clausura 2007 season in the eighth minute when he knocked in a header past Monterrey’s Jonathan Orozco.
Carlos Ochao leveled the game in the 37th minute on his own header but Mauro Nestor Gerk scored early in the second half and Queretaro’s defense made the lead stand.
Queretaro: Miguel Becerra; Fernando Lopez, Margarito Gonzalez, Joel Sanchez, Juan Jose De la Cruz, Jorge Almiron; Johan Rodriguez, Marcos Antonio Garcia (Alvaro Francisco Najera, 62), Mateo Figoli; Arturo Alvarado (Edgar Ivan Solis, 77), Mauro Nestor Gerk (Roberto Nurse, 67).
Monterrey: Jonathan Orozco; Gerardo Flores, Felipe Baloy, Diego Ordaz (Jesus Zavala, 75); Pierre Ibarra, Walter Erviti, Luis Perez, Jesus Arellano, Leandro Gracian (Hugo Rodallega, 60); Rolando Zarate, Carlos Ochoa.
