November 17, 2009 MEXICAN LEAGUE APERTURA Week 17 Roundup
ATLAS 3, JAGUARES 2
A long, disappointing Apertura season for Jaguares fans came to an end on Saturday, as the cats fell to Atlas 3-2 and closed out the season without a single win on their home turf at Estadio Victor Manuel Reyna.
Oribe Peralta raised the home team’s hopes in the seventh minute, with a goal that kept Jaguares (5-4-8) in the lead through halftime. Hebert Efrain Alferez put Atlas (5-3-9) in the driver’s seat after the intermission, however, leveling the score in the 55th minute and setting up Daniel Osorno to give the visitors a 2-1 lead in the 62nd.
Yasser Corona equalized for Jaguares in the 67th, but Osorno connected again in the 77th to give Atlas the win.
Both teams finished the season far out of Liguilla contention. Atlas was fourth in Group 1 (15th overall) with 15 points, while Jaguares landed at the bottom of Group 2 and 19th in the overall standings with 13 points.
MONTERREY 1, MORELIA 1
Aldo di Nigris and Elias Hernan Hernandez traded goals Saturday as Monterrey and Morelia battled to a 1-1 draw at Estadio Tecnologico.
Both teams move on to the Liguilla, Monarcos (10-3-4) in third place with 33 points and Monterrey two spots behind with 30 points (9-3-5). However, the result was a disappointment for Morelia, who started the weekend on top of the standings.
Di Nigris opened the scoring on a ninth-minute breakaway, and Monterrey continued to control play until the 34th, when Miguel Sabah started a counterattack and found Hernandez in the box for the 1-1 equalizer.
TOLUCA 2, PUEBLA 0
Raul Nava’s goals in the 15th and 26th minutes were all the offense Toluca (11-2-4, 35 pts) needed to defeat Puebla 2-0 and, for the second straight year, sew up the top seed in the Liguilla Saturday at Estadio Cuauhtemoc.
The day wasn’t a total loss for Puebla, (6-8-3, 26) however, who finished the season seventh in the overall standings and will advance to the playoffs despite a season-ending two-game losing streak.
QUERETARO 4, SAN LUIS 0
Queretaro (5-3-9) might not have qualified for the Liguilla, but they closed out the Apertura with a face-saving 4-0 victory over San Luis (5-6-6) Saturday at Estadio La Corregidora.
Isaac Romo opened the scoring at the half-hour mark. Five minutes later, defender Armando Leonel Olmedo collected his second yellow card of the match and was sent off, leaving San Luis shorthanded for the rest of the match. Queretaro took full advantage starting in the first minute of the second half, with a goal by Mauro Adrian Vila. Jose Aceves (81st) and Carlos Pinto (86th) completed the rout as the clock wound down.
Despite the lopsided result, and their 11th-place finish in the overall standings, San Luis (21 pts) squeaked into the Liguilla as Group 1 runners-up.
CRUZ AZUL 1, CHIVAS de GUADALAJARA 0
Cruz Azul (11-0-6) closed Chivas de Guadalajara’s last door to the postseason on Saturday at Estadio Jalisco, eking out a 1-0 win on Emanuel Villa’s 89th-minute shorthanded goal.
Cruz Azul, who finished the Apertura second only to Toluca in the overall standings with 33 points, played the last nine minutes of Saturday’s match shorthanded after a straight red card to Edgar Ivan Solis in the 81st minute.
Chivas, who now have missed the playoffs for three the past three seasons, had several good looks at goal, most of them by Omar Bravo, but could not convert and finished third in Group 1 with 19 points (5-4-8).
ATLANTE 0, UAG 0
Neither Atlante nor Estudiantes had anything at stake in Saturday’s Apertura finale, and it showed, as the teams slouched to a scoreless draw at Estadio Andres Quintana Roo.
Atlante finished third in Group 3 and ninth in the overall standings with 23 points (7-2-8). Tigres was two spots behind in the group with 20 points (5-5-7).
PACHUCA 1, TIGRES 1
Pachuca (7-3-7) needed a win over Tigres (5-7-5) Saturday in order to have a chance at the playoffs, and they didn’t get it, settling for a 1-1 draw at Estadio Hidalgo.
Neither team was at their best, and both finished with more red cards than goals. Pachuca’s Gregorio Torres and Tigres’ Lucas Ayala were both sent off after a 54th-minute altercation. Tigres went down to nine men when Jesus Antonio Molina was sent off in the 90th minute, and Pachuca followed suit after Christian Gimenez was sent off in the third minute of stoppage time.
Both goals came late, starting with Ulises Mendivil’s 82nd-minute strike for the Tuzos. Lucas Armando Lobos responded for Tigres in the 89th.
Pachuca finished fifth in Group 2 and eighth in the overall standings with 24 points. Tigres end the Apertura fourth in Group 3 and 10th overall with 22 points.
PUMAS 1, INDIOS 1
The two worst teams in the Apertura field, Pumas (4-5-8) and Indios (0-6-11), played to a meaningless 1-1 draw Sunday at Estadio Olimpico Universitario.
Indios went winless for the entire 17-round tournament, but got a goal from Hector Gimenez in the 38th minute to salvage the one-point result. Marco Palacios scored Pumas’ final goal of a forgettable season in the 42nd minute.
Pumas finish the tournament at the bottom of Group 3, with their overall ranking matching their total points at 17. Indios managed only six points all season, finishing sixth in Group 1 and 18th overall.
SANTOS LAGUNA 1, AMERICA 1
Carlos Ochoa scored in the second minute of stoppage time to pull Santos Laguna (7-6-4) into a season-ending 1-1 tie with visiting Club America (8-6-3) Sunday at Estadio Corona.
Ochoa’s tally countered a 23rd minute strike by Salvador Cabanas.
America finish second in Group 2 and fourth in the overall standings with 30 points. Santos were second in Group 3, and sixth overall, with 27 points. Both had already qualified for the Liguilla.
