February 19, 2010 MEXICAN LEAGUE CLAUSURA Match Day 6 roundup
ATLANTE 2, JAGUARES 0
Atlante posted their first win of the Bicentenario on Wednesday, 2-0 over Jaguares at Estadio Andres Quintana Roo.
Christian Bermudez sealed the win with a goal in the 14th minute. Arturo Munoz padded the margin in the 66th. The Atlante defense held fast through a tense final seven minutes of play, after an 83rd-minute red card to Daniel Arreola left Jaguares with a man advantage.
The result lifts Atlante (1-2-3) out of the Group 3 cellar, and leaves Jaguares (0-2-4) as one of only two teams without a victory in the Clausura.
CRUZ AZUL 1, MORELIA 0
Cesar Villaluz scored in stoppage time to give offensively-challenged Cruz Azul (2-1-3) their second win of the season, 1-0 over Morelia Wednesday at Estadio Azul.
The goal was only the second in six games for the host team, and snapped a four-game winless streak. The Monarcos, who could have taken over first place in Group 2 with a win, instead remain tied for second with Pachuca at 12 points (4-0-2).
CHIVAS 1, PACHUCA 0
Chivas de Guadalajara’s charmed season continued with Wednesday’s 1-0 road win over Pachuca at Estadio Hidalgo.
The victory, Chivas’s sixth straight, set a new league record for consecutive victories to start a season.
With Javier Hernandez, who had scored in each of the previous five games, sidelined by injury, Xavi Baez did the scoring honors, catching goalkeeper Miguel Calero off his line with a 45-yard shot in the 62nd minute.
Chivas leads the league at 6-0-0, while Pachuca is tied for second place in Group 2 at 4-0-2.
MONTERREY 4, ESTUDIANTES 3
Substitute Abraham Dario Carreno scored twice as Monterrey edged Estudiantes 4-3 Wednesday at Estadio 3 de Marzo.
Aldo de Nigris netted the game-winner in the 69th minute. Carreno, who entered the match in the 29th minute after Nery Cardozo was kicked in the face, knotted the score 2-2 in the 56th minute and gave the Rayados a 3-2 lead in the 63rd. All three goals were shorthanded, after Luis Ernesto Perez collected his second yellow card and was ejected in the 41st.
Monterrey also benefited from a 25th-minute own goal by Tecos’ Diego Octavio Jimenez.
After staking Monterrey (4-1-1) to the early 1-0 lead, Estudiantes (1-1-4) battled back with unanswered goals by Mauro Cejas (33rd minute) and Rodrigo Ruiz (51st). Roberto Carlos Gutierrez closed out the scoring in the 80th.
PUEBLA 1, SAN LUIS 0
Herculez Gomes scored in the 87th minute to lift Puebla over San Luis Wednesday at Estadio Cuauhtemoc.
San Luis (1-1-4) squandered their best opportunity to take at least one point away from the match, when Braulio Luna failed to convert a penalty kick in the 56th minute.
QUERETARO 3, PUMAS 2
Queretaro rallied twice to tie, then snatched a 3-2 win over Pumas on an 86th-minute penalty kick by Margarito Gonzalez Wednesday at Estadio La Corregidora.
Pumas (1-4-1) came tantalizingly close to their second win of the season, taking an early 1-0 lead on Martin Bravo’s 23rd-minute strike, and going up 2-1 when Israel Castro scored in the 56th. Queretaro (4-1-1) rose to both challenges, however. Julio Cesar Laffatigue tied the score 1-1 in the 41st minute, and Emilio Lopez threw the game into a 2-2 deadlock in the 62nd.
Gonzalez went to the spot after a questionable goalline handball call on Pumas defender Efrain Velarde.
ATLAS 7, INDIOS 1
Miguel Angel Zepeda led the way with a hat trick as Atlas (4-0-2) manhandled Group 1 doormats Indios (0-2-4) 7-1 Wednesday at Estadio Jalisco.
Zepeda opened the scoring seconds after kickoff, and doubled Atlas’ lead in the 14th. Edgar Pacheco put Indios in a 3-0 hold in the 25th, two minutes before Jair Garcia connected to briefly lift the visitors’ hopes.
Gonzalo Vargas (36th minute) and Dario Bottinelli (43rd) piled on for Atlas before halftime, Zepeda made the score 6-1 in the 57th, and Andres Chitiva completed the rout in the 85th.
TOLUCA 3, AMERICA 1
Toluca roared to their first win of the season onWednesday, knocking off favored Club America 3-1 at Estadio Nemesio Diez.
The home team held a modest 1-0 lead at halftime, on a goal by Antonio Naelson in the 15th minute, then put things away with two goals in an eight-minute span of the second stanza. Hector Mancilla netted the game-winner in the 51st minute, and Manuel de la Torre added the insurance tally in the 59th.
Daniel Montenegro spoiled netminder Alfredo Talavero’s shutout bid in the 70th minute.
The win leaves Toluca fourth in Group 1 with six points (1-3-2). America are fourth in Group 2 at 3-0-3 (9 pts).
SANTOS LAGUNA 2, TIGRES 1
Santos Laguna (4-1-1) staked Group 3 rivals Tigres (1-2-3) to an early lead, then stormed back for a 2-1 victory Thursday at Estadio Universitario.
Jonathan Lacerda snapped a 1-1 deadlock with the game-winning goal in the 50th minute.
Jose David Toledo, who will sit out UANL’s next match after picking up a red card in the 90th minute, gave Tigres a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Daniel Laduena put Santos back in the game with a spectacular bicycle kick eight minutes later, then served up the free kick that allowed Lacerda to seal the win.
