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All eyes on América and Chivas as knockout round now set

By Thomas Buckley

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - SEPTEMBER 30: Oribe Peralta (L) of America and Juan Basulto (R) of Chivas fight for the ball during the 11th round match between America and Chivas as part of the Torneo Apertura 2018 Liga MX at Azteca Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Jam Media/Getty Images)
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - SEPTEMBER 30: Oribe Peralta (L) of America and Juan Basulto (R) of Chivas fight for the ball during the 11th round match between America and Chivas as part of the Torneo Apertura 2018 Liga MX at Azteca Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Jam Media/Getty Images) /
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Six Ascenso MX clubs qualified for the Round of 16 in this season’s Copa MX, with the promise of a Super Clásico in the quarterfinals.

Ascenso MX teams Juárez, Dorados and Oaxaca won their groups, leading six second-division teams into the Copa MX knockout round as group play ended Wednesday with a few surprises.

League form has little to do with Cup performance since group draws and indifferent attitudes of some Liga MX clubs makes predictions difficult.

Morelia – in 16th place in Liga MX after 7 weeks – earned the top seed for the Round of 16, followed by the Juárez Bravos who find themselves 14th in the 15-team Ascenso MX. The Bravos were the Apertura 2018 regular season champs and knocked América out of the Cup last season, but are off to a slow start this season.

The Pumas earned the No. 3 seed with a 2-1 win over the Leones Negros Wednesday night. They are followed by América, the Chivas and Diego Maradona’s Dorados of Sinaloa (in last place in Ascenso MX.

The No. 7 seed is Veracruz (currently in 17th place in Liga MX) and No. 8 is Tijuana.

The rest of the tournament is played via single elimination, with the higher seed hosting the match.

The 9-16 seeds are as follows: Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Atlas, Atlético San Luis, Pachuca, Zacatepec, León and Puebla.

The knockout round begins next week and will feature these match-ups:

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Puebla at Morelia

León at Juárez

Zacatepec at UNAM

Pachuca at América

Atlético San Luis at Guadalajara

Atlas at Dorados of Sinaloa

Zacatecas at Veracruz

Oaxaca at Tijuana

If América and Guadalajara win their respective matches, we will have a Super Clásico in the quarterfinals in mid-March.

Pumas 2, Leones Negros 1

The Pumas got a late goal to stretch their winning streak to three and their unbeaten streak to five.

Just 5 minutes in, Andrés Iniestra scored his first-ever goal for UNAM with a 30-meter blast that sailed just under the crossbar to the goalie’s right. Iniestra joined the Pumas before last season and has played 19 games for the club. He has earned a starting spot as defensive midfielder, proving to be a reliable force in front of the back line and an above average passer who can help move the ball out of the defensive half.

The Pumas acquired the 22-year-old from second division Mérida where – ironically enough – he was coached by current Pumas coach Bruno Marioni.

Leones Negros goalie Jorge Salim Hernández made three wonderful saves in quick succession just before the half-hour mark to keep his team in the game.

The visiting Leones Negros tied the score in injury time when Carlos Alberto Baltazar was given complete freedom to dribble 35 meters right to the top of the box before ripping a left-footer that rolled into the net past the out-stretched fingertips of keeper Miguel Angel Fraga.

Less than a minute later, Juan Iturbe nailed the winner for Pumas. Pushing into the top edge of the box just right of goal, Iturbe made a quick feint right, then leaned back left and blasted a shot inside the near post.

The Pumas would have finished top in Group 9 with a tie, but the win sends them higher up in the seedings thanks to their 9 points from 4 matches. Atlas finished second in the group and also qualified for the Round of 16.

Dorados 1, Querétaro 1

In Culiacán, Sinaloa, the host Dorados settled for a tie against struggling Querétaro to claim the top spot in Group 3.

Amaury Escoto scored in minute 24, while Gallos Blancos midfielder Daniel Lajud equalized 12 minutes later.

Diego Maradona’s Dorados finished the group stage with 7 points (2-1-1), slipping past the Mineros of Zacatecas (6 points 2-0-2) as both teams move on to the knockout round. So both Ascenso MX clubs advanced out of this group.

If Querétaro had managed to win, there would have been a 3-way tie at 6 points and a tiebreaker formula would have been required to determine the teams to advance.

Querétaro and Sinaloa met in the Round of 16 during last season’s Copa with the Gallos Blancos moving on to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win, so the Dorados earned a measure of revenge by knocking Querétaro out of the tournament.

Elsewhere, the Chivas tied the Cafetaleros in Chiapas. A win would have lifted Guadalajara into the No. 2 seed. In Ciudad Juárez, the Bravos drew 1-1 with Puebla.

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