Liga MX Review: Azul Gets Revenge for Final Defeat Against Club América

The latest round of fixtures were the final to take place for two weeks as players head off to represent their respective international teams. Find out which teams went into the break on a high and which will be wanting to lay low.

Friday 30th August 2024

Atlético de San Luís 2 vs 1 Atlas
Mazatlán 1 vs 1 Puebla
Tijuana 2 vs 1 León

The first game of the weekend saw Atlas suffer a first league defeat of the season whilst San Luís were able to leapfrog them in the table. Domenec Torrent's side raced into a 2-0 lead through Vitinho and Sebastian Lamonge with Jose Lozano giving the visitors a lifeline in the 70th minute. However, it was not enough as San Luís managed to bounce back from last weeks narrow loss to Toluca.

Mazatlán opened the scoring within the first five minutes through Luís Sanchez but were pegged back 30 minutes later when Diego De Buen levelled the scoreline for Puebla. Despite getting back into the game, Puebla would need to fight for the point when Sebastian Olmedo was handed a second yellow card before the halftime whistle. The Sinaloa club fought for a winner in the second half but Puebla showed the defensive class that was displayed in the capital last week as they beat Club América 1-0 to avoid defeat once again.

In the final game of the night, Los Xolos and León competed for much needed three points at opposing ends of the table. The home side started as expected, capitalising on a Luciano Cabral straight red card as Christian Rivera scored for the second consecutive game. 10-man León managed to surprise all odds when Ivan Moreno equalled the scoring before the half time mark. In the second half, the deciding moment came when 15-year-old Gilberto Mora scored his first goal in professional football, finding himself in the box, the ball fell to his feet as he smashed home what would be the winner. The three points means that Tijuana find themselves in 4th place, only two points off of league leaders Cruz Azul.

Saturday 31st August 2024

Pachuca 1 vs 1 Querétaro
Chivas 5 vs 0 FC Juárez
Monterrey 1 vs 2 Toluca
Cruz Azul 4 vs 1 Club América

Saturday night affairs began with Querétaro picking up its first points of the season. After 6 straight losses, they managed to pick up a point at the Estadio Hidalgo, but believe they could have gotten more. Ayrton Preciado scored just their fourth goal of the season, a record only worsened by their weekend opponents, Pachuca who have hit the back of the net of four occasions this season. With the lead, Los Gallos were reduced to 10 men in the second half as hero turned to villan for Preciado to receive his second yellow card of the game. Ten minutes later and Pachuca had a golden opportunity denied when Borja Baston missed from the spot kick. Chasing an equaliser, they would eventually break through to ruin all hopes of a Querétaro win when Sergio Aguayo scored his first goal of the seaosn in the 97th minute to steal a point for the home side in Hidalgo.

Following an edgy, tight game as something of the complete opposite. A dominant performance as El Rebaño eased to three points at the expense of a Juárez side that remains winless. Chivas went into the break with a 4-0 lead as 21-year-old Armando González scored his third goal in five games in the opening two minutes. The first-half control would be complete when Fernando Beltran, Roberto Alvarez and Alan Mozo all added their names to the scoresheet. Carlos Salcedo became the fourth player of the weekend to see red when things went from bad to worse for the home side but there was still time for Jonathan Padilla to add his name to the list of scorers in added time of the second half.

A battle at the top of the store was next as Los Rayados welcomed a Toluca side that had not lost a single game this season. That run looked set to continue when Jesús Gallardo opened the scoring for the visitors but Monterrey would make it 1-1 within the first 10 minutes of the second half through a Brandon Vazquez penalty. In the final moments of the game, Toluca would steal all three points as Isaias Violante scored his first goal of the season whilst coming of the bench. The result means that they climb above Monterrey in the league and into 3rd.

The final game of the night was the one on everybody's lips - Cruz Azul vs Club América. The two faced off in the 2024 Liga MX Clausura final as Las Águilas lifted their 15th Liga MX title in front of their capital city counterparts. Despite a poor start to the season for América, they took the lead in this rematch as Brian Rodriguez silenced the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes. However, the bragging rights did not last long as La Máquina scored twice before the half-time whistle through Georgios Giakoumakis, with a tidy header to complete an excellent solo run down the left from Carlos Rotondi and a quick-fire second goal from Angel Sepúlveda. Azul completed their revenge in the second half as Alexis Gutiérrez and Lorenzo Faravelli made it a night to remember for the 10-time Liga MX champions, maintaining their spot at the top of the league.

Sunday 1st September 2024

Pumas 1 vs 3 Tigres
Santos Laguna 3 vs 2 Necaxa

Pumas suffered a second successive loss after a 2-1 defeat to Atlas last week. Rogelio Funes Mori gave them an early lead after Fernando Tapía was unable to clear his lines. Jonathan Herrera later smashed his penalty down the middle to bring UANL back into the game but the show stopper came a few minutes later as Fernando Gorríaran sent a rocket towards the top corner from 25 yards out. Left stunned, Pumas had no reply as Herrera tapped home his second of the game when the home side were unable to clear their lines from a Tigres corner.

The final game of the weekend provided the most drama of the matchday. Necaxa looked home and dry after the hour mark when Jose Paradela and Rogelio Cortez gave them a clear 2-0 lead away from home. However, Santos fought back in the final 15 minutes, starting with a Franco Fagungez strike to begin the comeback. Six minutes later substitute Santiago Muñoz tied the game. Still, the home supporters were left stunned in the 98th minute when 18-year-old Tahiel Jiménez scored his first-ever professional goal to win complete an epic comeback.

How the standings look after this weekend: