Mexican Primera Division, Apertura Round 15: Group Two Battle Intensifies

Neither 8 pm ET kickoff provided too much entertainment for the majority of the matches, but Santos and Chivas turned it on circa the 87th minute for an absolutely wild finish.

The Mexican Primera’s leading scorer Cristian Benitez added to his tally, putting Santos up after 87minutes of scoreless play. Juan Rodriguez sent in a ball from the left wing that was re-directed towards Benitez by Oribe Peralta. Benitez applied the finishing touch like he has 12 times prior this tournament, putting a brilliant header into the back of the net for his 13th goal of the Apertura.

Quaretaro have a surprise lead on Pumas while Cruz Azul are having trouble getting over their hangover after a big win over Monterrey in the early games in Mexico.

The goal came for Los Gallos Blancos in the 24th minute through a Sergio Blanco close-range header. Sergio Orteman hit the cross for Blanco from the left hand side and Quaretaro’s clinical finisher made no mistake about it, notching his eighth goal of the season. Since the goal, Pumas have pushed aggressively for the equalizer and created a number of shots, but no equalizer. Winger Jehu Chiapas has looked exceptionally dangerous.

This week’s round in the Mexican Primera Division doesn’t feature any true marquee matchups, but there is potential for plenty of upsets and results that have a serious effect on relegation and Liguilla battles.

The highlight of the round sees San Luis, the leaders of Group Two, traveling away to Toluca, who trail them by only one point. San Luis had their lead cut by fellow Group Two rivals Club America on Thursday, while Toluca played to a disappointing draw mid-week against Chivas de Guadalajara. Toluca certainly have the bigger name talents, but their aging players could have a tough time recovering from a mid-week fixture.