Mexican Primera, Apertura Round 17: Tigres Stumble, Jaguares Recover To Clinch

A wild Saturday in the Mexican Primera cleared up the Liguilla picture a little bit, but Tigres opened up the door for Pumas to crash the party on Sunday. Seven spots are set with one yet to be decided, but it should have been all locked up before the Sunday games.

Everything looked like it was going according to plan for Tigres in the first half of their match against Atlas. Lucas Lobos, who has had a spectacular season, opened the scoring for the visitors. In the 15th minute, Damian Alvarez floated a cross to him in the center of the penalty area and Lobos rose up and headed it past the keeper. Not too much later, in the 30th minute, Lobos sent a through ball to another man who is having a great year, Itamar Batista, and he finished coolly. Tigres were up 2-0, seemingly in control of their Liguilla destiny. Then, they imploded.

The first signs of trouble came in the 38th minute. Tigres gave away a penalty thanks to a silly foul by Hugo Ayala. The referee didn’t hesitate for a moment to point to the spot, since that’s generally the punishment for kicking someone in your own penalty area. Alfredo Moreno stepped up and converted the spot kick, bringing back a goal for Atlas. The teams would go into halftime with Tigres leading 2-1, probably unaware of what would transpire in the second half.

Just like Tigres gifted Atlas their first goal, they would gift Atlas the equalizer. Once again, a Tigres foul in the box would force the referee to point to the penalty spot. This time, the offender would be Antonio Sancho. Alfredo Moreno stepped up again, and he converted again. After 63 minutes, Atlas were level.

Tigres should have been able to find a winner against 11 man Atlas, but the hosts made their task a little easier when Enrique Vera was sent off in the 70th minute. But despite playing against 10 men for 20 minutes, Tigres could not find their winner. Tigres now sit in 8th place, two points ahead of Pumas. Their fate now lies outside of their hands.

In Queretaro, a couple of Uruguayan stars stole the show. Both teams looked fairly content with a draw throughout the match, but Sergio Orteman changed the plot in the 78th minute when he scored a spectacular goal for Queretaro. After a cross into the box and a contest for the ball, the ball bounced out of the box towards an unmarked Orteman. From 25 yards away, he hit a fantastic shot to the upper 90 at the far post, putting his team up 1-0.

It didn’t take long for Jaguares to take back a point, though, as Jorge Rodriguez equalized in the 80th. A similar sequence saw a ball bounce out to him just outside of the area, but he chose a different kind of shot, placing his effort low to the far post. Either way, it had a similar effect, beating the keeper and hitting the back of the net. His goal tied the match at 1-1, which is how it would end.

Because of their result, Jaguares are now locked into the sixth seed in Liguilla. In the first round, they will face third seed Club America, who will win Group Two no matter what happens in their game today.

Across the rest of Mexico, Cruz Azul defeated San Luis 1-0 thanks to a spectacular 88th minute goal from Horacio Cervantes, a 28 yard laser beam into the upper 90 at the far post. Chivas defeated Monterrey 3-2 in a wild match that saw Monterrey go up 2-0 in the first half, concede three in the second, and get three players sent off. Santos defeated Tecos 1-0 on a 10th minute goal by Daniel Ludueña, with Santos having a man sent off in the 23rd minute.

The big game between Club America and Pumas de la U.N.A.M. takes place at 5:30 pm ET and can be seen on Telefutura in the United States.