Mexican Primera Division, Clausura Round 4: Santos, Pumas, Cruz Azul Grab Wins While Tigres And Atlas Fall

About 80 minutes into the Mexican Primera matchup between Pumas de la UNAM and Monterrey, Osvaldo Martinez went crashing over the first set of ad boards surrounding the pitch before running into and smacking his face on the second level of ad boards. Martinez acted as if he was dead. Mysteriously, someone wearing a No. 10 Rayados shirt got up under his own power three minutes later. Two minutes after that, Zombie Osvaldo Martinez scored Monterrey’s second goal, bringing the Rayados back within one. It wasn’t enough, though, as Pumas took the victory 3-2 at full time.

The match was a wild one even before zombies got involved. Juan Carlos Cacho and “Chupete” Humberto Suazo scored back to back goals in the first half to make the score 1-1 before Martin Bravo added a stunner at the end of the second half to give Pumas a 2-1 lead.

Javier Cortes of Pumas De La UNAM is not human, and we are not worthy. The 21 year old Mexican forward has double the Pumas lead to two goals, making the score 3-1, with an absolutely insane goal against Monterrey. Andres Cantor lost his ish.

While Cortes did most of the work and applied the finish, some props have to be given to Guillermo Vazquez and David Cabrera. The latter is the substitute who provided Cortes with a great assist, while the former is the manager who made the decision to put Cabrera into the game for Luis Fuentes, the man who gifted Monterrey their goal with a silly foul.

Pumas de la UNAM scored a goal to go ahead on Monterrey in the 25th minute of their match, but the Rayados have struck right back to level the match at 1-1. Juan Carlos Cacho scored for Pumas, while “Chupete” Humberto Suazo netted a penalty kick for Monterrey.

The Pumas goal came on a counter-attack, with Israel Castro playing a great through ball down the left wing to Dante Lopez. Lopez beat two defenders to put a great cross across the box, which was tapped into the back of the net by Pumas.

Deciding that a 3-0 lead was not sufficient, Cruz Azul decided to go and add an insurance goal. Closing in on the end of the match, the Blue Machine went 4-0 up on Pachuca, and in the time between the goal and the final whistle, they didn’t look too interested in letting up.

This goal came by way of Cesar Villaluz, who was assisted by “Chaco” Cristian Gimenez. If you’re wondering: Yes, every player in this league named “Cristian” has a nickname. Chaco picked up the ball on the endline on the left side of the pitch, thanks to a poor clearance by a Pachuca defender. He passed it to Villaluz, who was unmarked. Villaluz took the time he had, setting himself up for an easy shot that he put into the back of the net. Sidenote, I was surprised to learn that Cesar Villaluz is no longer a teenager, and actually 22 years old. I feel like this happened yesterday.

If Pachuca had any chance of getting back into their match with Cruz Azul at 2-0, that chance has now evaporated. The Blue Machine has gone up 3-0, causing Elvis to leave the building while the fat lady was singing.

The third goal came courtesy of Alejandro Castro, who hit an absolute stunner. Miguel Calero had absolutely no chance to save his 25 yard left-footed shot, which looped over the outstretched arm of the Pachuca keeper before dipping and hitting the back of the net.

With Cruz Azul notching their second goal, it would be hard to think up a way back for Pachuca...if Pumas de la UNAM hadn’t come back from 2-0 down last week against the Blue Machine. Still, the hosts appear to be in some trouble after Julio Cesar Dominguez put the visitors up by two goals in the second half.

The goal came off of a free kick from about 25 yards out, taken by Emmanuel Villa. The Argentinian hit a low, hard drive at goal that was way too hot to handle for Pachuca goalkeeper Miguel Calero. As the ball bounced off of his hands, Dominguez pounced and put in the rebound.

Cruz Azul have put Pachuca on the back foot for most of the start of their Mexican Primera encounter, but for an extended period of time, failed to break down the goal. The Pachuca defense has made a plethora of errors, none of which the Blue Machine were able to capitalize on. They have finally scored, though, and they didn’t need a Pachuca error to find the back of the net.

Most of the credit for the goal should go to captain Gerardo Torrado, who played a fantastic ball into the path of Hugo Drougett. The former Monarcas Morelia man was cutting in from his left wing position, and Torrado played a ball that he could run on to in the center of the pitch. Drougett beat his man to it and slotted home from about 15 yards with his left foot, putting Cruz Azul up 1-0 after 40 minutes.

Obviously tired from their mid-week trip to Lima, Jaguares de Chiapas put up a fight, but succumbed to the talent and fresh legs of Santos Laguna at the end of their encounter. Jaguares pulled back a goal in the second half after falling 2-0 down, but couldn’t complete the comeback and dropped all three points.

“Chucho” Cristian Benitez and Darwin Quintero were the goal scorers for Santos, and while their finishes were fantastic, both were given open opportunities by a lackluster Jaguares defense. It’s not entirely clear whether their unwillingness to close down was terrible defending or a tactical decision, but if it was the latter, it backfired terribly. Both Benitez and Quintero were given acres of space on their goals, and they did not waste their opportunities.

Jaguares de Chiapas have looked a little dead in the second half of their Mexican Primera match against Santos Laguna, and it’s easy to understand why. Mid-week, they traveled to Lima to face Alianza Lima in an attempt to qualify for Copa Libertadores group stages, and they left it all on the line. It appeared that the only way they were going to be able to score on Santos was a set piece. Thankfully, they converted on one.

The set piece in question was a corner kick, taken by Jorge Rodriguez. The man who brought Jaguares back into the match with a goal was Omar Flores Serrano, who connected with a header to score for his team. It’s now 2-1 in favor of Santos, and we may have a game after all.

The second half has only been going on for two minutes, and yet Santos Laguna have already found their second goal of the game, going ahead 2-0 on Jaguares de Chiapas in Chiapas. Little Darwin Quintero was the scorer, and his shot was a scorcher.

Although, while Quintero’s shot had an insane amount of power on it, Jaguares certainly made it super easy on him. He ran about 20 yards with the ball, with the Jaguares defenders backing off. No one made any effort to close him down. Once he got to the edge of the penalty area, he unleashed a shot that gave Gerardo Daniel Ruiz no chance. It hit the back of the net so hard that it just bounced straight back out.

For a good 90 minutes, the local clasico between Estudiantes Tecos and Chivas Guadalajara was one of the worst matches of football I’ve ever seen. But don’t take my word for it!

Estudiantes Tecos and Chivas Guadalajara are not very good football teams. Not “playing a bad game.” No, they’re just bad football teams. I’ve been watching both of them closely for a few years now, but you don’t need to be me to know this. No, I’m pretty sure that anyone who watched this 45 minutes could conclude that these two teams are not just poor on the night, but just generally substandard for this division at playing football, period.

I know that i like to pick on these two teams a lot, but to be fair, it’s because both of them make it really easy. These are big teams. Tecos always find ways to avoid getting relegated, even when they suck. They’re really not that far removed from success. Chivas are an absolutely massive club, even if their recent policies have alienated most of their ticket buyers. Their fanbase is still huge and their best players still make a ton of money.