Mexican Primera Week 6, Saturday Scores: Chivas Lose Again, America Stumble

Unlike last season in the Mexican Primera, the relegation race continues to be extremely tight. Most of the teams that are fighting the drop were in action on Saturday, with only one of them doing themselves any favors. Elsewhere, Chivas Guadalajara kept themselves rooted to the bottom of the table with another bad performance while Club America dropped points in disappointing fashion.

Even though they’ve made two Liguilla appearances and a Copa Libertadores appearance over the last three tournaments, Jaguares Chiapas are still fighting the drop. They took a big step towards distancing themselves from the bottom on Saturday, with a 3-0 win over relegation rivals Queretaro. Jackson Martinez scored early, but Queretaro did well to keep themselves in the game into the second half.

The game changed in the 59th minute when Gallos Blancos midfielder Germán Alemanno was shown a straight red card. From then on, Jaguares were the better team and went on to score twice more. Martinez completed a brace and fellow Colombian striker Franco Arizala scored the other goal.

Six rounds in and this already looks like a throwaway tournament for Chivas. They’re winless and bottom of the table, and they don’t look better than that record. Monterrey weren’t at their best and didn’t bring on Humberto Suazo until the 61st minute. When he came on, he changed the game and set up Aldo de Nigris’ opening goal in the 70th minute. Angel Reyna scored the clincher six minutes later.

As the weeks go by, it looks more and more unlikely that Tecos will pull off a miracle to avoid the drop. On Saturday, they were picked apart by a man that they willingly traded to Pachuca, Mauro Cejas. The Argentinian No. 10, who is in absolutely ridiculous form this season, put up both a goal and an assist in the first half. To add insult to injury for Tecos, Rubens Sambueza was sent off in stoppage time.

Defending champions Tigres looked very much like the title holders on Saturday as they completely outplayed San Luis, who did not look like the home side. Israel Jimenez scored in the first half, and the game felt over at that point. Lucas Lobos would add a second goal in the second half. The win took Tigres top of the table.

Though Chivas fans have to be upset with their team, at least they can take a little bit of comfort from the fact that Club America haven’t figured out what ails them quite yet. The Super Eagles look better this season than last, but there’s little excuse for not getting all three points against Atlas. Juan Carlos Chávez’s conservative style worked well on Saturday, containing the America attack. Both goals were scored by defenders following set plays; Hugo Rodriguez scored for Atlas and Paul Aguilar scored America’s equalizer.

Ivan Alonso’s signing looked like a coup for Toluca when it happened, but no one could have imagined that he would be this dominant. After ending the Apertura as the tournament’s leading scorer, he’s continued his tear in the Clausura. He was the scorer of both goals for Toluca, taking him to seven in the Clausura. Across both tournaments, he has 18 goals in 23 starts. Atlante had gotten off to a solid start in the Clausura, and will be disappointed with a home loss.