GUADALAJARA, Mexico – José Francisco Torres couldn’t have planned a better return from the broken foot that sidelined him for much of last season. “Gringo” went 90 minutes for the fifth consecutive game on Sunday and helped Pachuca rally from three goals down in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Toluca.
Although the 24-year-old Torres wasn’t directly involved in any Tuzos goals, his set pieces were a constant threat. Mauro Cejas’ 90th-minute penalty kick ended up being the decider at a rainy Estadio Nemesio Diez.
Torres played his usual central midfield role and, after the game, praised the tenacity of his Pachuca teammates.
"Honest work and the two goals that we scored before halftime helped us a lot," the World Cup veteran told the press after the game. "We never stopped pressurizing and the team went for the victory."
Pachuca remain unbeaten in fifth place in the Mexican Primera DIvisión.
Also on Sunday, Edgar Castillo provided a defense-splitting pass for Club Tijuana’s early goal against Puebla, but fellow American DaMarcus Beasley played a vital role in Puebla’s equalizer, when he was cut down inside the box and awarded a penalty in a 1-1 draw at Estadio Cuauhtémoc.
Joe Corona also started and went 68 minutes for the Xolos, with Beasley subbed off in the 56th minute for Puebla.
Fresh off a big performance despite Tigres UANL’s elimination from the Copa Libertadores at midweek, Jonathan Bornstein was again stuck on the bench in Tigres’ 1-0 victory over Club América in the Estadio Azteca.
On Saturday, Michael Orozco Fiscal’s San Luis lost their third straight game, 3-0 to Monterrey, with the 25-year-old substituted in the 62nd minute.
Meanwhile, Herculez Gomez came off the bench for the final 15 minutes of Santos’ home game against Pumas UNAM, which the hosts won 2-1 to remain at the top of the league table.
Chivas de Guadalajara suffered another loss, this time to Morelia, with Miguel Ponce playing the full game that ended 2-1.
Down in the Mexican second division, forward Isaac Acuña came on in the 69th minute for Mérida in their 1-0 loss to Universidad de Guadalajara.
Jesus Padilla came on in the 62nd minute for La Piedad in their 2-1 defeat to Cruz Azul Hidalgo.
In Guatemala, 35-year-old Jeff Cunningham started for Comunicaciones in their 3-1 victory against Xelajú.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America. He can be reached via tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
