GUADALAJARA, Mexico – It was another mixed weekend south of the border for Americans.
José Torres had a nightmare end to his game on Saturday. “El Gringo” was sent off for dissent and Pachuca lost 3-0 in the Estadio Hidalgo to Atlas.
The incident happened with the score at 1-0 in the 69th minute. Replays showed Torres clearly shouted something directed at the referee, who immediately pulled out the red card.
The Texan, who had been one of Pachuca’s brightest players, left the field visibly angry and will have to wait to find out how long his suspension is, but it is a blow for the player who had secured a starting place in Hugo Sánchez’s new-look Tuzos team.
Michael Orozco Fiscal had a better time of it, scoring the equalizer for San Luis in the 55th minute in their game against Cruz Azul on Saturday. Orozco Fiscal controlled a loose clearance from a corner and his deflected shot found the back of the net.
But the goal wasn’t enough to stop laMáquina taking the three points and a 2-1 victory with a late winner, meaning San Luis are still without a point this Apertura season.
On the positive side, Orozco Fiscal again went the full 90 minutes and seems to be fully established in coach José Luis Trejo’s starting plans.
On Sunday, Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna won 1-0 over Guadalajara thanks to a last minute goal from Colombian Darwin Quintero. Gomez came off in the 60th minute for the Guerreros after a quiet game in which Chivas gave him little space. He was also booked just before halftime for dissent.
DaMarcus Beasley recovered from his injury and started for Puebla in their 3-1 home loss against Toluca on Sunday.
The three-time World Cup veteran set up Puebla’s first with a perfect ball from the left, leaving goalscorer Edinson Toloza’s with a relatively easy finish.
There were no real signs of rustiness from Beasley, who made a couple of dangerous runs down left in first half, but Puebla again looked disjointed and ran out of steam after the break.
It was a bad Friday night for Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona and Club Tijuana. They fell in a 4-0 defeat to Club León, with Castillo playing the full game and Corona coming off after 56 minutes.
In Mexico’s second division – now known as the Ascenso MX – Sonny Guadarrama kept up his excellent start to the new season with the only goal in Mérida’s 1-0 victory over Universidad de Guadalajara.
Guadarrama took the ball beyond the goalkeeper with his first touch, before slotting home in the 64th.
Alongside him for losVenados, Isaac Acuña went 61 minutes for Mérida.
For Lobos BUAP, Marco Vidal came on for the last 20 minutes in their 1-0 victory over Correcaminos, also on Friday.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com
