GUADALAJARA, Mexico – In a miserable round of matches in the Liga MX this weekend for Yanks returning from US duty, Club Tijuana’s performance proved the exception.
Edgar Castillo (above) and Joe Corona both took to the field on Friday evening, less than 48 hours after the US had defeated Mexico 1-0 in the Estadio Azteca and the Xolos cruised to a fairly comfortable 2-1 victory over Tigres UANL.
Corona impressed for Tijuana, going 69 minutes in the game and linking play intelligently between the Xolos midfield and attack. Castillo went up against Mexico international Elias Hernández for the second time in three days on Tijuana’s left flank and was much more offensive-minded than he was midweek for the US. He played the full 90 minutes.
The result means Tijuana are now in third place after five games of the Apertura season.
Elsewhere, things didn’t go quite so smoothly for Americans in the Liga MX, at least in terms of results. DaMarcus Beasley’s Puebla lost 3-0 to Morelia, also on Friday, provoking the firing of Uruguayan coach Daniel Bartollota and the installation of Daniel Guzmán at the helm of the Camoteros.
Beasley played the full game in his usual left-wing role and was one of the bright sparks for his team, which has only one point from five games.
Michael Orozco Fiscal’s San Luis aren’t much better off. Fresh from scoring the game-winning goal against Mexico, Orozco Fiscal was an important factor in keeping Chivas at bay for most the game before Carlos Fierro popped up to head home seven minutes from time. San Luis have just two points from their five games.
Things aren’t running very smoothly for Herculez Gomez’s Santos Laguna either. They fell 2-1 at home in the Estadio Corona to Pumas UNAM on Saturday. LosGuerreros are now without a win in three games. Gomez started on the right wing against Pumas and went 51 minutes, going close to scoring on the stroke of halftime from a direct free kick.
José Torres’ Pachuca fell 1-0 at Toluca, but the Texan midfielder was not involved, with press reports citing a knock that he wasn’t able to recover from in time.
In the Ascenso MX, Sonny Guadarrama played the full 90 minutes in Mérida’s 2-0 loss to Estudiantes Tecos, with Isaac Acuña coming on for the last 13 minutes of the contest.
Marco Vidal’s Lobos BUAP suffered a 1-0 defeat against La Piedad, with Vidal going all 90 minutes.
In El Salvador, Derby Carrillo started for Santa Tecla and kept another clean sheet in his team’s 0-0 draw against Atlético Marte on Saturday.
Finally, Vincenzo Bernardo went 90 minutes in Deportivo Guastatoya’s 1-0 victory over San Francisco Peten in Guatemala’s second division. Bernardo played up front and got the game-winning assist with five minutes remaining.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
