GUADALAJARA, Mexico – With no losses for Americans playing in Mexico’s top division, it was a positive weekend for Yanks down south.
DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco Fiscal came within a couple of minutes of picking up three points for Puebla on Sunday against Toluca, but a late equalizer meant they had to settle for a decent away point.
Beasley went 68 minutes on the left wing and came close to opening the scoring in the 17th, picking the ball up inside the area and striking a shot that Toluca ‘keeper Alfredo Talavera did well to keep out. Orozco Fiscal played the full 90 minutes at right back and was effective in both the defensive and attacking departments.
Also Sunday, Jonathan Bornstein was on the bench for Tigres UANL in their 3-1 victory over Atlante.
In Saturday’s games, Joe Corona and Edgar Castillo continued recent fine form in Tijuana’s 1-0 win against Club León. Both were involved in the only goal of the game, with Castillo passing the ball inside to Corona (above), who fed the ball to Fernando Arce to set up Alfredo Moreno’s goal.
Herculez Gomez’s Santos Laguna defeated Chivas 2-0 on Friday, with Gomez starting and going 88 minutes. Gomez forced a sharp save in the seventh minute when he pulled free, brought down a through ball and shot.
He was also a key part in the setup for the first goal, bringing the ball down to start the move that ended with Oribe Peralta netting. In the 58th, Gomez managed to skew a golden chance to take the game beyond Chivas. He stretched at the back post from close range to reach a cross, but could only steer the ball wide.
In the Ascenso MX, Sonny Guadarrama went the full 90 for Mérida in their 1-0 loss to Universidad de Guadalajara on Saturday.
On Friday, Jesus Padilla came on for the final 13 minutes of La Piedad’s 2-1 loss to Estudiantes Tecos and Marco Vidal entered the field in the 67th for Lobos BUAP, but the team lost 1-0 to Correcaminos.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
