GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Herculez Gomez grabbed his fourth goal in his last four appearances – three as a substitute – but Estudiantes Tecos fell 5-2 to Miguel Ángel Ponce´s Chivas de Guadalajara on Saturday.
Ponce played the full 90 minutes and dished out the assist in Chivas' first goal in the seventh minute, showing a good piece of individual skill before serving in to Erick Torres.
But Gomez, again a substitute despite his recent goals, came on in the 68th and scored Estudiantes’ second goal of the match, beating his marker to a cross to tap it to the far post. It was Gomez’s sixth goal of the tournament.
Over in Puebla, DaMarcus Beasley & Co. hung on for a 1-0 victory on Sunday after going down to nine men in the 74th minute.
The three-time World Cup veteran went the distance as Puebla, who lost last weekend when Beasley was away on US national team duty, got a victory essential for their playoff chances. Beasley has played the third-most minutes of any Puebla squad member despite missing last week's game.
Elsewhere, it was a quiet weekend for Americans south of the border.
Joe Benny Corona only played the last few minutes of Club Tijuana's 3-2 victory over Pachuca.
Corona’s fellow Olympic possibility, Isaac Acuña, came on in injury time in Club América´s shock 3-0 victory at Monterrey, while left back Edgar Castillo didn´t feature for las Águilas, with one report stating he did not travel because of injury.
Jonathan Bornstein and Michael Orozco Fiscal made the benches for their teams – Tigres UANL and San Luis, respectively – but did not see any playing time.
In the Mexican second division, Marco Vidal was an unused substitute for Club León in their 1-1 draw against Celaya FC.
Down in Colomia’s top tier, Diego Restrepo didn't get on the field in América de Cali´s 3-0 victory over Cúcuta.
Tom Marshall can be reached at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com or via Twitter: @mexicoworldcup
