American international José Francisco Torres went 67 minutes as Pachuca’s offense finally came alive to give them a much-needed win – their first since Feb. 12 – in a 3-1 upset of Monarcas Morelia in the Mexican Primera División.
Torres pulled the Tuzos’ strings from the midfield as they charged to a 2-0 lead by halftime before the team finally iced things off in the 91st minute with their third goal.
Pachuca forward Hérculez Gómez dressed for the match but didn’t play.
[inlinenode:332833]Elsewhere, Miguel Ángel Ponce finally saw his first minutes of action since mid-February, when he suffered a thigh injury, as Chivas de Guadalajara beat Group 1 rivals Necaxa, 2-1. The American left back came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute and helped El Rebaño Sagrado hang on to their one-goal lead over the Rayos.
The second straight victory keeps Chivas in the race for a playoff spot with five games to go and gives them a boost in confidence as they prepare to take on Club América in the SuperClásico next week.
Speaking of América, the Águilas slugged out a 5-4 win over Édgar Castillo’s Puebla. The speedy US international defender watched from the bench as La Franja attempted to rally from a four-goal hole but fell just short.
Also watching his team from the dugout was another American left back, Jonathan Bornstein, as Tigres UANL dominated in yet another shut out, this time a 2-0 win over Atlante, who played the entire second half a man down.
The result, the felines’ first win in their last four games, pushed the team up to second in the league table, practically assuring the defensive masters a spot in the liguilla.
[inlinenode:332832]Down in the Liga de Ascenso, midfielder Joe Corona went all 90 as he led the Xolos’ back into the win column by scoring the first goal of a sound 2-0 victory over Atlante UTN at home.
Despite facing a tough defense, Corona found enough space in the 38th minute to unleash a furious drive to bury a rebound into the back of the net. The result catapulted Tijuana up three spots to third place.
Over in León, Marco Vidal put in a full shift at midfield as the Esmeraldas continued steamrolling their opposition with a 4-0 drubbing of Correcaminos.
The victory keeps León in second place and on pace with former MLSer Cuauhtémoc Blanco and league-leading Irapuato with three weeks left before the start of the playoffs.
Further south, in Colombia, American goalkeeper Diego Restrepo didn’t play as América de Cali dropped their 102nd Clásico vallecaucano against archrivals Deportivo Cali 3-2 in Liga Postobón action.
América jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 10th minute before dramatically falling apart and letting Deportivo rally back for the win.
