Game 12: Tigres 2 - 0 Pumas

Video here.

In an even and very tactical encounter in Monterrey, Pumas registered their third game in a row without a win while Tigres eased their relegation worries. While the university dominated the game in terms of possession and territory, particularly during the first half, the old failings of being unable to be sufficiently direct and missing chances were again in evidence.

Tuca sprang a bit of a surprise with the starting line-up, leaving Scocco and Barrera on the bench and giving a start to Palencia for the first time this year, while "el Cachas" Iñiguez also got a start on the right wing. Ex-Pumas Francisco "Kikín" Fonseca and Antonio Sancho were left on the bench for Tigres.

The first half was a slow tactical battle, with Pumas coming out slightly on top. It was a period of little goalmouth action, but Pumas had the first real chance when Palencia hit a scissors kick from a Leandro cross which rebounded onto the bar with Zermeño beaten.

Both teams tried to up the rhythm after half time, Scocco replacing Paco Palencia and Blas Pérez coming on for Saavedra. If anything it was the team from Nuevo Léon which benefited most from the changes, Chávez pulling a fine save out of Bernal from a header. Bernal also had to be alert to push away shots from Esquivel and a decent effort by Lobos from the edge of the box.

With Tigres now pushing forward there was a little more space behind and Iñiguez and Scocco looked menacing without managing to create a decent attempt on goal. Sancho came on to steady things for Tigres and immediately they were ahead. Pérez headed on nicely at the edge of the "D" and Gastón Fernández controlled beautifully on his chest before slipping the ball past Bernal. Pumas were guilty of rather shoddy organisation which allowed "La Gata" to score but it was nevertheless a well worked goal.

The team from the Pedregal worked hard to reply, but all they managed was to work Scocco through on goal, but the chance was palmed away by Zermeño. Almost immediately at the other end Verón, normally so sound, got into a terrible mess deep inside his own area, and was robbed by Pérez who slipped the ball under Bernal for the second.

Pumas could find no way back as Tigres sat back more, and the game stumbled to the end with the Monterrey team finishing quite comfortably. They have now maintained their 9 point advantage over Veracruz in the relegation battle, despite the "Tiburones" (sharks) 4-0 thrashing of hapless América. Pumas lose ground in group 2, and now have serious work on their hands to qualify with Pachuca, Toluca and Jaguares looking strong.

Goals
Gastón Fernández (70 minutes) 1-0
Blas Pérez (79) 2-0

Cards
Remarkably there weren't any. A very good refereeing job from the experienced Armando Archundia.

Player Ratings
Bernal 7 - some very good saves and not at fault for the goals
Espinoza 7 - worked very hard
Velarde 6 - good to have him back but failed to get the most out of Sambueza
Verón 5 - one of his worse games and bad blunder for the goal
Palacios 6 - solid at the back but his enthusiasm drags him out of position
Castro 6 - did nothing wrong before making way for Gerardo Espinoza
Leandro 7 - as always looked accomplished but needs to get forward more
Iñiguez 6 - had good moments
Sambueza 6 - too quiet for a man of his talent
Solari 5 - lacks pace so needs service inside the box
Palencia 6 - clearly has the desire but not sure he can cope with a whole game
Scocco 6 - looked dangerous but having a lean scoring spell
Gerardo Espinoza 5 - no surprise that Pumas looked poorer after he replaced Castro

Tuca 5 - ultimately he lost out in the tactical battle with Manuel Lapuente.

Elsewhere in Mexico
A very interesting week for Mexican football. Perhaps we should begin with the most recent and most surprising news...Hugo Sanchez has been sacked as Mexican manager. While his record with the Under 23 team in the Olympic qualifiers was average, and he never really got the best out of the attacking options available to him, his record with the full side was decent. With a generation of players that has started to have some success in Europe, and following an encouraging comeback at Craven Cottage in London against Ghana (they won 2-1 after falling behind to a Michael Essien goal), it is an unexpected decision from the Mexican Federation.

Pumas fans remember Hugo very well both as a player and the manager that took them to the double championship in 2004. Despite some limitations as a tactician (and this may have counted against him) he was an excellent motivator of players and an involved and passionate director of both club and country. Jesús Ramírez, director of the youth set-up, will fill in until a successor is appointed.

Meanwhile Guillermo Cañedo has quit as director (chairman) of América after a string of poor results has left them languishing at the foot of the general table. América lost 4-0 to lowly Veracruz with Claudio Graf grabbing a hatrick.

Mexican clubs had a poor week in the Copa Libertadores with Chivas putting in a sub-standard performance against Colombian side Deportivo Cucuta and losing 1-0, despite having most of the possession. In a tough group América will have to improve after their 1-0 defeat to San Martin, while Atlas did better getting a valuable point in Venezuela against Maracaibo. Their crucial fixture will be versus Boca Juniors in the Jalisco on 8th April.

In the Mexican league Itamar Batista's excellent run continued with two for Jaguares in their win in San Luis. Pachuca won 2-0 against 10-man Atlante while a weakened Cruz Azul team edged past Puebla by the same score. Morelia completed their fourth game without a goal losing 1-0 to Atlas, and Santos strolled past Tecos 4-0 with a brace from Fernando Arce.

In a tight game in the Bombonera Toluca and Monterrey shared the points 1-1, with a 75th minute own goal by Orozco equalising for the "diablos rojos" (red devils). Meanwhile an early goal by Quatrocchi for Necaxa settled the game against leaders Chivas 1-0, the Guadalajara team finding chances hard to come by as in midweek.

Group 1

Jaguares 21
Toluca 19
Pachuca 17
Pumas 15

Group 2
Santos 20
Atlas 16
Monterrey 14
Veracruz 13

Group 3
Chivas 25
San Luis 22
Cruz Azul 19
Necaxa 16

Next Up
Home to San Luis at the regulation time of 12.00 in CU.

Game 11: Pumas 1 - 1 Santos

Video here.

Pumas yet again failed to win a game they had chances to close out but a point in the Olympic Stadium leaves them third in group 1 as they hop above Pachuca. Marco Antonio "Pikolin" Palacios was the Pumas hero, heading one Santos attempt off the line and scoring the Pumas goal.

The team welcomed back Barrera and Velarde from under 23 duty, and Castillo returned for Santos. Castro started at right-back with Gerardo Espinoza in midfield and Fernando Espinoza on the bench.

The game started at a high pace and there was action at both ends but Pumas went ahead in the 24th minute when a Sambueza free-kick was poorly cleared by Oswaldo Sanchez and belying his previous form Palacios struck the ball sweetly into the back of the net from just inside the area. As it is only his second Pumas goal, and he started the season on the bench his exultation was understandable.

Pumas then took control and Barrera had a chance to make it two when he angled into the area but Sanchez made a good stop. This seemed to lift Santos and they scored soon after, Vuoso climbing well above Veron to score with an excellent header.

Castillo came off injured towards the end of the half, putting in doubt his participation in the friendly for Mexico against Ghana on Wednesday, and soon after half-time Tuca also made changes, moving Castro into midfield with Fernando Espinoza replacing his namesake, while Iniguez replaced Barrera. The team seemed to have a better balance but there was a lack of intensity and few chances came.

Towards the end Scocco had a good chance to grab the winner when he brought down a through ball beautifully but again Sanchez made a nice stop to earn a share of the points for the "laguneros". They remain top of group two.

Goals
Palacios (24 minutes) 1-0
Vuoso (38) 1-1

Cards
Pumas: yellow: G.Espinoza, Leandro, Palacios
Santos: yellow: Rodriguez, Castillo, J.Barrera

Player Ratings
Bernal 6 - nearly slipped up but helped out by Pikolin
Castro 6 - I ilke him more in midfield
Palacios 8 - good all-round contribution
Veron 6 - slightly at fault for the goal
Velarde 6 - good to have him back
G.Espinoza 5 - why does he keep getting picked?
Leandro 6 - looked a little rusty
Barrera 6 - lively but ran out of steam
Sambueza 5 - quiet for such a talented player
Scocco 6 - unlucky not to score at the end
Solari 5 - his lack of pace was exposed again
F.Espinoza 5 - sound
Iniguez 7 - played well I prefer him coming off the bench
Palencia 6 - again looked the part

Tuca 6 - I don´t think chopping and changing Castro´s position is helping. Good to see that his faith in Palacios has paid off.

Elsewhere in Mexico
On Friday night Tecos came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Atlas, a last minute goal by Sebastian Gonzalez providing the equaliser. In an error strewn game in Monterrey the hosts edged out Cruz Azul 3-2 with two goals from Luis Perez. Jaguares striker Itamar Baptista continued his good form with a brace for Jaguares in their 3-2 win at home to Tigres, while Omar Bravo got his 99th top-flight goal in Chivas 2-1 win over Pachuca.

America continued their miserable run losing 1-0 to Toluca, while Morelia hit the post twice in drawing 0-0 with Necaxa. Two goalkeeping errors by Jose Martinez allowed San Luis to win 2-1 in Puebla, and champions Atlante are still finding it difficult to win, their 2-2 draw with relegation strugglers Veracruz being their seventh game without a win.

Jaguares stay top of group one on goal difference from Toluca. There is no change in the leaders of groups two and three, with Santos and Chivas having a healthy lead in their respective groups. America remain rooted at the foot of the general table.

Next Up
A visit to Monterrey to play Tigres.

Game 10: Atlas 2 - 2 Pumas

Video here.

Pumas blew an excellent chance to finish the weekend top of their group as they allowed a persistent Atlas side to claw their way back into a match that should have been over. A Bruno Marioni penalty deep into injury time gave the "Zorros" (foxes) a draw they should not have been allowed to claim.

Pumas started with the same line-up as last week, but with Chiapas continuing for the injured Leandro in midfield. And they could not have had a better start. A nice through ball by Sambueza put Scocco clear and as he raced into the box he was taken down by Jimenez. Scocco went down very easily but the decision looked clear. Nevertheless watching Scocco pressing the referee for Jimenez´s sending off was unfortunate.

Despite a poor first attempt at the penalty by Solari, he was lucky to be given a second chance as players encroached into the area (they do on virtually every penalty so in that sense Solari was lucky). Second time around Solari found the bottom left-hand corner and Pumas were one up and playing against ten.

Not surprisingly Pumas pushed forward down both flanks looking to press home the advantage, and got a second midway through the half as Solari stole in front of the defence to poke home a Scocco cross from close-range. Pumas were controlling the game and well on top without really threatening to go further ahead and looked comfortable on their 2-0 half-time lead.

Atlas manager Miguel Angel Brinidisi sensed something was needed and brought on Vera and Omar Flores at half-time. It paid off wonderfully as Vera floated in a dangerous free-kick from the right and Flores finished with a well-placed header.

Pumas began to look nervous and Tuca brought on Gonzalez to bolster the defense as they looked to hold on while Atlas pushed forward. Nevertheless the university had countless chances to increase their lead on the break, Scocco the main culprit missing three good opportunities, admittedly once striking the post. Jorge Bava was also in good form in the Atlas goal and going into injury time Pumas were still only a goal ahead.

Then Atlas persistance paid off in the 93rd minute. A Colotto shot struck Gonzalez´s arm and ex-Puma Marioni stepped up to slot the penalty and steal a point for the black and reds. The Mexican Federation supports this kind of penalty award but for me it was contentious in the extreme. Gonzalez was no more than a foot away from Colotto and the ball was blasted at him (and incidentally going nowhere near the goal). There was no time to get anything out of the way. If all you need to do to gain a penalty is blast the ball at defenders in the hope it touches their arm the situation gets silly. Pumas should have killed the game off and Atlas persevered right to the end: in some senses the result was just even if the manner of it was strange.

So Pumas now lie fifth in group one but only one point behind leaders Jaguares, and Solari moved level with Omar Bravo as leading goalscorer with 7.

Goals
Solari (9 minutes)(pen) 0-1
Solari (27) 0-2
Flores (47) 1-2
Marioni (93)(pen) 2-2

Cards
Pumas: yellow: F.Espinoza, Iniguez, Sambueza, Solari
Atlas: red: Jimenez; yellow: Marioni, Centurion, Medina

Player Ratings
Bernal 7 - could do nothing about the goals
F.Espinoza 6 - solid
Palacios 6 - looked in no trouble but got panicky late on
Veron 6 - has to take responsibility for jittery defence
Sambueza 7 - looked dangerous as usual
Iniguez 6 - his best game for a while
Castro 6 - sound and some nice passes from the back
G.Espinoza 5 - still not convincing
Solari 7 - two goals but how often have we said he should have had more
Scocco 5 - at least he was more involved, but he has to put away those chances
Chiapas 6 - not bad but he is no Leandro
Gonzalez 5 - I would prefer us not to try and hold on to results with a 5-man defence
Palencia 6 - reasonable job
Morales - only on for a couple of minutes

Tuca 6 - 2-0 up against ten men. He must be furious with his players but he was over cautious. 3-0 would have killed the game off.

Elsewhere in Mexico
On Friday night Chivas left behind their Copa Libertadores defeat against Deportivo Cucuta to add to Veracruz´s relegation worries with a 2-1 win in the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuentes. On Saturday San Luis gained a good win against La Volpe´s Monterrey who suffered their third consecutive defeat, this time 3-1. Morelia´s bad run continues with a 2-0 home defeat by Tecos, and in a rare game with more goals than cards Puebla beat Tigres 3-0 in Monterrey.

A depleted Pachuca side came back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw in Necaxa after ex-Puma Gerardo Galindo was sent off for a second yellow. Gabriel Pereyra got a late equaliser for Atlante to draw 2-2 in Toluca while new star Itamar Baptista grabbed a brace for Jaguares in their 3-1 win at Santos. Miguel Sabah also scored two in Cruz Azul´s 2-2 draw with America.

Jaguares now top group one on goal difference from Toluca, but the first five clubs are all within a point. Despite defeat Santos still have a clear advantage over Atlas in group two, and Chivas lead group three by 3 points from San Luis. America prop up the general table, one point behind Veracruz, who are 8 points behind Tigres in the relegation fight.

Next Up
Home to Santos on Sunday.

Game 9: Pumas 1 - 0 Morelia

Video here.

On a blustery and cold early afternoon in Pedregal Pumas edged out a poor Morelia side in a game of little action and few chances. Pumas will nevertheless be pleased with the result and have now closed the gap on Pachuca and Toluca in their group.

Tuca continued with the selection from last week, Fernando Espinoza at left-back, Castro dropping back to right-back and Gerardo Espinoza as the ball winner in midfield. At the beginning of the game this looked to be more or less working as Gerardo Espinoza had a nice start to the game and was working hard. But Monarcas showed the early threat in the first ten minutes or so and Bernal had to be alert to cut out a dangerous low cross from the right.

Pumas began to control proceedings, but without a great deal of menace, but Leandro came close as he broke down the left and shot into the side-netting. It was a rare excursion forward from the Brazilian who had been sitting a little too deep, and Monarcas were able to pressure the defence's distribution.

Nevertheless, as in the final against Atlante, Pumas showed how much they miss their midfield talisman, as Leandro was forced to go off failing to recover from a knock on the ankle he took making that shot. After 20 minutes Jehu Chiapas replaced him in midfield, and while doing nothing wrong he lacked the touch and assurance of Leandro, and Gerardo Espinoza was losing out more and more often in the middle.

Morelia won more ball but did not seem to know what to do with it, while Pumas relied heavily on the excellent Sambueza for their main channel of attack, Iñiguez being under-used on the right. Nevertheless Pumas should have had the lead when Solari shot over after being put through by the diminuitive right-winger.

The game became slow and lethargic but neither team made changes at half time and so the dour midfield imprecision continued. It was not until Tuca decided to up the tempo by bringing on veteran striker Paco "el gatillero" Palencia for the rapidly fading Gerardo Espinoza that Pumas suddenly looked a threat. There was more direction going forward, and barely three minutes after his introduction Palencia had given the university the lead. Sambueza floated a dangerous corner over from the left and Paco slipped cleverly away from his marker to nod in at the far post.

Pumas had the chance to make it two as Solari's header was well saved by Muñoz, but more and more they sat back to defend the lead, and Tuca took off Scocco to bring on Carlos Humberto González and switch to 5-3-2. Morelia had more of the ball in the final few minutes and created a couple of chances but Bernal made a good save and the points were safe.

The best finishing of the day, with apologies to Palencia, was nevertheless in the half-time entertainment when a youngster fired beautifully into the top corner from the edge of the box. Esteban Solari must have been wishing for that kind of finishing given his poor performance in front of goal.

So a useful win for Pumas which puts them in sight of a play-off place as they move into the second half of the season, while Morelia have slipped away after a promising start to the tournament.

Goals
Palencia (65 minutes) 1-0

Cards
Pumas: yellow: Palacios
Morelia: yellow: Aldrete, Leao, Cervantes

Player Ratings
Bernal 6 - had barely anything to do but made a couple of decent stops
Castro 6 - looked better when he moved into midfield after Espinoza went off
Palacios 7 - looking assured and comfortable with Verón
Verón 7 - never troubled
F. Espinoza 5 - still looks ill at ease down the left, and Monarcas exposed him a couple of times
G.Espinoza 5 - tried hard but is too easily pushed off the ball to be a ball-winner and he also lacks pace
Leandro 6 - looked good while he was on - Pumas are not the same team without him
Iñiguez 5 - industrious as ever but lacked penetration
Sambueza 8 - comfortably Pumas' best player. Got in a lot of good crosses and was a handful for the defence
Scocco 5 - a couple of half-decent runs but not influential
Solari 4 - a poor game
Chiapas 5 - a promising player not helped by playing a different position every week
Palencia 7 - made all the difference
González - not on for long

Tuca 7 - still not convinced by the starting line-up but made good substitutions at the right times

Elsewhere in Mexico
On Friday night Tecos and Necaxa played out a tedious 1-1 draw in Guadalajara, while on Saturday Pachuca (playing in Mexico City at the Estadio Azul and with entrance free) drew 1-1 with relegation-troubled Veracruz. Sergio Santana defied his critics to score the winner in leaders Chivas 1-0 win over Toluca, and Tigres' recovery under Manuel Lapuente continues as they won 3-2 in Monterrey, in a controversial match where Monterrey had two late goals disallowed.

On Sunday América extended their losing streak to 5, losing out 2-1 to San Luis in the Azteca with Octavio Valdez getting the winner. Puebla twice came from behind in the Estadio Cuauhtémoc to grab a 3-3 draw with Santos. It looked like Santos would take the points as Christian Benítez scored on 90 minutes, but Alvaro González headed the equalizer threeminutes into injury time. Atlante's poor stretch continues as they went their fifth game without a win losing 3-2 at home to a confident Cruz Azul. Meanwhile Jaguares took advantage of a controversial penalty award, converted by Bautista, and the early sending off of Achucarro to earn a 2-0 win over Atlas in Tuxtla.

Despite losing to Chivas, Toluca still head group 1 on 14 points, with Pachuca and Pumas on 13. Santos top group 2 from Atlas, while Chivas remain top of the overall table and ahead of San Luis in group 3. In the relegation fight Veracruz are bottom with 100 points from 94 games, 8 behind Tigres and 9 behind Tecos. Second-bottom team Puebla have 28 points from 26 games. Monterrey's Humberto Suazo and Chivas' Omar Bravo share the lead in the top goalscorers' chart with 6 apiece.

Next Up
Pumas take on Atlas in Guadalajara.

Game 8: Tecos 1 - 2 Pumas

See video here.

While Pumas played little better than they did last week against Necaxa they managed to gather three points away from home against a limited Tecos side for whom Hugo Droguett was the only player to shine. Two goals from Esteban Solari (picture) gave Pumas the victory with "Chamagol" Sebastián González netting for Tecos.

Presumably because of a lack of fullbacks, Tuca started the game with Castro at right-back and Gerardo Espinoza fitting in at defensive midfield. Fernando Espinoza moved over to play at left-back as he had when his namesake came on last week. Marco Antonio "Pikolín" Palacios also got his first start of the campaign displacing Carlos Humberto González.

Tecos, unlike Pumas, have played regularly on a Friday night, and so there was little excuse for the limp first-half performance which handed the initiative to the university without testing the frailty of Gerardo Espinoza or the frail resolve of the forwards after their misses last week. It took just over 15 minutes for Solari to be handed the opening goal on a plate when Diego Jiménez made a total mess of a pass out of defense, and Solari picked up the ball and struck it confidently into the corner past Corona.

Nevertheless despite complete control of the match, Pumas created few clear cut chances in the opening period and were unable to add to the lead, the best chance falling again to Solari just before half-time, when he put his shot wide from just inside the area.

Tecos started the second half with more to offer, and Fernando Espinoza was replaced by Chiapas for Pumas after the left-back suffered an injury. Pumas began to sit back more but could have added to their lead when Scocco missed a one-on-one with Corona as he tried to lift the ball stylishly over the keeper and only made himself look foolish as it ballooned over.

Palencia came on for Scocco after 70 minutes and immediately made a difference, shaking off his marker down the right-hand side and getting to the by-line before putting in a low cross to Solari who buried it first time for Pumas' second. That looked like that would be it as Tecos had shown little initiative with the ball they had, but Pumas were to give themselves a jittery last ten minutes.

From a near-post corner by Altamirano (there was a lot of talk about it having to be retaken as the ball was outside the quarter-circle) Pumas made a dreadful defensive mess and "Chamagol" stole in to net from barely a yard out.

The Pumas defense held though, including one terrific save from Bernal in the dying seconds, and the university move up to 10 points in group 1, four behind leaders Toluca.

Goals
Solari (16 minutes) 0-1
Solari (70) 0-2
González (84) 1-2

Cards
Pumas: yellow: Bernal (time-wasting)
Tecos: yellow: Sosa, Medina, Altamirano

Player Ratings
Bernal 6 - atoned for his dreadful flapping at the goal with a fine save late on
Castro 6 - had virtually nothing to do, but a bit wasted at full-back
Palacios 6 - a comfortable return
Verón 6 - again unchallenged against a weak attack
Espinoza,F 5 - looks uncomfortable down the left
Chiapas 5 - not a defender but tends to make Sambueza look better
Leandro 6 - moved the ball around but has little trust in Gerardo Espinoza
Espinoza,G 5 - solid but unremarkable
Scocco 5 - a game to forget and an awful miss
Sambueza 6 - not as commanding as last week
Iñiguez 5 - strangely anonymous once again
Solari 7 - took his goals nicely
Palencia 6 - looking lively and currently a good option off the bench
González - only on for a few minutes to shore up a panicky defence.

Tuca 5 - not convinced by his team selection. I would still prefer Chiapas to Gerardo Espinoza, particularly against a team like Tecos. Interesting to see Pikolín given a shot.


Elsewhere in Mexico
In a defensive struggle Cruz Azul and Chivas cancelled each other out 0-0 in the Estadio Azul. San Luis gained a 2-0 home win over 8-man Atlante, for whom Castillo (2 yellows), goalkeeper Vilar (2 yellows for remonstrating about the first goal) and Maldonado (direct red) were sent off. Incidentally the English Premiership averages one red card every 12 games! In a tight game in Morelia a late Mauricio Romero goal gave the Monarcas a 1-0 victory over Jaguares, while América suffered their 4th consecutive defeat, this time 3-0 at Tigres.

Two goals from Jorge Achucarro saw Atlas defeat Puebla 2-1, and Veracruz claimed back some ground in the relegation battle with a 1-0 away win at Necaxa, for whom Rodallega hit the woodwork 3 times. Claudio Graf scored the winner, and ex-Puma Cesareo Victorino was sent off for Veracruz.

In Sunday's games Pachuca won 2-0 in Toluca while Santos beat Monterrey 2-0 in Torreón with goals from Benítez and Vuoso.

Toluca, despite their defeat, are still top of group 1, but now Pachuca are only 2 points behind. Santos move to within 1 point of the overall lead and head group 2 from Atlas, while overall leaders Chivas top group 3 head of San Luis.

Next Up
A home game against Monarcas on Sunday.