Playing for 90
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Matchday 8 offered Liga MX fans a little bit of everything

By Thomas Buckley

Alvaro Fidalgo (left) celebrates with Nico Benedetti after the latter provided the assist on Fidalgo's goa against Mazatlán FCl. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Alvaro Fidalgo (left) celebrates with Nico Benedetti after the latter provided the assist on Fidalgo's goa against Mazatlán FCl. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images) /
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Liga MX Week 8
Diego Rigonato (#33) is gleefully greeted by Raúl López after the former scored a blazer vs Pachuca in minute 89 to provide the Diablos with the win. (Photo by Jaime Lopez/Jam Media/Getty Images) /

Has Toluca avoided its midseason swoon?

The Diablos Rojos topped the Liga MX table last season after six weeks only to hit the skids. The plunge out of playoff contentions was halted with just two weeks to go and “Los Choriceros” claimed one of the final wildcard spots.

Two seasons ago, Toluca started fast again only to stagger down the stretch with a 2-3-6 record and only barely claiming a wildcard spot. So forgive us for looking at our watches and thinking, “Isn’t about time for the Diablos to start plummeting in the standings?” After all, central defender Miguel Barbieri suffered a season-ending injury last week and star striker Alexis Canelo was in sickbay.

Hernán Cristante had his team in first after each of the first three weekends of the Apertura 2021 and the club had not dropped out of the top four through seven games. But heading into Monday’s Matchday 8 finale at Pachuca, “Los Escarlatas” were in third place … but promptly fell behind the Tuzos. Last year’s slump began in Week 7. Was Toluca tempting fate.

Rubens Sambueza & Co. refused to give in, however, and Ian González was first onto a sloppy Pachuca turnover just outside its own box and the Spaniard snapped the equalizer just inside the far post in minute 32. Momentum shifted and the visitors regained their footing, settling into attack mode.

In the second half, the Tuzos enjoyed a late surge of energy, forcing two good saves from keeper Luis García. Then, as the clock ticked toward 89, Sambueza got deep right, turned and dropped off a back-pass to Raúl López. Unmarked, “Dedos” measured a cross to the back post where it was headed clear by Pachuca defender Matías Catalán. Forty meters from goal, left fullback Diego Rigonato was the first to react. He raced up to the ball and one-timed a left-footed blast that zipped inside the left post. Just like that, the Diablos were up 2-1. And a few minutes later found themselves back up into second place with 17 points (5-2-1).

So are “Los Rojos” for real? Are they a contender this season? We’ll find out soon enough as Toluca welcomes América to Estadio Nemesio Díez for a Saturday night showdown between the top two teams in Liga MX.

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