Liga MX: Junior Classic win revives champs’ title defense hopes
Jonathan Rodríguez converted a penalty kick 7 minutes into added time to give reigning Liga MX champs Cruz Azul a 2-1 win over league-leading América at Estadio Azteca.
Aguilas defender Emanuel Aguilera clattered into Orbelín Pineda inside the box after a terrible turnover by line-mate Bruno Valdez. Memo Ochoa made the save on Pineda’s shot as the clock hit 90+3, but VAR alerted ref Luis Enrique Santander who pointed to the spot after viewing the video. Aguilera was also shown a red card.
The last-gasp win lifted Cruz Azul into fifth place (23 points) in the Liga MX table and, with a game in hand (Wednesday against León), the Cementeros are looking at the possibility of claiming a Top 4 seed and a first-round bye in the Liga MX playoffs. But defeating León and then cross-town rivals UNAM in the season finale just four days later is no easy task.
América already has the No. 1 playoff seed sewn up, but the Aguilas march to the Liga MX title has hit a road bump. “Los AzulCremas” had only lost once all season (3-1 at Toluca back on Matchday 9) but suffered their second setback in four days after coming up short in the Concacaf Champions League Final on Thursday.
The Aguilas are now winless in the past six “Junior Classic” battles against Cruz Azul.
Other Liga MX Matchday 16 results from Sunday
Atlético de San Luis 1, Monterrey 1
The Rayados may be Kings of Concacaf but they have not won a Liga MX game since Sept. 26, closing out a desultory October with a 1-1 draw at Atlético de San Luis.
Monterrey defeated América Thursday night to claim the Concacaf Champions League trophy, the only highlight in a month that saw the Rayados go 0-1-4 in Liga MX games. After the tie in San Luis, at least Javier Aguirre’s men can say they ended their four-game losing streak in league play.
Erick Aguirre opened the scoring at the half-hour mark, his first goal for Monterrey since joining from Pachuca over the summer. The former Tuzo missed the first half of the season due to an injury he picked up in the Tokyo Olympics.
The Tuneros tied it up via an own goal shortly after the restart. Juan Manuel Sanabria threaded a pass to Juan Castro who one-timed a shot of the near post. The ball ricocheted off the woodwork and bounded off the back of Rayados goalie Esteban Andrada and into the net.
By splitting the points, Monterrey effectively lost a chance to earn a first-round bye in the playoffs. Worse than that, the Rayados face América in their season finale and the Aguilas would love to keep Monterrey out of the Liga MX playoffs.
As for the Tuneros (18 points), they have a make-up game on Wednesday at Pachuca (postponed from Matchday 5) then must travel to Coahuila to face Santos Laguna. Both the Tuzos (17 points) and the Guerreros (20 points) are in the playoff hunt, so Atlético de San Luis likely must win both to claim a wildcard berth.
Toluca 0, León 0
A win for either club might have secured a first-round playoff bye, and the two teams traded haymakers for 90 minutes, but neither was able to ripple the net.
Toluca (24 points) remains in fourth place and closes its Apertura 2021 schedule with a road trip to Puebla. A draw will get the Diablos a wildcard while a win is necessary to secure that first-round bye. Puebla (21 points), meanwhile, knows 3 points will earn them a spot in the Liga MX playoffs for the third season in a row.
Next. Tigres beat Chivas, clinch playoff spot. dark
León (23 points) has a game in hand, but the Esmeraldas will have to solve their scoring woes if they hope to take advantage of the calendar quirk. A date in Estadio Azteca on Wednesday against holders Cruz Azul will be followed by a Saturday night visit from Necaxa (20 points, 10th place). Losing both matches – in combination with several other results – could end León’s season short of the Liga MX playoffs.