Rayados rout FC Juárez; Arriola summoned by Senate

Monterrey manhandled FC Juárez Tuesday night, cruising to a 3-0 victory over the 10-man Bravos in a Liga MX make-up game from Matchday 5.

The Rayados had control of the match from the beginning but dominated the second half after Juárez midfielder Fernando Arce was ejected in minute 40.

Rodolfo Pizarro (48’), Joel Campbell (64’) and José Alfonso Alvarado (90+1’) were the goal-scorers but Monterrey also had a goal annulled by VAR, saw a penalty call overturned (also by VAR) and hit the woodwork twice.

The win is the third in a row for the Rayados, lifting the team with the league’s biggest payroll from 17th place to sixth and Víctor Manuel Vucetich’s club still has a game in hand. “King Midas” and his crew have salvaged the Clausura 2022 season just in time for their big rivalry game against the third-place Tigres on Saturday.

Liga MX president summoned by lawmakers

Mikel Arriola has been invited to meet with Senate leadership to explain what happened in Querétaro on March 5 and to discuss methods to prevent future incidents of extreme violence in soccer stadiums.

The Liga MX chief said last week he was willing to accept such an invitation when it was first mentioned a possibility last week. The date of the meeting has not been announced.

Two legislative proposals were introduced last week in response to the fan violence at the Querétaro-Atlas match 10 days ago. Both sought to regulate the so-called “barras bravas” (supporters’ groups).

The Liga MX Disciplinary Committee hit Querétaro with several penalties as a result of the horrific incident at La Corregidora Stadium.

Among the sanctions: Querétaro must play the rest of its games this season elsewhere and with no fans in attendance. On Monday, the Gallos Blancos announced they will play their Thursday “home” game at Estadio Morelos in Morelia, Michoacán.

Another mandate is that the Gallos Blancos team must be sold before the end of the calendar year. On Tuesday, there were reports that the Sinaloa government was trying to put together a package to transplant the organization to that northwestern state. That would give the state two Liga MX franchises (along with Mazatlán FC).

As part of the ongoing fallout from the riot, several Querétaro players are actively trying to leave the team, most notably Washington Aguerre. The Uruguayan goalie was among the Gallos Blancos players and coaches that tried to protect fans from the hooligans rampaging across the pitch.

Aguerre told reporters after the game that he had begged ref Fernando Guerrero to halt the match before things got out of control but the official dismissed the request.