Pachuca snapped a two-game losing streak with an emphatic 0-4 away win against Puebla. The result gives the Tuzos their first victory of the Apertura 2019, while the Poblanos are still looking for their first win.
Pachuca didn’t take long to find the breakthrough, taking the lead in just the 6th minute. Jonathan Copete sent a perfect pass to Víctor Guzmán, who slipped in behind the defense and slotted his shot into the lower corner to make it 0-1.
10-man Pachuca took the lead but couldn’t hold it as a stoppage-time goal gave Querétaro the come-from-behind 2-1 win. The result keeps the Gallos Blancos unbeaten in the Apertura and lifts them to the top of the table – pending the rest of this weekend’s results – while the Tuzos remain winless.
The visitors started the game off strongly and they put Gil Alcalá to work early on, most notably in the 12th minute, when the keeper made a great point-blank save on Franco Jara to keep the game level. But the complexion of the game changed in the 16th minute when Pachuca went down to 10 men.
Rubens Sambueza made his debut with Pachuca but couldn’t help the Tuzos get on track as they fell 1-2 to Monarcas Morelia. The result gives the michoacanos their first victory of the season while the Tuzos remain winless.
Pachuca came out attacking as they looked to get their season on track in front of their home fans, and Franco Jara had an early opportunity to put them ahead – and become the Tuzos’ all-time leading goal-scorer – but it came to naught.
Both teams had the lead at one time or another in this back-and-forth game, but in the end Veracruz and Pachuca had to settle for a 3-3 draw. The Tiburones Rojos will be heartened by the good play they showed in their Apertura debut (after having had a bye week in Jornada 1), while the Tuzos remain winless this season.
Pachuca was looking to avoid a second straight defeat, and they started this one off well. Franco Jara gave them the lead in the 8th minute as he drove into the area, cut around his defender, and sent his shot past the sprawling Sebastián Jurado to make it 0-1. That goal also tied Jara with Gabriel Caballero as Pachuca’s all-time leading goalscorer with 69.
Pachuca’s defense looked disjointed from the start as León picked up a 1-3 away win despite finishing the game with just 10 players.
León appeared to have taken the lead just minutes in, but the would-be goal was controversially disallowed. In the 5th minute, Ismael Sosa received the ball in the box but had it taken away before he could shoot; however, failed to clear it and Sosa won the ball back and put it into the net, only for a foul to be called.
Like the first leg, Pachuca took the lead but couldn’t hold it as Tigres UANL came back for a 1-1 draw. That left the series tied 2-2 on aggregate, and with away goals level at one apiece, Tigres advanced due to the higher-seed tiebreaker.
The onus to score was on Pachuca from the beginning; a 0-0 draw in this second leg would have sent Tigres through. The Tuzos were measured in their efforts, though, and even as they pressed forward they remained organized in the back. Tigres were unable to do much to trouble Alfonso Blanco, while at the other end Nahuel Guzmán made several good saves to keep Tigres ahead in the series.
Tigres UANL vs Pachuca – 8:00 PM – Univision
First leg: Pachuca 1-1 Tigres
Saturday’s clash between these two will be a winner-takes-all affair after a draw on Wednesday night. Tigres, with both an away goal and the advantage of being the higher seed, are in a more comfortable position; in addition to a win, they would go through with either a goalless draw or another 1-1 result. The universitarios lost just once in El Volcán in the regular season, and drew just once as well; their other six games all ended in victories.
On the other hand, to say Pachuca did not travel well would be an understatement; the Tuzos did not win a single one of their nine away games, picking up four draws and five losses on their travels. They also managed just six goals on the road, while allowing 21. Pachuca will need a much better result here if they want to move on to the semifinals.
Pachuca took the lead but couldn’t hold it as Tigres UANL came back for a 1-1 draw in the first leg of this quarterfinal series.
The Tuzos were perfect at home in the regular season, and they came out looking for a ninth straight win in the Estadio Hidalgo. The game was even, though, with neither team able to take control. Then, in the 18th minute, an own-goal gave Pachuca the lead.
Pachuca vs Tigres UANL – 8:00 PM – Univision Deportes
Pachuca (7th) finished off the regular season with a 2-1 loss to León, a result that ended their five-game unbeaten streak. They’ll look to bounce back in their quarterfinal opener, and they were unbeaten at home in the regular season, amassing an 8-0-0 record in the Estadio Hidalgo. They’ll look to put that home field advantage to good use here, especially knowing that they failed to win a single game on the road in the Clausura 2019. The Tuzos will need to get this series off to a good start if they want to advance. Pachuca was also plagued by defensive difficulties this season, and they allowed the most goals of any of the Liguilla teams – on the other hand, they allowed just five goals in their eight home matches, while scoring 26 of their own. Continue reading
Pachuca had a goal disallowed but still did enough to beat 9-man Atlas 1-0. The result gives the Tuzos eight consecutive home wins, keeping them perfect in the Estadio Hidalgo and guaranteeing them a playoff spot, while the Rojinegros have now lost three in a row.
The star of the game was VAR, which intervened on several notable occasions. The first VAR incident came in the 6th minute; following review, the yellow card given to Andrés Andrade for a hard tackle on Jorge Hernández was changed to a straight red, leaving the visitors with 10 just minutes into the game.
