Jornada 1 Results – July 30-31
Venados 4-1 Atlante
Santos Laguna 1-1 Correcaminos
Tijuana 2-0 Querétaro
Atlas 1-1 Pachuca
Toluca 1-0 Alebrijes de Oaxaca
Monterrey 2-1 Leones Negros
Pumas UNAM 1-1 Atlético San Luis
The revamped Copa MX gets underway this week with the first round of group stage games.
The Copa will now run for the entire 2019-2020 season, with the group stage in the Apertura and the knockout rounds in the Clausura; a total of 27 teams are participating, 15 from Liga MX and 12 from Ascenso MX, drawn into nine groups of three.
The winner of each group, as well as the seven best runners-up, will move on to the knockout rounds. Those will now consist of two-legged series, rather than a single game, and will begin in January.
All times Eastern, home team listed first.
The Disciplinary Committee has suspended three players in the aftermath of this weekend’s Jornada 1 matches.
Carlos Guerrero of León and Rodrigo Salinas of Toluca were both given one-game suspensions for serious foul play, while Julio César Domínguez of Cruz Azul was suspended one game for denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Santos Laguna finished the first week of the Apertura 2019 atop the table after their 3-0 victory against Chivas de Guadalajara, a result that also saw El Rebaño slip into last place.
The newly promoted Atlético San Luis lost as well, which keeps them at the foot of the Tabla de Cociente.
Scores
Puebla 1-3 Tijuana
Atlas 1-0 FC Juárez
Atlético San Luis 0-2 Pumas UNAM
Pachuca 1-3 León
América 4-2 Monterrey
Tigres UANL 4-2 Monarcas Morelia
Necaxa 0-0 Cruz Azul
Toluca 0-2 Querétaro
Santos Laguna 3-0 Chivas de Guadalajara
Santos Laguna earned a comfortable 3-0 victory against Chivas de Guadalajara to see them start the Apertura 2019 season at the top of the table.
Santos came out looking to make their home field advantage count, and they looked dangerous from the beginning, with Brian Lozano hitting the woodwork in the 11th minute. Chivas struggled to make their mark on the game, displaying a lack of creativity in the final third.
Querétaro picked up a 0-2 away win against 10-man Toluca to start their Apertura 2019 season off on a positive note.
The hosts had the first chance of the game, with Felipe Pardo getting into a dangerous spot, but his shot was deflected by Jair Pereira and went out for a corner kick. Querétaro created chances of their own, with Ayron del Valle forcing a save out of Alfredo Talavera, who also stopped an attempt by Alonso Escoboza.
Both teams had penalty kicks, but even so neither could break the deadlock as Necaxa and Cruz Azul played out a 0-0 draw to start their Apertura 2019 seasons.
These two faced each other less than a week ago in the SuperCopa MX, where Cruz Azul walked away with a 4-0 victory; La Máquina was not able to carry that form over into this match, however. The opening was cagey, with few chances of note for either side, although on the balance the visitors looked more dangerous.
Tigres UANL started their title defense with a convincing 4-2 victory against Monarcas Morelia in their Apertura 2019 debut.
The universitarios took control of the game from the opening minute and it was just a matter of time before they found the opening goal. The breakthrough came in the 19th minute through Luiz Rodríguez, whose shot from just outside the box made it 1-0 for the hosts.
Monterrey took the lead but couldn’t hold it as América came back for an emphatic 4-2 victory.
The game started off well for the Rayados, who took the lead in just the 7th minute. The Águilas lost the ball trying to play out of the back, and Rogelio Funes Mori took advantage to slip in behind the defense and make it 0-1 for Monterrey.
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.
