What We Learned From Saturday’s Liga MX Games

Liga Mx / / By

This late in the season teams that are going to have a legitimate chance to win it all start to emerge. At the same time, we’re seeing which teams may end up falling short despite a decent season so far. It was a wild Saturday in Liga MX with two games coming down to the wire and being decided by goalkeeper goals in the last play of the game. Both Santos, and Pumas were able to tie their respective matchups due to goals by their goalkeepers in last minute corners. That’s certainly not something that you see every day. Apart from that novelty though, both of those games showed us that a few teams may be more pretenders than contenders.

A Couple Of Teams Hurt Their Title Chances With Their Performances Saturday  

In Liga MX you just have to make the tournament, and you have a chance to win the title. However, a few teams that considered themselves championship hopefuls showed Saturday that they may not have what it takes. Tigres’ fall to Club Leon was perhaps the surprise of the week. Tigres were at home, and Leon had been one of the worst defenses in the entire league up to that point. For all of their stars Tigres doesn’t seem to have that one player that can help revitalize the team with a second half push. If Gignac is not scoring goals no one else is. That’s not a great sign. 

Although the Carlos Acevedo goal helps mask the result, and may give the team a boost coming into their next game the fact remains that Santos were a fluke play away from dropping a game to Queretaro. You can’t have those types of games in the playoffs, or you’re going to get ousted quickly. Santos has had an amazing season, particularly taking into account who they have on their roster. It’s hard to see them though making a deep playoff push if they have even one game like the one they just had.    

Toluca was the other team on the wrong end of a goalkeeper header that cost them the game. Jean Meneses was the bright spot for Toluca; he ran circles around the Pumas defense all game. Ultimately though they were going to luck into a win thanks to a Julio Gonzalez blunder. The draw was a fair result, and Toluca just doesn’t seem to be able to regain its early season form.   

Who Are The Real Contenders?

It’s not just that Club America won again, it’s how they won. After going down 1-0 to Necaxa the team literally tilted the field towards the Necaxa side the entire second half. Their pressure was relentless, and ultimately they were able to finish off the comeback. This team has a lot of different players that can make plays, including the likes of Jonathan Dos Santos, and Miguel Layun, who many people thought were virtually done for. The two men contributed quite a bit to the victory today.

Even though Monterrey played on Friday we can include them in the contender list. You sometimes get the sense that the team could do a little more. They let Cruz Azul hang around a bit longer than they should have, and the same can be said about their last game against Juarez FC. Ultimately they won both games, and that’s Victor Manuel Vucetich tactics for you in a nutshell. Even if the team isn’t looking great, his teams have that magic touch, and they use it to find ways to win games even when they don’t play their best. This team is the most dangerous squad in Liga MX. Rayados, and America are by far and away the two favorites to lift the trophy at the end of the year. 

An honorable mention has to go to Chivas though who again found a way to win despite the fact that the team is still lacking offensive efficiency. Pachuca is the other team that could find a way to lift the trophy at the end of the year, but we won’t see them until later today! 

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