Pachuca defeats an America that is still in crisis 3-1

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Argentine coach Santiago Solari said he has listened to the demands of the América fans at the Azteca stadium after one more loss in the Clausura tournament, but that is not why he intends to give up.

Not yet.

With annotations from the Argentine Nicolás Ibáñez, the Colombian Avilés Hurtado and Víctor Guzmán, Pachuca defeated on Sunday 3-1 the Águilas that continue without finding their way and are in the last places of the Mexican Clausura tournament.

Ibáñez first shook the nets in the 23rd minute, Hurtado added a goal in the 40th minute and Guzmán sentenced the victory in the 76th minute.

With the result, Pachuca accumulates 13 points with which it is placed in second position for better goal difference than Tigres.

The Tuzos had not beaten the Águilas at the Azteca stadium since May 2017.

“This has to drive us to continue giving in, but I am very happy with the effort of the players who played very well and we got a fair result,” said Uruguayan coach Guillermo Almada.

Almada took over from his compatriot Paulo Pezzolano, who could not classify them to the league in the previous tournament.

“The boys have quickly learned the idea that it is not better or worse than what the previous coach did, but it is different, and they feel identified, that is why they work tirelessly and there are the results,” added Almada.

Unlike Almada who is arriving, Solari is in his third tournament with the azulcremas and the team is going backwards as the weeks go by, so it was not surprising that he was booed before, during and after the game.

“The fans have the right to express themselves and clearly in these moments the strange thing would be for them to applaud us… the match was not good,” said Solari. “Right now everything is costing us a little more, we have a lot of weakness in defense, they score a lot of goals and it’s something we have to solve quickly”.

Henry Martín scored in the 55th minute for América, which lost for the fourth time in its last five games and remains with four units, in 16th place among 18 teams in the highest category.

It is a slow start for the Eagles who have won just one of their last 11 games. America did not start a tournament with four losses in its first six games since the 1973-74 season.

“Sport is about overcoming adversity, never giving up and fighting until the end and I’m not going to give up,” Solari stressed. “In some games we have not competed to win and those responsible for responding are us, me in what corresponds to me and the players in their role as footballers, we are all”.

THE MACHINE IS BACK ON TRACK

With goals from Paraguayan Juan Escobar and Carlos Rodríguez, plus a double from Santiago Giménez, Cruz Azul returned to the path of victory by beating Toluca 4-1.

Escobar put the Machine in front in the sixth minute, the Brazilian Camilo Sanvezzo tied the game in the 19th, but Rodríguez turned it around in the 62nd and Giménez set the course for the commitment with goals in the 79th and 82nd minutes.

Giménez had not scored a goal in the league since last August, a drought that ended in a three-minute stretch.

With the result, Cruz Azul returned to winning ways after losing to Necaxa last week and has accumulated 13 points, placing it in third place in the table, only surpassed by Pachuca, which has more goals.

Toluca saw a three-game winning streak broken and remains with nine points, in seventh place in the standings.

The Machine took the lead on a corner kick play in which Escobar beat his markers and hit a header that left goalkeeper Luis García without a chance.

The Red Devils leveled when Sanvezzo received a cross from the right and connected a powerful shot to get past goalkeeper José de Jesús Corona.

Cruz Azul regained the advantage in the complement when Rodríguez received a cross from Rafael Baca and connected a header that entered the center of the goal.

Giménez set the game on course by converting a penalty committed on Uriel Antuna and then extended the lead with a header.

ATLAS AND PUMAS DO NOT HURT EACH OTHER

In Guadalajara, the reissue of one of the semifinals in last year’s Apertura did not have the drama of that occasion, and on Sunday Atlas and Pumas tied 0-0.

En route to their first championship in 70 years, the Foxes left the university students on the road in a series that ended tied 1-1 with controversy included when a penalty was not awarded in a play in which the Argentine Juan Dinenno was fractured.

With Sunday’s result, Atlas remains undefeated, but with 12 units it has already slipped from second to fifth position.

Pumas tied for the first time in the Clausura and has accumulated 10 points with which it remains in sixth position.

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