Clausura 2006 Week 15

Tigres 1 – 0 Jaguares

In a catfight, UANL Tigres wounded standings leader Chiapas Jaguares 1-0.

Melvin Brown fell down in the 25th minute but left the ball in front of Aldo De Nigris, who just touched the ball softly for the lone score.

Despite the win, Tigres are still fifth in Group 3, 10 points behind overall leader, Jaguares with 30 points.

Atlante 1 – 0 Pumas

Guillermo Vazquez tasted defeat for the first time as his Pumas fell 0-1 away to the Colts of Atlante on Saturday.

Chilean Patricio Galaz scored in the 65th minute for the Colts, who halted Pumas two-game win streak, knocking the cats to third in Group 2, while they stayed close to San Luis in Group 1 lead with 21 points.

Veracruz 1 – 0 Monterrey

Fighting to remain in the First Division, the Red Sharks fought off the Rayados 1-0 with a Gustavo Bizcayzacu goal.

The Uruguayan striker fired a ball off a Joel Sanchez pass for the game’s only score barely into the first minute.

Veracruz is fifth in Group 2 with 18 points, and along with Atlas and Sinaloa, are fighting relegation, while last season’s runner-up continue hurting, in the Group 3 cellar with 17 points.

Cruz Azul 1 – 3 Club America

Padilla’s two goals helped the Eagles get an important away victory 3-1 over playoff contenders Cruz Azul.

Down 0-1 in the first half after a Miguel Sabah goal, Club America rallied behind two scores from Aaron Padilla in the 62nd and 72nd to take the lead, then “Piojo” Lopez added an insurance goal in stoppage time.

Both teams are fighting for playoff spots: Cruz is second in Group 3 with 24 points while America is third in Group 1 with 20.

San Luis 2 – 3 Pachuca

The Tuzos defeated San Luis away 3-2 to steal the overall lead from Chiapas and complicate their opponents’ First Division survival.

Pachuca played lights out as they grabbed a 3-0 lead off scores from Colombian Andres Chitiva (13), Luis Angel Landin (47) and Argentine-Mexican Gabriel Caballero (51).

San Luis, which is fighting off relegation despite being in first place in Group 1 with 22 points, rallied behind goals from Angel Reyna in the 61st and Ariel Gonzalez in the 83rd.

Pachuca has 30 points in the Group 2 table but have a better goal differential than the Jaguares.

Chivas 0 – 3 Atlas

Two goals by Emanuel Villa helped the Zorros crush the Chivas away 3-0 in the Guadalajara derby.

One of the teams trying to stave off relegation, Atlas struck their local archrivals a lethal blow, with goals from Argentinean Emanuel Villa – off a rebound in the 51st, and 75th – sandwiched between a Daniel Osorno goal in the 54th.

After being stripped of 6 players by the national team for the World Cup ’06, Chivas have strggled mightily the past two weeks, yet remain third in Group 3 with 22 points, while Atlas is on their heels with 20.

Necaxa 0 – 0 Morelia

In a battle of two teams in the bottom of Group 1, the Monarchs earned a scoreless away draw at Necaxa Rayos.

Morelia is 4th with 18 points and Necaxa is last with 15.

Sinaloa 1 – 1 Toluca

Abreu’s penalty kick saves the Dorados from losing at home to a young Toluca as they salvage a 1-1 draw.

Fighting relegation, Sinaloa is 4th in Group 2 with 18 points, while the defending champs, Red Devils are three points higher in the same group, and in second place.

Santos 1 – 1 Tecos

In a showdown of two of the Clausura 2006’s worst teams, Guadalajara University got the slight edge with an away 1-1 draw at Santos Laguna, the worst team in the league with just one win.

Argentinean Diego Daniel Colotto scored in the 23rd minute for the Tecos, but Argentine striker, Mattias Vuosso’s 89th minute header sealed the draw.

UA de G is 5th in Group 1 with 18 points while Santos is in the Group 2 cellar with a mere 12.

Playoff race

Just two weeks left in the season. The 18 teams in the Mexican First Division, split into three groups, meet each other once in the regular season. The top two teams in each group qualify along plus the two teams with the most points regardless of group, to the ‘liguilla’, a two-legged playoffs.

Current playoff race:

Group 1

San Luis
Atlante

Group 2

Pachuca
Toluca

Group 3

Chiapas
Cruz Azul

At large:

Chivas
Atlas

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