Mexican Primera, Clausura Week 6: Chivas Lose Again, America Stumble

Unlike last season in the Mexican Primera, the relegation race continues to be extremely tight. Most of the teams that are fighting the drop were in action on Saturday, with only one of them doing themselves any favors. Elsewhere, Chivas Guadalajara kept themselves rooted to the bottom of the table with another bad performance while Club America dropped points in disappointing fashion.

Jaguares Chiapas 3-0 Queretaro

Even though they've made two Liguilla appearances and a Copa Libertadores appearance over the last three tournaments, Jaguares Chiapas are still fighting the drop. They took a big step towards distancing themselves from the bottom on Saturday, with a 3-0 win over relegation rivals Queretaro. Jackson Martinez scored early, but Queretaro did well to keep themselves in the game into the second half.

The game changed in the 59th minute when Gallos Blancos midfielder Germán Alemanno was shown a straight red card. From then on, Jaguares were the better team and went on to score twice more. Martinez completed a brace and fellow Colombian striker Franco Arizala scored the other goal.

Monterrey 2-0 Chivas Guadalajara

Six rounds in and this already looks like a throwaway tournament for Chivas. They're winless and bottom of the table, and they don't look better than that record. Monterrey weren't at their best and didn't bring on Humberto Suazo until the 61st minute. When he came on, he changed the game and set up Aldo de Nigris' opening goal in the 70th minute. Angel Reyna scored the clincher six minutes later.

Pachuca 2-0 Estudiantes Tecos

As the weeks go by, it looks more and more unlikely that Tecos will pull off a miracle to avoid the drop. On Saturday, they were picked apart by a man that they willingly traded to Pachuca, Mauro Cejas. The Argentinian No. 10, who is in absolutely ridiculous form this season, put up both a goal and an assist in the first half. To add insult to injury for Tecos, Rubens Sambueza was sent off in stoppage time.

San Luis 0-2 UANL Tigres

Defending champions Tigres looked very much like the title holders on Saturday as they completely outplayed San Luis, who did not look like the home side. Israel Jimenez scored in the first half, and the game felt over at that point. Lucas Lobos would add a second goal in the second half. The win took Tigres top of the table.

Atlas 1-1 Club America

Though Chivas fans have to be upset with their team, at least they can take a little bit of comfort from the fact that Club America haven't figured out what ails them quite yet. The Super Eagles look better this season than last, but there's little excuse for not getting all three points against Atlas. Juan Carlos Chávez's conservative style worked well on Saturday, containing the America attack. Both goals were scored by defenders following set plays; Hugo Rodriguez scored for Atlas and Paul Aguilar scored America's equalizer.

Atlante 0-2 Toluca

Ivan Alonso's signing looked like a coup for Toluca when it happened, but no one could have imagined that he would be this dominant. After ending the Apertura as the tournament's leading scorer, he's continued his tear in the Clausura. He was the scorer of both goals for Toluca, taking him to seven in the Clausura. Across both tournaments, he has 18 goals in 23 starts. Atlante had gotten off to a solid start in the Clausura, and will be disappointed with a home loss.

Two goals in two minutes by Miguel Sabah made the difference Friday night, as Monarcas Morelia beat league leaders Santos Laguna 3-1. The hosts got off to a fast start, as they went for goal from the first whistle and tried to build a commanding lead. In fact, Sabah nearly got the scoring started in the 2nd minute when he tapped a slow rolling ball towards goal, only for Rafael Figueroa to clear it out in time for Santos. From there, the first twenty minutes of the match were open, but Morelia had the upper hand, and made use of their advantage.

First, in the 23rd minute, Edgar Lugo won the ball in the corner in Santos' end on a hustle play, then easily beat the defender, and passed the ball into the box. Sabah was making a streaking run into the area, and hit a well-placed angled shot to give Morelia a 1-0 lead. Although Sabah had a great shot, Lugo deserves full credit for setting up the goal.

Just two minutes later, Christian Valdez had the ball on the right side of midfield and sent a long lob towards the box after seeing Sabah make another run. Sabah took the ball down well, beat two Santos defenders, and scored easily. From there, it seemed likely Sabah would get a quick hat trick, but two excellent saves by Santos goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez kept the scoreline respectable. The most impressive save came in the 33rd minute when he made a reflex save on a point blank shot by Sabah, followed by a sliding tackle in the box to dispossess Sabah of the ball in the 44th minute. While Sanchez let in three goals, he certainly deserves credit for making up for his defenders' poor performance on the night.

Santos cut Morelia's lead in the 29th minute when Christian Suarez crossed the ball in from the left wing. Live, it looked like Darwin Quintero got on the end of the ball and scored, while replays indicate Morelia's Adrian Aldrete may have beaten Quintero to the ball and scored an own goal. Regardless of who scored it, the goal gave Santos hope heading into the final hour of the match.

While the first half was open and exciting, the teams tightened up defensively in the second half and fouls and yellow cards disrupted the game's rhythm. Sabah had another chance early in the second half, but as he tried to pass the ball to a teammate, his touch was off and he lost the ball. But Edgar Lugo got the final goal in second half injury time as he was on the end of an excellent pass into the box, and he scored emphatically. Meanwhile, Santos hustled in the second half, but they couldn't really get their attack going.

The loss for Santos means Tigres or Atlante could catch them atop the standings this weekend with wins, while Morelia leaps all the way from ninth overall to second, at least for a day. Santos will be disappointed with a performance that was largely flat on both ends of the field, but Morelia seems destined for the liguilla at this point in the season, and probably deserve to be sitting higher than ninth. As long as Sabah stays hot, they look like a very dangerous team, even for the top teams in the league.