Liga MX Apertura 2015 – Week 2 Recap

32 Flags is pleased to announce that we will report on the Liga MX Apertura 2015, the highest division of Mexican soccer, on a weekly basis and bring you the highlights, recaps, and scores of the week.

News Summary:

  • The Monterrey/Puebla match up that was supposed to take place this weekend was rescheduled for October, as Monterrey had a wonderful inauguration of their new stadium, the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, in which they played against Portuguese side Benfica for the 2015 Eusébio Cup. Los Rayados thrashed Benfica 3-0.
  • América has lost their second consecutive game losing 3-1 to Atlas in the Estadio Azteca, with rumors that recently sacked manager of the Mexican national team Miguel Herrera was seen visiting the club headquarters.
  • Speaking of América (no pun intended), USMNT defender Ventura Alvarado scored a goal in their game against Atlas. Sadly, it was an own goal that sealed las Águilas’ loss to the visiting team.
  • Mauro Boselli (León) was at it again having scored two goals for the second consecutive game, leading the Mexican league with four goals so far.
  • Ariel Nahuelpan also scored two goals helping Pachuca beat Querétaro and trails Boselli by one goal for the league leading scorer position.
  • Tigres really want to win the Copa Libertadores as they played their Liga MX game against Morelia with mostly substitutes, surely to rest up their starting squad for their August 5th match up in Buenos Aires. They lost to Monarcas 1-0.
  • Chivas lost to Cruz Azul 1-0, and as of right now sit in the last position of the relegation table, which is a bad sign for one of the most prestigious clubs in Mexican soccer.

Notable Games:

Monterrey vs. Benfica: 

Although technically not a league game, you couldn’t ignore the buzz surrounding the inauguration of Monterrey’s new state of the art stadium. “La nueva joya del fútbol mexicano” (the newest jewel of Mexican football) as some people were calling it, saw a phenomenal performance from the home side as they easily did away with Portuguese side Benfica for the 2015 Eusébio Cup.

All of the 51,000 spectators at the sold out Estadio BBVA Bancomer were awaiting the first goal in the new stadium and it was substitute César Montes who blessed the new field with a beautiful header from a set piece to give Monterrey the 1-0. Rogelio Funes Morí scored eight minutes later from the penalty spot and Santiago Rivera scored another amazing header, beating an outstretched Júlio César, to complete the 3-0 victory giving La Pandilla their first win in their new home.

Dorados vs. Tijuana:

Dorados started off their campaign in the first division with a scoreless draw with Chiapas and wanted to really come out in this game to show critics that they belong in the top flight of Mexican football. They traveled to Tijuana to take on the Xolos on Friday night, and came from behind to win their first three points of the season, a pivotal win if they want to beat out Chivas in the race for the drop.

Tijuana got off to a great start, scoring in the 22nd minute thanks to a goal by Dayro Moreno, a rocket that almost took off Dorados’ goalkeeper Luis Michel’s head off. At the half, Tijuana dominated the scoreline as well as possession and it looked as if Dorados were staring their first loss in the face. However, El Gran Pez came out firing on all cylinders after the half, maintaining possession as well as taking advantage of their set pieces.

Off a set piece is exactly where Dorados’ first goal came from as Martín “El Pampa” Romero rose above all and delivered a bouncing header that beat Tijuana’s Federico Villar for the equalizer. 16 minutes later, a failed clearance by Xolos in the box led to consecutive headers by Dorados, the last of which, found Héctor Raúl Mancilla who only had to softly head in the ball for the 2-1 lead. The lead would hold and Dorados earned their first victory of the Apertura.

Golazos of the Week:

Jesús Escoboza – Santos. Jesús Escoboza channeled his inner Johan Cruyff as he cheekily fooled his man with a cut back and just fired a pinpoint strike that Chiapas keeper Jorge Villalpando could not reach.

Franco ArizalaAtlas. Scoring two goals against América is no small feat, but scoring a goal like this on one of the best goalkeepers in the league? This goal was a screamer.

Carlos RodríguezToluca. Good heads up by Rodríguez to not lose possession when everyone of his teammates was arguing for a foul, and it led to a wonder strike from inside the box to give Toluca a 1-0 lead.

Scores:

Querétaro1 (Emmanuel Villa 14′)

Pachuca2 (Ariel Nahuelpan 45’+[p] & 46′)

 

Tijuana1 (Dayro Moreno 23′)

Dorados2 (Martín “Pampa” Romero 56′, Héctor Raúl Mancilla 72′)

 

América1 (Dario Benedetto 40′)

Atlas3 (Franco Arizala 23′ & 90’+, Ventura Alvarado [OG] 46′)

 

León4 (Miguel Sabah 67′, Guillermo Burdisso 73′, Mauro Boselli 80′[p] & 84′)

Veracruz1 (Juan Albin 20′)

 

Morelia1 (Armando Zamorano 73′)

Tigres UANL0

 

Chiapas(Silvio Romero 56′, Gabriel Farfán 81′)

Santos(Jesús Escoboza 22′)

 

Toluca(Carlos Rodríguez 18′, Enrique Triverio 47′)

Pumas UNAM(Matías Britos 72′)

 

Cruz Azul1 (Fabio Santos 67′)

Chivas0

 

 

About Josh Espinal

I am a multimedia journalism graduate from the University of Texas at El Paso. Soccer is more than a passion for me, it's basically life. Follow me on twitter at @joshbruv and see me tweet about soccer in almost every language imaginable.

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