MEXICO CITY (AP) — In his presentation as the new Pumas coach, Antonio Mohamed said they will do everything possible to qualify for the Clausura tournament playoffs in Mexico. So far, it’s on the right track.
With three goals in the first half, the college team beat Toluca 3-1 on Sunday to enter the area that awards a reclassification pass.
Argentines Juan Dinenno and Eduardo Salvio scored from the first minute and at 44, while César Huerta netted at 38.
The Pumas picked up their second win in a row, both with Argentinian Mohamed on the bench, and they now have 17 points to move into 11th with two dates remaining on the regular schedule.
The first four teams in the table advance directly to the league. The next eight meet in a requalification to complete the quarter-finals.
“I want to congratulate the footballers for the effort and for the desire to want to go where we are, when the day is over we will probably depend on ourselves and that is what we are looking for,” said Mohamed. “You have to recover the energy to think about what will happen.”
What lies ahead for the university students is a complicated closing of the tournament in which they will have to visit America and then Monterrey, the two teams that set the tone for the championship.
“There are two tough away games left, but we will keep dreaming that we can achieve it,” added the Argentine strategist. “We know the degree of difficulty, but there is hope, that’s why we are competing, to be at the top and it is worth being excited about, hopefully we will be up to it.” Mohamed took over after the dismissal of Rafael Puente, who left the penultimate club after four straight defeats.
Paraguayan Carlos González scored a 30th-minute penalty for the Red Devils, who went on a four-game break-free streak.
Toluca finished with 10 due to the expulsion of Chilean Jean Meneses at 59 and with the defeat he remains at 28 units, third in the championship, barely overtaken by Monterrey (34) and América (30).
“I don’t like to lose, but it’s one of the defeats to take advantage of. There are six points left and we count on ourselves,” said Diablos Rojos coach Ignacio Ambriz. “You have to come back to humility, it’s a good stick for us and we know we have to improve.”
The Pumas took the lead almost immediately when Pablo Bennevendo sent a cross from the right into the box where Dinenno escaped and headed home which left Brazilian goalkeeper Tiago Volpi with no chance.
Later, Arturo Ortiz handballed inside the box for a penalty which González converted with a shot past goalkeeper Julio González’s left post.
The Pumas regained the lead thanks to excellent play from Huerta, who evaded a few markers on the left and finished with a powerful shot to the left post from Volpi.
Huerta took part in the next scoreline as he was knocked down inside the box for a penalty, which ‘Toto’ Salvio converted with a powerful shot that entered through the center of the goal.