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.”
TIGERS DOESN’T REACT IN LEAGUE
The Tigres salvaged a 0-0 draw on their visit to Querétaro to consolidate in the league’s play-off zone.
The varsity team extended their MX League winless streak to five and with their 22 units they remain in seventh place.
The Tigers beat Motagua of Honduras in the middle of the week to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals, but in the local tournament they did not wake up.
Four of the five games without a win were under the technical guidance of Marco Antonio Ruiz, who was fired and his place was taken by Uruguayan Robert Dante Siboldi.
Querétaro has 17 units and is 12th, but will not be able to qualify for the playoffs because they were the worst team in the average table which previously defined relegation and by regulation they are unable to fight for the title.
THE SAINTS DREAM AGAIN
Thanks to a penalty goal from the Colombian Harodl Preciado in remission, Santos won a 2-1 victory against Monterrey which helped him in his desire to go to the playoffs.
Rogelio Funes Mori put Rayados ahead after 20 minutes, Argentina’s Juan Brunetta equalized the game at 23 and Preciado went from 11 to 90.
Monterrey ended the game with 10 men due to Funes Mori being sent off at 40 minutes.
Santos also found himself with a player less due to the sending off of the Argentinian Lucas González, in the first half discounts.
With the result, the Warriors accumulate 19 points and move from 14th to 9th position with only two dates remaining.
Monterrey, which already has its place in the championship, remains with 34 units and remains first.