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Jornada 5 Recap: Chivas Undisputed Number One
Goals continued to rain down in the 5th Jornada. A stunning game between Puebla and Pachuca had everyone at the edge of their seats, while America showed Cruz Azul whose boss. Monterrey continues their dominance against arch rival Tigres and Chivas remain unbeaten.
Feb 15, 2010 8:39:00 AM
By Sylvestre Adame
Jaguares 0-1 Queretaro
Santos 1-0 Toluca
Morelia 3-0 Atlas
Chivas 2-0 Atlante
San Luis 1-1 Indios
Pumas 1-1 Estudiantes
Puebla 3-5 Pachuca
America 2-0 Cruz Azul
Monterrey 2-1 Tigres
Chivas # 1, But Who’s # 2?
It’s obvious that Chivas are the number one team in Mexico. They have 5 straight wins and show no signs of stopping.
The problem right now isn’t guessing who is number one but who is the second best in the league?
On paper the next two teams that follow Chivas are Pachuca and Morelia. There is also another team who is yet to be defeated, Pumas. Queretaro, Morelia, and Pumas have received the least amount of goals. Pachuca leads the league in goals.
So it’s basically these four teams who have the statistics to compete for that second spot. Two of these teams however can be easily discarded.
Pumas would be the first. The felines do hold an undefeated record but it’s not nearly as impressive as Chivas’. Pumas have a real problem scoring. They have only netted 5 times this season, the bulk of those goals coming from Pablo Barrera. The players who need to pick up the slack are Dante Lopez, Martin Bravo and Leandro Augusto. This team is far from good. They showed signs of revival late last season but this team is lacking a true leader and maybe a coaching change would fix that.
Queretaro would have to be other team who’d be thrown out of the picture. Queretaro started the season on the right foot. They turned things around from last season and look to be safe from relegation. Los Gallos Blancos are one of the luckier teams in the league. They have a great record but they have a real problem getting the ball in the back of the net. They have as much goals as the worst team in the league and yet they hold the 5th spot. The key to Queretaro has been their defense but when they faced a very attack minded team like Chivas they faltered. Queretaro needs to find an offensive stroke if they plan to stay atop of the league.
This leaves Pachuca and Morelia fighting for that second spot.
Morelia is good but they are third place material. Las Monarcas haven’t had the most difficult of schedules to start the Bicentenario. They have only one loss and are carrying an impressive 4 game winning streak. They have an extremely good defense that has only given up 3 goals. There are some doubts though. Morelia should have shredded Indios to pieces because that’s what good teams do. Luis Gabriel Rey hasn’t been involved in scoring and Borgetti has done a pretty solid job so far but it’s only a matter of time before he get’s injured.
That makes Pachuca the second best team. This team looked like it would have a disastrous season after their ace, Christian Gimenez, was bought up by Cruz Azul. Pachuca knew just what they were doing. They had another Argentine waiting to fill “Chaco’s” spot. Dario Cvitanich came over from Ajax and seems to be doing better under Guillermo Rivarola than what Gimenez ever did. Still Pachuca looked very unstable when they were beaten by Queretaro. Since that loss Pachuca has scored 12 goals in the course of three games. This Pachuca team seems to have regained that attack that they’ve always been famous for. Pachuca is in second place but they shouldn’t be content with that. They will have a chance to take the top spot on Wednesday when they face off against Chivas in what is promising to be great game.
Who’s Your Daddy?
Sorry Cruz Azul fans but America officially owns you. 16 games in a row and La Maquina can’t find the wining formula against America. Actually Cruz Azul can’t find the winning formula against anyone right now.
“He deserves my respect; he can say what ever he wants to say. They have a prestigious institution where he’s at but they need to win titles and not just games,” said Christian Gimenez to Mediiotiempo.com
El Chaco was responding to some comments that Angel Reyna said which went a little like this: “They went from being our clients to being our sons”. Gimenez’s come back was not the best however.
First of all Gimenez said: “They need to win titles not just games.” Christian Gimenez has won titles with Pachuca but he needs to remember that he’s not wearing the same jersey anymore. His current team, Cruz Azul, have collapsed in the final 3 times in the past decade. America on the other hand managed two titles in the past decade.
Gimenez also mentioned that wining titles wasn’t as important as wining games. Maybe that’s why Cruz Azul failed in their last three attempts because Gimenez said that wining games is nothing they need to win titles. So I guess Cruz Azul has the same mentality when they get to the finals. Better yet they seem to be executing that plan greatly now that they’ve failed to win in four straight games.
So to Gimenez and the team that hasn’t won in four straight games, lost three in a row, collapsed in three finals, and who hasn’t beaten America in 16 games; when ever an America player asks you who’s your daddy, you know very well what the answer will be.
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not
Hot
1. Javier Hernandez- Has scored at least one goal in every game this season, I smell Europe.
2. Ulises Mendivil- vital piece in Pachuca’s win over Puebla plus he scored two goals
3. America- Completely owns Cruz Azul
4. Pachuca vs. Puebla- 8 goal display isn’t bad at all
5. Jose Francisco Torres- Bob Bradley doesn’t use him, why?
Not
1. Cruz Azul- the curse of Gimenez continues
2. Monterrey vs. Tigres- They didn’t sell alcoholic beverages during the game but they did so before the start of the match, so the idea is to have the fans drunk all through out the derby? That’s much safer I guess.
3. Toluca- One or two more losses and Jose Manuel de la Torre is out
4. Indios- San Luis scored for Indios and they were still unable to hold on and win
5. Atlante- When will Jose Guadalupe Cruz be fired?
Best XI
GK: Moises Muñoz (Morelia)
DEF: Oscar Rojas (America), Joaquin Beltran (Queretaro), Aquivaldo Mosquera (America), Adrian Aldrete (Morelia)
MID: Damian Manso (Pachuca), Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca), Pavel Pardo (America), Alberto Medina (Chivas)
FWD: Aldo De Nigris (Monterrey), Ulises Mendivil (Pachuca)
Best Game: Puebla vs. Pachuca
As expected goals would not be absent between these two clubs. The game provided lot’s of excitement. The game swayed to one side and then came back the other. Puebla took the first lead but then Pachuca went up 2-1. Puebla then stepped back on the gas to make it 3-2. Pachuca scored three unanswered goals there after which gave them the win.
Team of the Week: Morelia
Morelia showed that their loss in Argentina over the week meant nothing in the Mexican league. Las Monarcas came out strong against a surprisingly good Atlas team. Jared Borgetti scored his first as a member of Morelia and took his total to 249 goals scored in the top flight which ties him for third with the Paraguayan Jose Saturnino Cardozo.
Player of the Week: Ulises Mendivil
Ulises Mendivil takes the honors once more. The Pachuca striker bagged two goals in the thriller against Puebla. He also contributed with an assist and was a vital piece for Pachuca’s Victory.
Sylvestre Adame coveres the Mexican Primera Division for Goal.com.
For more coverage of the Mexican Primera Division, visit Goal.com's Mexico page.
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