Club Tijuana confirmed its spot in the Liga MX postseason over the weekend, while Pachuca and Tigres are on the brink with three rounds of matches remaining in the 2017 Apertura.
Here are five takes from the weekend that was:
1. Team of the Week
2. Chivas, Pachuca serve up Sunday special
When Pachuca's Jonathan Urretaviscaya received the ball inside his own half in the 87th minute, there didn't seem to be much danger. His Tuzos team -- who had gone down to 10 players when Hirving Lozano was sent off in the 67th minute -- was simply trying to hold on at 1-1 and scrape a draw with Chivas piling forward.
Fifteen seconds later, Chivas keeper Rodolfo Cota was picking the ball out of the net. No one else had even touched it. Who said this was a team sport?
It was a "goal from another planet," as Chivas coach Matias Almeyda described it afterwards, from Urretaviscaya and one that put the icing on a game that was a great advert for the Liga MX.
Nineteen of the 22 starters were Mexican in a league increasingly made up of foreigners. This was billed as a showcase of young talent like Lozano, Orbelin Pineda, Michael Perez, Erick Gutierrez and Erick Aguirre, but it was also an opportunity to see Pachuca coach Diego Alonso and Chivas' Almeyda go up against each other. They are two talented managers who potentially have big futures beyond Mexico's borders.
There was penalty controversy and the game flowed back and forth until Lozano's sending off, with Chivas generally dictating play. Almeyda's side will certainly feel hard done by not to get anything from the match.
Pachuca walked away from Estadio Chivas with an unlikely win in the end, but the overriding feeling is that a Tuzos against Chivas series would make for a mouthwatering Liguilla matchup. Both teams are certainly title contenders.
Video: pic.twitter.com/Pj8GMVpglo
- Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) October 24, 2016
3. Tomas Boy resigns from Cruz Azul, Meza out at Morelia
The writing had seemed to be on the wall for Tomas Boy and a goal in second-half injury time from Puebla's Alvaro Navarro was the final blow. The 2-1 defeat to La Franja on Saturday pretty much ended La Maquina's chances of making the playoffs and Boy's reign as Cruz Azul coach.
Boy's year in charge of La Maquina was full of incident, usually in a negative sense. There was a devastating defeat to Mexico City rival Club America in round 8 of the Apertura, in which Cruz Azul was 3-0 up and Las Aguilas came back to win 4-3. Then there were the celebration dances, taking out his wallet and waving it towards the officials after his player had been sent off last weekend and the Copa MX defeat to Queretaro during midweek.
At a club that pumps money into the playing staff, hasn't won a title since 1997 and is a long way off the pace this Apertura in an improving league, questions will once again be raised about just how the institution is being run.
Boy wasn't the only managerial casualty of the weekend, however. At his former club Morelia, veteran Enrique Meza was fired with the club mired in relegation problems.
4. Tigres rediscover attacking flare ahead of Monterrey derby
After the third and final goal of the day for Tigres, Ismael Sosa stood up, touched his heart and raised his clasped hands up in the air, pleading for forgiveness. He had just scored on the team that brought him to Liga MX to give Tigres a 3-1 victory over Pumas who, up until Sunday, had won all of their home games in the Apertura.
Although Andre-Pierre Gignac missed the match due to injury, Tigres ended a three-game winless streak. French striker Andy Delort scored his first goal in Liga MX play, while Lucas Zelarayan got an invaluable opportunity as the team's no. 10 and impressed by scoring a fantastic free kick.
The win solidifies Tigres' top place on the table, while Pumas will head into Week 15 out of the playoff picture. Gignac should be ready to go for next Saturday's Clasico Regiomontano.
5. Necaxa, Leon flying as playoff race intensifies
There is no doubt who the form teams are right now in the Liga MX: Leon and Necaxa.
Leon rolled over Morelia 3-1 on Saturday to make it three consecutive victories for La Fiera and move into the final playoff spot. Goals from Mauro Boselli, German Cano and Maximiliano Moralez sealed the win for Leon, who pile crosses into the box like no other side in Liga MX.
The team is undefeated in all seven games since Argentine Javier Torrente took over and the confidence is radiating from the players, especially central midfield duo Alexander Mejia and Leo Lopez, who have formed a good understanding.
Necaxa had to suffer a little bit more for its 3-2 win on Saturday against Veracruz. Claudio Riano netted a late winner, but with Manuel Iturra, Fabian Espindola, Edson Puch, Jesus Isijara and goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero all on form, Los Rayos are the surprise package of the Apertura to date. The team lies in sixth place in the Liga MX and is unbeaten since Aug. 8, a run of nine games.