Cruz Azul lost the race for the leadership of the Liga Mx. Although they pushed until the last date to take the best position, La Maquina fell 3-2 to Pumas at the Cuauhtémoc stadium and handed the top of the tournament to Toluca, now ranking in third place. The cats, on the other hand, achieved the mission of integrating the group of the 10 best to advance to the play-in round.
Although the cement team will define the quarterfinal series at home against Guadalajara, sixth with the most points, it will not be able to count on starters Lorenzo Faravelli and Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier, one expelled and the other with a shin injury after a violent foul by Panamanian Adalberto Carrasquilla that referee Fernando Hernández sanctioned only with a yellow card.
For the university students, the victory sealed the possibility of facing Pachuca, ninth ranked, in one of the two matches corresponding to the old playoff. Tijuana and Bravos de Juárez, seventh and eighth, will compete in the other tie. As for the clubs with a direct ticket to the league, the Cruz Azul-Chivas and América-Monterrey keys are the only ones confirmed. The Devils, leaders and defending monarchs, will wait, like the deputy leader Tigres, for those who win through the play-in.
A goal from midfielder Jorge Ruvalcaba (4), from the right and into the corner of goalkeeper Miero, put Pumas ahead on the scoreboard. Then, the reaction of La Maquina, including a double by Gabriel Toro Fernández (14 and 19), momentarily left those led by Efraín Juárez out of any aspiration. José Juan Macías aggravated the situation for his team by suffering an injury to his left knee, but finally the comeback came in the final stretch.
The Colombian Álvaro Angulo, from a penalty (80), and Alan Medina (85) turned the tables in the final minutes. All from the expulsion of Faravelli for a late sweep and the departure of Mier due to injury, which caused angry complaints from the light blue team.
