Pumas took advantage of some terrible defending to beat Monterrey at home 5-3. Matias Britos scored a hat-trick and Pablo Barrera and Jesus Gallardo completed the score for an important win after losing 3-0 in Pachuca. Monterrey had goals from Cesar Montes, Carlos Sanchez and Dorlan Pabon but were always behind on the score.
Monterrey started the game being the better team and created the most danger, including an incredible chance that Rogelio Funes Mori wasted. Then against the run of play, Monterrey’s defensive mishaps started as the defenders incredibly let Matias Britos wide open to head the opening goal.
A couple of minutes later, Hiram Mier had another mistake as his clearance fell to a wide open Britos to score the 2-0. Pablo Barrera then increased the lead to 3-0 when he was kept onside by a distracted Monterrey defense and surprised goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez with the shot.
It was 4-0 after Jesus Gallardo easily went pass his marker and crossed it to Britos for the header. A Pumas mistake then left Cesar Montes wide open for the first Monterrey goal but Pumas went to a halftime with a 4-1 lead.
The second half started well for Monterrey and Alejandro Palacios had a mistake that led to a Carlos Sanchez goal. A couple of minutes later, though, Jesus Gallardo fired in a near range shot that put the score at 5-2.
In the last minute of the game, Dorlan Pabon scored a header from a free kick but the game ended immediately after.
The week finished up with total opposite situations for both teams. Pumas, who won in the CCL on Thursday, ends up with 11 points, and although they haven't played great, they have surpassed expectations with a weaker team than last season. Monterrey on the other hand had a horrible week with an upset loss at home to Arabe Unido in the CCL and now a very devastating defeat to Pumas. The defensive struggles of the team have raised alarms and it might have not been the right decision to play their young defensive prodigy Cesar Montes after leaving the Arabe Unido game with an eye injury. Montes had a bad game on Sunday, along with the rest of the back line who were by far the worst thing about Monterrey today.
Pumas will have a tough game in Tijuana on Friday and Monterrey will go to Pachuca for a rematch against the team that beat them in the last Liga MX final.