2017 Liga MX Clausura: Five Conclusions from Week 4

Here your five conclusions from the fourth week of play in the Liga MX Clausura.

Cruz Azul lose again

There is still one massive glaring issue for Cruz Azul this season. La Maquina just can’t translate their dominance into wins. On Friday, Paco Jemez’s side made the trip to Tijuana to take on league leaders Xolos de Tijuana. Miguel Herrera’s men couldn’t get to Cruz Azul’s level here, but like against Chivas last week, it was Tijuana who came away with the three points. Now, Cruz Azul badly need a win next week. Anything to boos their morale.

Three straight draws for Monterrey

Antonio “Turco” Mohamed has many problems, possibly more than he imagined when the board decided to keep him in charge for another season. Edwin Cardona’s sending off against Club Leon on Saturday was a big factor, sure, but the fact of the matter is Monterrey look painfully mundane at times. Luckily for Monterrey, Leon failed to take advantage of Cardona’s sending off and the final result was a tame 0-0 draw, but that’s now three straight draws for Monterrey.

The real concern is that much of Monterrey’s problems are confined to their attack, and Mohamed doesn’t seem to know how to fix it. This is the shadow of the team that finished at the top of the league table two seasons ago. There are times when it seems like they are just interested in playing the long ball to Rogelio Funes Mori before sending a long-distance effort wide.

Because of their personnel, Monterrey are always going to be a challenge for everyone else, but beyond that, they are not looking like a championship-calibre team at the moment.

Joy for the Rojinegros

It’s often difficult to get excited about Atlas. Because while they haven’t been terrible recently, they almost always find a way to let their fanbase down and finish well outside a Liguilla position. On Saturday, the Rojinegros were in a groove, beating Morelia 3-1 to earn their second consecutive home win of the season.

Fidel Martinez opened the scoring in the fourth minute before Rodolfo Vilchis equalized at the stroke of halftime. Only minutes into the second half, however, Jahir Barraza and youngster Bryan Garnica regained the lead for the Rojinegros. Thereafter, Atlas’ resistance did well to hold on to their advantage, and to the joy of the red and black faithful, the Rojinegros eventually ran away with the victory.

After a win like that, it begs to ask can Atlas get excited about this? The jury is still out in Colomos...

Cecilio Dominguez looks sharp in America debut

It wasn’t quite the scintillating performance Club America fans wanted for their 2017 Clausura homecoming, but a win is a win. On Saturday, las Aguilas took care of business and edged Veracruz 1-0 at the Estadio Azteca.

Aside from the fact it was important for Club America to get back to winning ways after starting the season with two straight losses, it was also important to see new signing Cecilio Dominguez look so settled into his new team. It was almost the ideal debut for Dominguez, who scored the game winning goal in the second half.

It goes without saying, Dominguez will face learning curve in Liga MX, but if he plays like he did Saturday, he won’t have a problem fitting in. The Paraguayan held his own superbly down the left, where much of Club America’s attacked flowed from there.

The challenge now, like with most foreigners in Mexico, is consistency. It will be interesting to see if Dominguez continues to play like he did Saturday against the Tiburones. For now, Club America fans have reasons to be excited about their new signing.

Chiapas take down the champions

From one famous victory to another. A week after shocking Toluca in their newly remodeled stadium, Chiapas did it again. This time the chiapanecos brought down the current Liga MX champions Tigres in a 1-0 victory at the Estadio Victor Manuel Reyna.

To put it simply, Sergio Bueno’s side refuses to accept their given status as relegation favorites. Not only have they won their last two games against two really tough teams, they are imposing themselves on games. Bueno’s side have shown an admirable attitude and a progressive style of fútbol after only three games.

One of the early shots of the season has to be that of Tigres coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti ripping up his game plan as the game wind down to the final whistle. Whatever Bueno’s game plan has been, there is no need to recycle any paper. Put it this way, if Tigres are the giant of the north, then Chiapas looked like the giant of the south.