Liga MX Clausura Week 6: Stalemate in El Volcan, Donovan makes Leon debut

Here your five conclusions from the sixth week of play in the 2018 Liga MX Clausura.

Patiño’s Pumas go top of the league

Pumas UNAM produced another impressive performance, as David Patiño’s men claimed a 2-1 victory over Monarcas Morelia on Friday to go top of the league. What a story this is shaping up to be. Pumas were arguably one of the worst teams of the 2017 Apertura, but six weeks into the 2018 Clausura, they are looking like one of the best. With their counterattacking game working to perfection, David Patiño seems to have brought back that Pumas “DNA” that was missing from the universitarios in recent seasons. If you had Pumas in first place after 1/3 of the tournament gone, pat yourself on the back.

Necaxa take down Caixinha’s Cruz Azul

It seems like Pedro Caixinha’s honeymoon with Cruz Azul is no more. The cementeros fell for a second time this season after a 2-0 defeat to Necaxa on Saturday. The defeat made it four straight games without a win for Cruz Azul and things are starting to get worrying in La Noria. Necaxa, a side famous for throwing defensive barriers at opponents, actually looked like the better side, and forwards Carlos Gonzalez and Victor Davila were particularly damaging to Cruz Azul’s defense. It is not time to enter panic mode just yet but the boos at the end of the game were definitely merited for Pedro Caixinha’s side.

Tigres and Club America finish leveled

In the build-up to Week 6, this was the game marked on everybody’s calendar. Both Tigres and Club America have enjoyed a rather average start to the season, but this game promised to be a good one between two teams favorite to win the title.

There were some peculiar plays. Club America missed a penalty, and a couple frenchman scored a goal, but the end of the day, the score finished level at 1-1. Las Águilas found some success through Renato Ibarra and Cecilio Dominguez, while Tigres looked more towards finding Andre-Pierre Gignac, Enner Valencia, and Eduardo Vargas inside the box.

It’s obvious that things would be a lot more different if this was a Liguilla game, but even with that in mind, it is still too early to make any real conclusions . One thing is for certain, these are two teams that will definitely be in the Liguilla.

Donovan makes long-awaited debut for Leon

Nobody imagined London Donovan’s footballing journey would make one final stop in Mexico. But here were in 2018 and Captain America is still going strong. Donovan made his long-awaited debut in Liga MX on Saturday as Leon snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Puebla 2-1. Donovan came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute, and did not look limiting at all. The USMNT legend had a few touches and even found himself inside the box a few times. Donovan, of course, is still working his way back into shape, and the hope is he can rack up a few more appearances before we get to the nitty gritty part of the season. The next chance to see Donovan will be on Wednesday when they take on Santos Laguna.

Chivas misery continues

Chivas sank yet again. The Rebaño Sagrado suffered their fourth defeat of the season following a 2-0 beating by Santos Laguna on Saturday. Santos are never to be taken lightly, but there was very little positives from Chivas’ performance against the Guerreros. Chivas look in real trouble, and as oppose to previous games where they were arguably the better side, they inspired very little confidence in their own home ground.

It goes without saying, there is still a lot of games left to be played in the Clausura, but an increasingly downcast Chivas look destined for another underwhelming campaign if they don’t change things fast.