Liga MX Apertura Week 4: Chivas stay hot at home

Here are five of some of the main takeaways from the fourth week of play in the 2019 Liga MX Apertura.

Veracruz’s nightmare start to the season continues

What is there left to say here? Yes, Veracruz is a beautiful plaza that has every right to have a top-tier team, but the fact of the matter is that the Tiburones Rojos have no business being in Liga MX. On Friday, Veracruz failed to build on an early lead and fell 2-1 to Atlas at the Estadio Luis Pirata Fuente.

If you are keeping count, that was Veracruz’s 30th straight Liga MX game without a win. You heard that right, 30 straight games without a win! Coupled with shady ownership and unpaid wages, the Tiburones Rojos’ very existence should be questioned. They shouldn’t even be a functioning sports team.

Vucetich and Querétaro off to an inspired start

Some things just go together like peanut butter and jelly. One of those things seems to be Victor Manuel Vucetich and Querétaro. The Gallos Blancos are off to a promising start this season, and their latest win under Vucetich came in the form of a 2-1 victory over Pachuca.

This one was close and it took a last minute tap-in from Jair Pereira for the Gallos Blancos to earn all three points. Querétaro are currently second in the league table and are starting to gain some attention. In the past, Vucetich famously took this team all the way to a Liga MX Final, and as a result, this time around ownership has decided to give the veteran manager complete control of the team. It seems to be working, as they are one of the only undefeated sides remaining in the Apertura.

Andre-Pierre Gignac celebrates goalscoring record with hat-trick

In case you missed it, last week Andre-Pierre Gignac became Tigres’s all-time leading goalscorer with 105 goals. Saturday marked the first time the Frenchman played in front of his home fans since achieving said record, and there was a tifo to his name, mariachi, the whole thing. There was even an announcement that there would be a statue built outside the Estadio Universitario in his honor.

Well, Gignac celebrated in front of his home fans the best way he could. Gignac scored a hat-trick in a space of 18 minutes and helped his side beat Necaxa 3-1.

It doesn’t matter where you rank Gignac amongst the best foreigners to ever play in Liga MX. At the end of the day, he is still arguably the best foreign player to arrive to Liga MX in the last decade, and Tigres’s recent championship record is all the proof you need.

Chivas crush newcomers San Luis

Forget gritty, let’s talk about dominant. Chivas earned their second win of the season by crushing Atletico San Luis 3-0 on Saturday. Eduardo “La Chofis” Lopez scored an early first half golazo before two second half penalties put the Rojiblancos on their way to their third straight home victory across all competitions.

Stylistically, it was perhaps one of the more pleasant Chivas wins in the Tomas Boy era, and the Rojiblancos could have even won the game by more goals. It’s too early to say happy days are returning to Zapopan, but the fact that Chivas are finding their groove at home is a good sign. The playoff system can be forgiving, and if Chivas find a way to be consistent at home, there is no denying this team can make the Liguilla.

Club América deepen Toluca troubles

It wasn’t a pretty game, but Club América got the win they were searching by beating Toluca 1-0 at the Estadio Nemesio Diez. The 2019 Liga MX Apertura hasn’t been easy for Ricardo Antonio La Volpe and his team. The Diablos Rojos are still winless, and even before the start of the campaign, La Volpe didn’t seem very happy with how things were going during the offseason.

In defense of the Diablos Rojos, they have had one of the more difficult schedules to start the season, and it isn’t going to get easier as they face Monterrey next. That said, Toluca is no stranger to second half of the season resurgences, and at this point in time, it might be all about just trying to keep La Volpe happy before he does something crazy like quit in the middle of the season.