Match recap: Pachuca 4, Tijuana 1

One of the worst performances in recent memory by Xolos as they were utterly thrashed by Pachuca, losing 4-1. A slew of mistakes was Tijuana’s downfall, and Pachuca was all too happy to capitalize on them.

Pachuca was patient, dropping back into the passing lanes and waiting for Xolos to make a mistake, In the sixth minute, they made a big mistake when a bad pass by Diego Braghieri led to a counter and Braghieri appeared to trip Franco Jara in the box when he tracked back to try and defend. Jara stepped up and converted the penalty, calmly knocking it past Gibran Lajud.

In the 15th minute, Pachuca was awarded a free kick. The free kick went to Gibran Lajud, who muffed the save, and the ball squirted free to Romario Ibarra who was able to tap the ball in to the open net.

Things got testy in the 21st minute when Miller Bolaños shoved Rubens Sambueza to the turf when Sambu appeared to kick the ball away from Bolaños on a restart. These two have a long history of antagonizing one another, going back at least to the 2018 Clausura Liguilla when Sambu slapped Bolaños in the head during the pre-game handshake and then Bolaños went in with two feet on Sambueza later in the match, picking up a red card.

In the 27th it was Víctor Guzman’s turn to torment Xolos, as Pocho was able to get a jumping kick onto a corner kick and tap it in for Pachuca’s third goal of the evening.

Xolos looked much more threatening in the second half, moving the ball much better and creating chances. The momentum would all be negated however in the 51st minute when Julián Velázquez gave the ball away just outside of the area to Pocho Guzmán. Gibran Lajud had no choice but to come off of his line and commit the foul. Sambueza would step up and convert the penalty for Pachuca.

Pachuca almost got one more in the 70th when Edwin Cardona hit a free kick that just went over the top of the bar. Tijuana was able to pull one back in the 77th minute when Bolaños hit a shot from distance that hit off of the post. The rebound fell to Ignacio Rivero, and Nacho tapped the ball into the wide open net.

Still, it was much too little much too late for Xolos. Both sides seemed to accept the outcome and looked to just ensure no one was injured.

Pachuca will head to Guadalajara to face Chivas on Wednesday while Xolos return home to face Monarcas Morelia on Thursday, both of which are in Liga MX play.

Pachuca: Rodrigo Rey; Romario Ibarra, Oscar Murillo, Gustavo Cabral, Raúl López; Rubens Sambueza (Luis Chávez, 58’), Jorge Hernández, Víctor Guzmán (Víctor Dávila, 65’), Erick Aguirre; Franco Jara (Roberto de la Rosa, 72’), Edwin Cardona

Tijuana: Gibran Lajud; Vladimir Loroña, Diego Braghieri (Omar Mendoza, 60’), Julián Velázquez, Leonel Miranda; Washington Camacho, Kevin Balanta, César Falletti (Mauro Lainez, 46’), Ignacio Rivero; Camilo Sanvezzo (Erick Torres, 70’), Miller Bolaños

Scoring: Pachuca - Franco Jara (7’ - penalty), Romario Ibarra (14’), Víctor Guzmán (27’), Rubens Sambueza (51’ - penalty); Tijuana - Ignacio Rivero (77’)

Disciplinary: Pachuca - Erick Aguirre (Yellow - 73’); Tijuana - Julián Velázquez (Yellow - 14’)