Toluca defeats Chivas and leaps over them in the standings

Toluca defeated Chivas by a 2-0 score to climb to second place of the standings in Liga MX. An early goal set things for the current Liga MX to get a solid victory as they were the superior side. Chivas came into the match in first place but gave easily their worst performance of the season and not only got their second straight loss but after Cruz Azul defeated Monterrey, the would fall all the way to third place. Chivas might fall further down as they will not be playing at mid week as the other teams (their match against Leon will not be played until March 18th) while Toluca will face off against Pumas.

The 1st half started with Toluca coming out with a strong lineup while Chivas had the return of Luis Romo to the starting 11 after missing out a couple of games because of injury. A minute into the match, Paulinho got into the area and got dropped after getting his shirt pulled by Richard Ledezma. After going to VAR, the referee gave Toluca a Penalty Kick. Jesus Gallardo stepped up to take the PK and he got off a left footed shot past Chivas’ goalkeeper, Raul Rangel to score and give Toluca the 1-0 lead. A terrible mistake from Ledezma had gifted Toluca the perfect start. Jorge Diaz Price would make a good run in the area and get off a left footed shot that was saved by Rangel. After getting a pass in the area, Paulinho gave a great back heel pass into the path of a wide open Jorge Diaz Price, who got off a great right footed shot past Rangel to score and give Toluca the 2-0 lead. A cross into the area was headed by Armando Gonzalez into the net but it was ruled to be offside. Later off a free kick. a cross into the area was headed towards Gonzalez but his headed goal was correctly ruled to be offside, his second goal disallowed so far. A cross into the area was volleyed just wide by Paulinho. Things got worse for Chivas when Luis Romo had to be subbed out because of injury for Brian Gutierrez. A cross into the area came close to a chance when Jesus Ricardo Angulo fell on Rangel after trying to connect with the ball, allowing Chivas’ defense to clear it. A bad back pass allowed a good chance for Chivas when Gonzalez got to it but Toluca’s goalkeeper, Luis Garcia cleared the ball by crashing it into Gonzalez and having it go wide. The half time whistle blew as Toluca had a solid lead over a Chivas side that wasn’t giving a great performance.

The 2nd half started with Chivas subbing out Richard Ledezma, Jose Castillo and Efrain Alvarez for Santiago Sandoval, Hugo Camberos and Angel Sepulveda. Toluca subbed out injured Santiago Simon for Everardo Lopez. A cross from Daniel Aguirre turned into a shot that went past Garcia and could have been a tap in chance had Sepulveda gotten to it. A cross into the area would find a wide open Paulinho, who got off a right footed volley that was blocked by defender Diego Campillo. A great thru pass from Marcel Ruiz would find Paulinho, who got off a lobbed shot that was blocked by Rangel. Chivas subbed out Armando Gonzalez for Ricardo Marin. Off a free kick, the cross into the area was headed just wide by Gallardo. Off a counter, Sandoval would get off a good left footed shot that went just wide. After a cross into the area was failed to be cleared, it got to Sepulveda who would get off a close range left footed shot that went wide in a bad miss. Toluca subbed out Jorge Diaz Price for Helinho. A cross into the area from Helinho was just out of reach of Paulinho. Toluca subbed out Jesus Ricardo Angulo for Pavel Perez. A cross into the area was volleyed by a wide open Marin but it was blocked by Garcia, who made a great save. Off a free kick just outside the area, Gutierrez got off a right footed shot that was saved by Garcia. Toluca subbed out Jesus Gallardo and Marcel Ruiz for Luan and Fernado Arce Jr. While Chivas tried to get that goal, they never came close to scoring after Sepulveda’s bad miss and Toluca had the very deserved win.

Toluca got a very solid win on Saturday night that has them climbing up the standings and making a statement about their capabilities for a three peat championship. A bad mistake from Chivas gave Toluca the right path but they were the superior side and the victory was a deserved result. Chivas won their first six matches but have now lost two straight. Against Cruz Azul they were the better side for most of it and deserved at least at tie but Toluca was the better side and the win was more than deserved. Chivas will need to look back because against the best two sides they have faced this season, they have two losses and seem to have lost momentum. With no midweek game, they will next face off against Atlas in their second most important regular season match, the Clasico Tapatio. Meanwhile Toluca look right now as one of the top teams in Mexico but they will have a tough match on Tuesday when they face off against the surprising Pumas, who currently sit in fourth place and who will be at home.