Jornada 10 in the 2016 Apertura came to a close Wednesday night, and thus ended a thrilling round of matches. Tuca Ferretti once again refused to hold a postgame press conference, a rattlesnake was found in Estadio Chivas, and 27 goals were scored around the league. It was all classic Liga MX insanity. Here are 5 things we learned during Jornada 10.
1) Hirving Lozano is back.
“Chucky” has officially recovered from his slump. He finished off a great team goal with a tap-in on Tuesday against Monarcas Morelia, and has scored in two straight league games. Prior to that, he put four past lowly Police United in the CONCACAF Champions League for a total of six goals in his last three matches.
2) Dayro Moreno is the league MVP.
The Tijuana front man scored yet again (a half volley off the rebound) on Wednesday evening, bringing his tally up to 9 on the season. Raul Ruidiaz of Morelia continues to give chase for the golden boot (he currently has 7 goals), but when it comes to the overall best player, Moreno is comfortably ahead. His club sit in 2nd place boasting a perfect home record, and the frontman has scored more than half of Tijuana’s goals this season.
3) Tigres are still the team to beat.
Tigres UANL inched out a nervy 1-0 win in Guadalajara against Chivas, therefore maintaining their place at the top of the table. Ismael Sosa scored the lone goal, a brilliant individual effort that took him right through the Chivas defense, in the 56th minute. Tigres remain undefeated in all competitions this year and have taken all nine points from their past three Liga MX matches.
4) Tijuana are nigh on unbeatable at home.
Despite conceding their first goal at home this season, the Xolos picked up another three points against Querétaro to make it 15 points out of 15 at Estadio Caliente this season. When the liguilla rolls around, teams are going to need a very good result at home in order to survive the onslaught that Miguel Herrera’s men will give them in Tijuana.
5) Veracruz and Chiapas will battle it out to stay up.
Neither looked particularly good this week, though Los Jaguares did manage a point on the road in León despite being vastly outplayed. Meanwhile, Veracruz fell 3-2 to Puebla despite taking the lead on two separate occasions. Although Morelia are currently last in the Tabla De Cociente, and Necaxa also have a low coefficient, those two sides have looked very competent in recent weeks, despite Morelia’s struggles against Pachuca on Tuesday. It is very possible that both Morelia and Necaxa make the playoffs this Apertura, while Chiapas and Los Tiburones Rojos flounder around at the bottom of the table.