Salomón Rondón scored twice in the second half as Pachuca fought back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with Tijuana on Sunday, September 20 at Estadio Hidalgo, denying the Xolos all three points in Liga MX Apertura 2026 Jornada 9.
Tijuana looked in complete control at halftime after a Gilberto Mora penalty and a Jesús Gómez strike had put the visitors 2-0 up. But Pachuca manager Benjamín Mora reshaped the match with a triple substitution at the break, and halftime replacement Javier Nicolás Vallejo assisted both of Rondón’s goals as the Tuzos completed the comeback at Estadio Hidalgo.
How the goals happened
The Xolos struck first in the 17th minute. Gilberto Mora stepped up from the penalty spot and converted after Pachuca’s Sergio Lenin Rodríguez committed the foul, giving Tijuana a 1-0 lead.
Tempers briefly flared in the 33rd minute when Pachuca’s Oussama Idrissi and Tijuana’s Iván Tona were both booked. Nine minutes later, Tijuana doubled the advantage. Jesús Gómez finished off a move set up by Jesús Vega in the 42nd minute to make it 2-0, and the visitors carried that lead into the break.
Benjamín Mora acted decisively at halftime, sending on Mauricio Isais, Javier Nicolás Vallejo and Adrián Alcaraz for Alan Bautista, Oussama Idrissi and Rodolfo Pizarro. The change paid off within ten minutes of the restart: in the 55th minute, Rondón rose to head home from Vallejo’s assist and cut the deficit to 2-1.
Tijuana manager Sebastián Abreu tried to steady his side with changes of his own, bringing on Jonathan Padilla and Ignacio Rivero for Ramiro Árciga and Gilberto Mora in the 64th minute, followed by Frank Boya for Ángel Zapata in the 72nd. But Pachuca’s pressure kept building, and the equalizer finally arrived in the 89th minute. Vallejo was again the provider, and Rondón finished from close range to make it 2-2, sending the Estadio Hidalgo crowd into celebration. Some live timelines logged the strike at the 90-minute mark.
The drama continued into stoppage time. Pachuca manager Benjamín Mora was shown a straight red card in the 94th minute, Tijuana’s Diego Abreu was booked in the 96th, and the referee blew for full time moments later with the score level at 2-2.
The numbers behind the comeback
The final statistics underlined how completely the second half belonged to Pachuca. The Tuzos finished with 60 percent possession, 27 shots to Tijuana’s 6, and 12 efforts on target to the visitors’ 3. Pachuca earned 10 corners to Tijuana’s none, and Xolos goalkeeper José Antonio Rodríguez was credited with 10 saves, per Sportradar’s match data.
Tijuana’s efficiency was remarkable in the first half: two goals from their early chances. But they managed almost nothing in attack after the break, and Pachuca’s volume eventually told. The draw extends Pachuca’s unbeaten run to three matches following back-to-back wins over FC Juárez and Atlante in Jornadas 7 and 8, while Tijuana will rue dropping two points from a winning position a week after falling 1-0 to Querétaro.
What the draw means for the table
The point lifts Tijuana from 8th to 5th in the Apertura 2026 table with 14 points from eight matches, moving the Xolos inside the top eight and the direct Liguilla quarterfinal places. Tijuana also holds a game in hand, with their postponed Jornada 7 visit to América rescheduled for October 28. Pachuca slips from 10th to 11th with 12 points from nine matches, one place ahead of Pumas on goal difference. These positions are provisional as of Sunday night, with Querétaro vs León still to be played to close out Jornada 9.
What comes next
Tijuana returns home to Estadio Caliente on Friday, September 25 to host Atlas in Jornada 10. Pachuca travels north to face Santos Laguna on Saturday, September 26 at 7:00 PM Mexico Central at the Estadio Corona in Torreón. For U.S. broadcast information for the Jornada 10 schedule, check our Liga MX viewing hub.
Starting lineups
Pachuca: Carlos Moreno; Carlos Sánchez, Eduardo Bauermann, Sergio Barreto, Francisco Venegas; Sergio Lenin Rodríguez, Christian Rivera; Alan Bautista, Rodolfo Pizarro, Oussama Idrissi; Salomón Rondón. Manager: Benjamín Mora.
Tijuana: José Antonio Rodríguez; Jesús Gómez, Jackson Porozo, Unai Bilbao, Jesús Vega; Iván Tona, Ramiro Árciga, Ángel Zapata, Gilberto Mora, Adonis Preciado; Mourad El Ghezouani. Manager: Sebastián Abreu.
Tijuana had won the most recent meeting between the clubs, 3-1 in the Clausura 2026, as noted in our where-to-watch guide for this match.
