Week 12 closed with the big clashes: on one hand, we had Toluca hosting Club América and on the other, Rayadas de Monterrey taking on Pachuca.
We also had Ève Périsset’s debut in the goalless match between
Tigres and Juárez – Bravas’ captain, Liliana Mercado, reached the milestone of 300 caps.
Showering goals
Toluca vs Club América was a highly anticipated clash this week. Both teams lost in week 11 and they had their minds fixed on picking up three points. What is more, this match pitted two favorites against each other and it was a good test for what’s to come.
The match brought action immediately, with América’s Irene Guerrero scoring in the first minute of the game. The lead didn’t last long. Five minutes later, Toluca equalized through Faustine Robert and then Montse Saldívar put the visitors ahead again. Eugénie Le Sommer leveled things up again in the 22nd minute. Then, Saldívar appeared again to score a brace and help her team to take the lead before half-time.
By the way, that last goal before half-time was a screamer.
Something important happened before that goal, though, and it was the yellow card shown to Bruna Vilamala in the 40th minute. That led to her being sent off in the 52nd minute after she was shown a second yellow and left the match contributing with an assist. As a result, América had to play with one player down for most of the second half.
The visitors held the lead for 25 minutes when Shanice van de Sanden found the equalizer in the 75’. So, at the end of the day, both teams divided the spoils.
This is not a bad result per se, but knowing that América haven’t won since week 9, you might say it’s not ideal. In the case of Diablas, after a stellar start to the season, they’re struggling a little bit in the last few weeks but nothing to worry about since they remain fourth, which is historical for this club.
Amazonians vs Bravas
We have seen how, in recent weeks, Tigres is, little by little, becoming that team that dominates pretty much anyone who stood against them in the past. However, they looked pretty toothless against Juárez, a team that is holding tight to the eighth place in the standings while Pumas is breathing down its neck.
Nothing much happened on the field in this game and the result turned out to be better for Bravas, which arrived at this game as an underdog. However, the team had a reason to celebrate because their midfielder Liliana Mercado and former Tigres’ captain hit the 300 matches in the league.
Mercado is one of the winningest players in the league, after winning the league six times and the Campeón de Campeonas twice with Tigres. She was also the recipient of the Mexican Golden Ball.
For Tigres, it might have been disappointing to be powerless in this match after what they have shown on the field in recent weeks. We will see how they perform against León, although on paper, the Amazonians are the favorites and more so after the debut of Ève Périsset in week 12.
Rayadas can’t find its footing against Pachuca
A week after Rayadas dealt Toluca’s first loss at home, it looked like that match was their reset button. Nonetheless, it was just a mirage because all their weaknesses came back in week 12 when they faced Pachuca.
Tuzas scored two in two minutes through Nina Nicosia and Chinwendu Ihezuo in the first half and then kept their order in defense to prevent Monterrey from finding passing channels. However, 10 minutes before the 90th minute defensive mistake gave Rayadas this chance:
The fact that they couldn’t score, not even with an open net, says much about the mental state the team is in nowadays.
Speaking about Pachuca, this result was great for them because after Tigres drew in week 12, they’re tied in points but the Amazonians keep their position at the top of the table due to a better goal difference (32 to 26).
