Pumas continued their undefeated record after getting a 1-1 tie away against Tijuana. Pumas was the better side and maybe deserved a better result against a Xolos team that faltered in the 2nd half and were extremely defensive. Pumas lost a chance of getting temporarily into first place although they are sitting in 2nd, waiting on the result from Tomorrow’s match between Monterrey and Cruz Azul. Pumas will return home to face an extreme tough match against current Liga MX champions, Toluca. Tijuana will travel
to face off against Atlas in their midweek match.
The 1st half started with Pumas coming out with the same starting 11 from their previous match against Monterrey. Domingo Blanco got off a right footed shot that was saved by Pumas’ goalkeeper, Keylor Navas. After getting the ball in the area, Robert Morales got off a right footed shot that forced a good save from Tijuana’s goalkeeper, Jose Rodriguez. Another shot from outside the area from Blanco would go wide. A cross into the area was headed just wide by Ignacio Rivero. Pumas was dominating possession but creating very few chances with it. A good combination play ended when the ball was cleared before Juninho could get to it and get off a close range chance. Off a free kick, Tijuana would surprise Pumas by getting off a pass instead of a cross and a wide open Ramiro Arciga got off a right footed shot that was deflected by Alvaro Angulo past Navas to score and give Tijuana the 1-0 lead against the run of play. A cross into the area was headed by Juninho but it easily fell right to Rodriguez. After getting the ball in the area, Morales got off a right footed shot that went past Rodriguez and hit the post. The ball would then bounce right into the path of Juninho, who easily got the tap in shot into the net to score and tie the match at 1-1. The halftime whistle blew with Pumas getting the deserved tie just prior to the whistle.
The 2nd half started with no changes during the break. After a failed clearance, the ball fell to Angulo, whose left footed shot was blocked by Rodriguez, making a great save. From outside the area, a great left footed shot from Pedro Vite would get past Rodriguez and hit the post. Off a corner kick, the cross was headed wide by Nathan. Tijuana would sub out Mourad El Ghezouani and Domingo Blanco for Josef Martinez and Franck Boya.A cross into the area would force Navas to clear the ball almost off the head of Boya. Pumas would sub out Alan Medina and Jordan Carillo for Guillermo Martinez and Uriel Antuna. Because of injury, Ramiro Arciga left the game and Jesus Gomez was subbed in his place. A longball was a good opportunity for Maritnez but Navas headed the ball clear before he could reach it. Off a free kick, the ball fell to Angulo but his header went right to Rodriguez. A left footed shot from outside the area from Martinez would go wide. Pumas subbed out Alvaro Angulo for Ruben Duarte. A bad clearance allowed Vite to get off a left footed shot from outside the area that went wide. Off a counter, the ball would fall to Morales but his right footed shot went wide. In another counter, Antuna’s cross would be headed wide by Martinez. Off a free kick, the ball would be headed by Martinez into the path of Gomez, who from close range headed the ball but Navas made a great save. Then off a a counter, Pumas had a 3 vs 1 attack but Vite failed to get off a shot and instead made a bad cross towards Antuna and it went wide. It was the last play of the match as Pumas got another away tie but should have had a better result.
Pumas’ good start to the Clausura 2026 continued with the tie against Xolos. Pumas once again gave a good performance and maybe should have gotten a better result than a tie although once again, they failed to create chances for all their possession. Still it’s good result in a stadium that has historically complicated Pumas a lot. Especially in the 2nd half, Pumas dominated possession against a Xolos side that turned very defensive. Yet for all the possession, Pumas couldn’t create much dangerous chances and Xolos’ goalkeeper didn’t make as many saves as expected. Still Pumas got the result that keeps their undefeated record. Pumas now currently sits in 2nd place although they will await results from Saturday’s matches to see if they remain there after the weekend. Pumas will have a tough match on Tuesday when they face current Liga MX champions Toluca at home. Meanwhile Xolos will have to travel to face Atlas on Wednesday.
