Cruz Azul Routs Necaxa With Three Goals in Under an Hour at Estadio Victoria

Cruz Azul needed less than an hour to put the match away at Estadio Victoria. With goals from Jeremy Márquez, Nicolás Ibáñez and Willer Ditta between the 22nd and 52nd minutes, the visitors built a 0-3 lead that Necaxa could only dress up with a late strike from Emilio Rodríguez in the 82nd. The final score, 1-3, gives Cruz Azul a clear-cut win in Liga MX.

The first blow came off a corner kick: Carlos Rodríguez floated the ball into the box and Jeremy Márquez fired a low shot just inside the left post to open the scoring in the 22nd minute. Necaxa had already had a try from Owen González and another from Julián Carranza go begging, but the home side couldn't turn its approach play into real danger.

The blow that took the wind out of Necaxa came right at the close of the first half. With six minutes of stoppage time signaled, Nicolás Ibáñez again latched onto a pass from Carlos Rodríguez and curled a right-footed finish into the top corner to make it 0-2 in the 45th. It was the second assist of the afternoon for Rodríguez, and with that goal Cruz Azul headed to the locker room with the lead well in hand.

The second half had barely gotten underway when Willer Ditta stretched the margin further. José Paradela squared the ball inside the box and Ditta tapped it into the middle of the net to make it 0-3 in the 52nd minute, just seven minutes after the restart. The result was all but decided at that point: Necaxa tried to find a way back into the game through substitutes Pedro Pedraza, Emilio Rodríguez and later Rogelio Cortéz, but the gap on the scoreboard was already too much to overcome.

The consolation goal came in the 82nd minute and had a name attached to it. Pedro Pedraza set up Emilio Rodríguez, who finished with his left foot to make it 1-3, adding a bit of drama in the closing stretch, though it wasn't nearly enough to trouble Cruz Azul. The rest of the match saw chances from Jorge Rodarte and Luka Romero for the visitors, and from Rogelio Cortéz and Agustín Oliveros for Necaxa, without the score moving again.

What the Numbers Say

Cruz Azul's dominance showed up in nearly every statistical category. The visitors held more possession, generated more than double the shots and also finished with more clear-cut chances.

The xG estimate based on the match's shots backs up that superiority as well: our post-match calculation gives Cruz Azul 2.069 expected goals against 0.45 for Necaxa, a gap that confirms the result was no fluke but the product of a very lopsided rate of chance creation.

The preview we published ahead of the match already pointed in that direction: the projection gave 50% odds to a Cruz Azul win, versus 25% for Necaxa and 25% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.86 for the visitors and 1.28 for the home side. The way the match played out ended up exceeding even that forecast in Cruz Azul's favor, as the team reached three goals before the hour mark.

What It Means in the Standings

In the Liga MX table, Cruz Azul moves to 9 points from 6 matches played (3 wins, 0 draws, 3 losses), while Necaxa sits on 7 points also from 6 matches (2 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses). The gap between the two sides in the standings is 2 points. With this loss, Necaxa adds another setback that shows up in a negative goal difference of -3, while Cruz Azul holds its goal difference at 0 despite the win.