Cruz Azul rallies past Pachuca, digs in for a top-four spot

Pachuca equalized fast, but it wasn't enough. At Estadio Hidalgo, Cruz Azul came away with a 2-1 win that keeps the club firmly in the hunt at the top of the table, while the home side remains unable to climb out of the Liga MX basement.

The match was settled in a frantic opening stretch. In the 12th minute, Gabriel Fernandez put the visitors ahead with a right-footed strike from the center of the box, finishing off a cross from Alan Mozo that came after a cleared free kick. Pachuca answered quickly, just seven minutes later in the 19th, when Oussama Idrissi popped up in the middle of the area and curled a left-footed shot into the top corner to level things. Two goals in under twenty minutes left the score at 1-1 and set the tone for a back-and-forth game, though the goal that ultimately tipped the balance came later, sealing the final 1-2 in Cruz Azul's favor.

Even before the goals, it was clear the pace would be high: Alan Mozo and Salomon Rondon both tested the keeper in the first five minutes, Rodolfo Pizarro had a shot saved shortly after, and Francisco Venegas and Jorge Berlanga also had warning signs on Pachuca's end. Eduardo Bauermann, meanwhile, picked up a yellow card in the 10th minute for a dangerous play, part of a chippy and physical first half.

What the numbers say

Cruz Azul controlled possession and was sharper in its buildup play, something that ultimately showed up on the scoreboard. Pachuca, for its part, generated plenty of shot volume without turning it into clear-cut chances.

The stat that best explains the result is the expected-goals figure calculated from the shots taken during the match itself: Cruz Azul generated 2.28 compared to Pachuca's 1.22. It's a postgame measure, not a prediction, but it confirms that the visitors created more dangerous chances when it mattered most.

That gap stands in contrast to the pregame outlook, which gave Cruz Azul a 37% chance of winning against 34% for Pachuca and 29% for a draw, with fairly even expected goals heading in (1.35 for the home side and 1.42 for the visitors, 2.77 combined). The final result ended up more lopsided than that balanced preview suggested.

How it shakes out in the standings

With the win, Cruz Azul moved to 23 points from 13 matches played (7 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses) and holds onto third place, trailing Guadalajara only on goal difference. Pachuca, meanwhile, sits on 13 points from 13 games (3 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses) and is 16th in the standings, 10 points behind its opponent from this matchday. It was a game that had a bit of everything in the first twenty minutes, but Cruz Azul made sure to close it out on top.