MEXICO CITY ( Associated Press) — Fernando Beltrán, José Juan Macías and Alexis Vega scored second-half goals Sunday to break a tie as Chivas thrashed Pumas 4-1 to earn their ticket to the quarterfinals of the Clausura tournament in Mexico.
Christian Calderón put the locals in front at 12 minutes, the Brazilian Diogo leveled at 19 for the university students, but “Nene” Beltrán turned it around at 51. Macías added a goal at 86 and Vega gave him dyes beating at 88.
Chivas achieved its fifth consecutive win, all with interim coach Ricardo Cadena, who replaced Marcelo Michel Leaño, dismissed for poor results in just his second season.
Guadalajara, in its second league since it was last champion in the 2017 Clausura, will now face reigning champion Atlas in one of the quarterfinal series.
The first leg will be at the Akron stadium and the return at Jalisco.
In the other series, Pachuca will face Atlético San Luis, Tigres will face Cruz Azul and América will clash with Puebla.
The official schedules of those clashes will be announced on Monday by the Mexican Football Federation.
For Pumas, the defeat sidelines them from the final phase for the second time in the last three league tournaments and closes a bad week in which they also lost the CONCACAF Champions League final against the Seattle Sounders.
The elimination also means that the university students will have to wait one more tournament to break a title drought that dates back to Clausura 2011.
Chivas took the lead when Christian Calderón took advantage of an oversight by defender Santiago Trigo and inside the area he scored a ball that left goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera without a chance.
Pumas equalized shortly after when Diogo received a 25-meter pass, entered the area and, over the mark of a defender, took a left-footed shot that entered goalkeeper Miguel Jiménez’s left post.
In the complement, Alexis Vega gave a warning that was rejected by Talavera and at 50, he gave a backheel pass to Beltrán, who entered the area and converted with a low shot to Talavera’s left post.
Pumas came close to equalizing with a shot from Argentina’s Juan DInenno in the 85th minute, but a minute later any attempt at reaction vanished when Macías received a cross from the right and Macías alone in front of Talavera converted the left post.
With a bottomless Pumas, Vega entered the area from the right and converted with a low shot that left Talavera liquidated.
PUEBLA WINS WITH DRAMA
Paraguayan goalkeeper Anthony Silva saved a pair of penalties as Puebla cruised to a win over Mazatlan to reach the quarterfinals.
Néstor Vidrio scored a goal in the 90th minute to send the match to the definition from the eleven steps, where Silva saved shots from Uruguayan Nicolás Díaz and Marco Fabián to give the Pueblans a 3-1 win on penalties.
In regular time the match ended tied 2-2.
Diego de Buen put the locals in front just after four minutes and the Argentine Juan Pablo Segovia added to the 13th minute for the Pueblans, but Brian Rubio discounted in the 70th minute and when the game expired, Vidrio declared the equalizer.
On penalties, De Buen, the Argentine Federico Mancuello and Israel Reyes converted their executions for Puebla, which has not won a home game since the sixth date.
Mazatlán, which agreed to reclassification as 12th and last place, suffered its second consecutive elimination in the playoffs.
