After a brief hiatus from first place the Xolos are back at the top of the Liga MX standings with six games left in the regular season and nine points above the eighth and final playoff position.
The hop back to the top—prior to the game the then-second place Xolos were just behind Tigres—came at the expense of hapless Santos, which is in second from last place.
When Tijuana’s Guido Rodriguez scored in the 31st minute the goal underscored how far the team has come since the days they struggled to win at home or score enough goals on the road. But Carlos Izquierdoz’z strike for Santos just before the half served as an uncomfortable reminder that Club Tijuana’s recent history is filled with moments in which they squandered leads and made it easy for opponents to draw or win.
Aviles Hurtado, however, made sure the Xolos went ahead and goalkeeper Federico Vilar had another performance that would keep his team back at the top of the rankings. But perhaps most notable is that this season’s prolific scorer Dayro Moreno stayed off the scoring sheet.
“It doesn’t matter who scores but that the team is victorious,” Hurtado said after the game. “We accomplished this today with everyone’s effort and we should congratulate them for that work.”
Coach Miguel Herrera was pleased with Sunday’s victory but kept the success in perspective.
“I’m excited that the team is doing things well… but the important thing is to go game-by-game, step-by-step. We know that we need to add points in games,” Herrera said.
The Xoloitzcuintles have a short training week, taking on 10th place Atlas at 7 p.m. Friday at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana.
