Apertura 2026 matchday 12: América win 5–3 at León, Santos and Cruz Azul score five and Monterrey move into the Liguilla places

América won 5–3 at León on Saturday and stretched their lead: they have 24 points, three more than Toluca and Atlas, with a match in hand on both. The matchday brought three heavy wins: besides the 5–3 in León, Santos Laguna put five past Querétaro and Cruz Azul five past Juárez. On Sunday Monterrey beat Pachuca 2–1 and moved up to eighth. There were 30 goals in nine matches, with three home wins, three away wins and three draws.

Friday

Necaxa 0–2 Atlas began with a goal from Ryan Mmaee on 5, from Florián Monzón's pass. Atlas played with ten from the 67th minute after Milton Valenzuela was sent off, and Manuel Capasso still sealed it on 90. Necaxa had 20 shots, only three on target.

Atlante 1–2 Pumas was played without Atlante's coach from the 34th minute: according to El Informador, Miguel Herrera was shown two yellow cards in less than a minute and Álvaro Galindo took charge of the team. Olávio Vieira, known as Juninho, put Pumas ahead on 42 from Robert Morales's pass; Luis Calzadilla equalised on 45+1 from Edgar Jiménez's, and Juninho, set up by Adalberto Carrasquilla, scored the winner on 72.

Tijuana 0–0 Puebla stayed goalless despite 23 shots from Tijuana, six on target, against Puebla.

Saturday

Santos Laguna 5–0 Querétaro was Santos's fifth win in a row. Francisco Villalba missed a penalty on 14, but Tahiel Jiménez opened the scoring on 29 and Eduardo Aguirre made it 2–0 on 44 from Mauricio Cuevas's pass. Jiménez scored the third on 63 from Ezequiel Bullaude's; Querétaro's Diego Reyes was sent off on 67 after a VAR review, and Javier Güemez scored a penalty on 87. Jiménez completed his hat-trick on 90+3 from Javier Abella's pass: he has five goals in his last two matches.

Guadalajara 1–1 Tigres was dominated by Guadalajara, with 69 per cent of the ball and 30 shots. Juan Brunetta put Tigres ahead on 36 from Diego Lainez's pass and was sent off for serious foul play on 45+2. Jordan Carrillo equalised on 77 from Bryan González's pass.

León 3–5 América produced eight goals. Henry Martín opened the scoring with a penalty on 24, after a VAR review, and set up Carlos Álvarez to make it 0–2 on 34. José Alvarado pulled one back on 53 from Daniel Arcila's pass, but Erick Sánchez, from Álvarez's, made it 1–3 on 58. Iván Moreno made it 2–3 on 82; Óscar Perea, on 84 from Brian Rodríguez's pass, and Rodríguez, on 90 from Perea's, settled it, and Ismael Díaz made it 3–5 on 90+6 from Fernando Beltrán's pass. América had ten shots on target. EFE points out that, with 27 goals, Guillermo Almada's side share the tournament's best attack with Cruz Azul.

Toluca 1–1 Atlético de San Luis: Érick Gutiérrez put Toluca ahead on 62 from Helinho's pass and Rafael Llorente equalised for Atlético de San Luis on 71 from Anderson Duarte's. Toluca had 15 corners to San Luis's two.

Cruz Azul 5–0 Juárez was settled in the first half. Andrés Montaño scored on 4 from Agustín Palavecino's pass, Carlos Rodríguez on 23 from Alan Mozo's and Omar Campos on 45+3 from Montaño's. Palavecino added the fourth on 55 and Rogelio González the fifth on 75. Cruz Azul had nine shots on target.

Sunday

Monterrey 2–1 Pachuca was decided in three minutes. Lucas Ocampos missed a penalty on 13 and Diego Rossi scored in the same minute; Jesús Corona made it 2–0 on 16 from Ocampos's pass. Salomón Rondón pulled one back for Pachuca on 75 from Jorge Berlanga's pass, and according to El Universal, Esteban Andrada preserved the win late on by turning away a header from Eduardo Bauermann.

The table after matchday 12

América, Querétaro, Tijuana and Monterrey have played eleven matches, with their matchday 7 game still to come; the rest have played twelve. The top eight after matchday 17 go straight to the Liguilla.

1. América, 24 points (11 played, +13)
2. Toluca, 21 (12, +10)
3. Atlas, 21 (12, +1)
4. Guadalajara, 20 (12, +7)
5. Cruz Azul, 20 (12, +6)
6. Querétaro, 20 (11, +2)
7. León, 18 (12, +1)
8. Monterrey, 17 (11, +3)
9. Santos Laguna, 16 (12, +1)
10. Tijuana, 16 (11, +1)

The points race shows América pulling away: after matchday 10 they were level with Toluca on 20, and since then they have taken four points and Toluca one; Atlas won two of their last three matches and caught Toluca on 21. Monterrey move into the Liguilla places and leave Santos ninth, a point behind. Atlante (11), Necaxa (9) and Juárez (4) remain at the bottom.

Numbers to know

• 30 goals in nine matches; three teams scored five.
• Three home wins, three away wins and three draws.
• Two penalties missed, by Villalba and Ocampos, and three players sent off, plus Atlante's coach.
• Guadalajara had 30 shots and 69 per cent of the ball but only drew.
• Juárez have conceded 31 goals in twelve matches and have four points.

Next up

Matchday 13 is played midweek. On Tuesday 20 October: Guadalajara v Necaxa (18:07 Mexico City time), Atlético de San Luis v Querétaro and Juárez v Atlante (19:00), and Tigres v León (21:00). On Wednesday 21 October: Atlas v América, Puebla v Monterrey and Toluca v Tijuana (19:00), and Pachuca v Cruz Azul and Santos Laguna v Pumas (21:00). The full table and the kick-off times are on the Liga MX page.

Sources for the context: EFE via Infobae, El Universal, El Informador.