Apertura 2026 matchday 13: América win 5–2 at the Jalisco, Cruz Azul win at Pachuca and Santos make it six in a row

América won 5–2 at Atlas on Wednesday and are now four points clear of second place: they have 27, with a match in hand, to the 23 of Guadalajara and Cruz Azul, who won 2–1 at Pachuca with an Andrés Montaño penalty on 79. León won 2–0 at the Universitario and Monterrey won 4–1 in Puebla, while Toluca drew again and dropped to fourth. Santos Laguna, facing ten men from the second minute, beat Pumas 2–0 for their sixth win in a row. The midweek matchday produced 28 goals in nine matches: three home wins, five away wins and one draw.

Tuesday

Guadalajara 1–0 Necaxa was decided by an Agustín Oliveros own goal on 77. Guadalajara had 60 per cent of the ball and nine corners, but only three shots on target; Necaxa had four.

Atlético de San Luis 2–1 Querétaro: Felipe Mora put Atlético de San Luis ahead on 52 from Rafael Llorente's pass and a Daniel Parra own goal made it 2–0 on 67. Ali Ávila pulled one back for Querétaro with a penalty on 74.

Juárez 0–1 Atlante went to Atlante through a Juan Carrera goal on 76, from Martín Sarrafiore's pass. Juárez had 61 per cent of the ball and a single shot on target, and remain bottom with four points.

Tigres 0–2 León got away from Tigres despite 70 per cent of the ball, 20 shots and 16 corners. Ismael Díaz opened the scoring on 19 and Diber Cambindo settled it on 89 from Rodrigo Echeverría's pass. According to Milenio, some fans left the stadium in protest, and Víctor Manuel Vucetich called on his side to "have the maturity" to fight for the Liguilla; he added that decisions about his job will be taken at the end of the tournament.

Wednesday

Atlas 2–5 América was settled before the hour. Miguel Borja opened the scoring on 26 from Brian Rodríguez's pass, and Erick Sánchez made it 0–2 on 28 from Carlos Álvarez's. Rodríguez scored the third on 58 from Álex Zendejas's pass, and Zendejas the fourth on 63. Luis Esteves, with a penalty on 73, and Ryan Mmaee, on 78 from Sergio Hernández's pass, pulled two back, but Kevin Álvarez made it 2–5 on 79. Atlas had 23 shots, six of them on target, the same number on target as América. TUDN reports that Zendejas went off injured.

Puebla 1–4 Monterrey was settled in the first half. Diego Rossi scored on 17 from Lucas Ocampos's pass, Hugo Cuypers on 31 and Ocampos on 34 from Óliver Torres's. Roberto de la Rosa added the fourth on 61, also from Torres's pass, and Facundo Almada pulled one back for Puebla on 66 from Juan Pablo Vargas's.

Toluca 2–2 Tijuana was dominated by Toluca, with 76 per cent of the ball, 30 shots and 17 corners. Elias Manoel put Tijuana ahead on 38 from Yael Padilla's pass; Federico Viñas equalised on 61 from a pass by Helinho (Hélio Júnio Nunes de Castro), and Helinho, from Nicolás Castro's, turned it round on 65. Padilla equalised on 75. Toluca have not won in five matches.

Pachuca 1–2 Cruz Azul: Gabriel Fernández put Cruz Azul ahead on 13 from Alan Mozo's pass and Francisco Venegas equalised for Pachuca on 20 from Rodolfo Pizarro's. According to Fox Sports, the referee Daniel Quintero awarded a penalty for a foul by Pedro Budib on Fernández, and Montaño converted it on 79; Pachuca had a Salomón Rondón equaliser on 85 ruled out for offside.

Santos Laguna 2–0 Pumas was played almost entirely with Pumas down to ten: Nathanael Ananias was sent off on 2, a red card Milenio describes as controversial. Eduardo Aguirre scored a penalty on 6 and Franco Pardo, also from the spot, on 80. Pumas had a single shot on target. At the end there was pushing and shoving between players and coaching staffs, and according to Milenio the referee Guillermo Pacheco sent off Pumas's fitness coach, Rodrigo Barrios, for throwing a bottle towards the Santos bench.

The table after matchday 13

América, Querétaro, Monterrey and Tijuana have played twelve matches, with their matchday 7 game still to come; the rest have played thirteen. The top eight after matchday 17 go straight to the Liguilla, and there is no relegation this season.

1. América, 27 points (12 played, +16)
2. Guadalajara, 23 (13, +8)
3. Cruz Azul, 23 (13, +7)
4. Toluca, 22 (13, +10)
5. León, 21 (13, +3)
6. Atlas, 21 (13, −2)
7. Monterrey, 20 (12, +6)
8. Querétaro, 20 (12, +1)
9. Santos Laguna, 19 (13, +3)
10. Tijuana, 17 (12, +1)

In the race for first place América are increasingly out on their own: after matchday 10 they were two points ahead of Guadalajara and level with Toluca, and now they are four clear of Guadalajara and Cruz Azul and five clear of Toluca, who have taken two points from the last three matchdays. Cruz Azul have won their last two matches and gone from six points at matchday 5 to 23. Santos, ninth, are a point outside the Liguilla places. Pachuca (13), Necaxa (9) and Juárez (4) remain at the bottom.

Numbers to know

• 28 goals in nine matches; three home wins, five away wins and one draw.
• América have scored 32 goals in twelve matches, the best attack in the tournament.
• Two own goals, by Oliveros and Parra, and five penalties converted.
• Toluca had 30 shots and 76 per cent of the ball but only drew.
• Juárez have four points from 13 matches and have conceded 32 goals.

Next up

Matchday 14 begins on Friday 23 October: Necaxa v Juárez (19:00 Mexico City time) and Atlante v Atlético de San Luis (21:00). On Saturday 24: León v Toluca (17:00), Monterrey v Guadalajara (18:00) and Pumas v Tigres (21:00). On Sunday 25: Atlas v Puebla (17:00), América v Pachuca and Querétaro v Cruz Azul (19:00), and Tijuana v Santos Laguna (21:00). The full table and the kick-off times are on the Liga MX page.

Sources for the context: Milenio, Tigres, Milenio, Santos v Pumas, Fox Sports, TUDN.