Mexican League Roundup, Oct. 30

Christian Gimenez scored an 80th-minute header to give Mexican league leader Cruz Azul a 1-0 victory over Puebla on Saturday.

Gimenez' goal gave his side a seventh home league win out of seven and stretched the Mexico City club's lead atop the Apertura general standings to six points, ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures.

Cruz Azul was already guaranteed of making the end-of-season playoffs, while Puebla's hopes of qualifying faded after the loss.

Also Saturday, Queretaro had a 2-1 home win over UNAM Pumas despite finishing with nine men. Santos drew 1-1 at home with Guadalajara and UANL Tigres shared a scoreless draw with Chiapas and Pachuca won 2-1 at Atlas.

Four further matches will be played Sunday, including second-placed Monterrey traveling to Morelia.

Gimenez had the simple job of heading the ball over the line to give Cruz Azul another win at home against Puebla.

The goal came from an Adrian Cortes corner, which Puebla goalkeeper Alexandro Alvarez could only punch to the back post for Gimenez to stoop and score.

Replays suggested Cruz Azul defender Horacio Cervantes had diverted the flight of the ball with his hand in the instant before Alvarez' mistake, but the goal was allowed to stand.

Puebla should have taken the lead just after half time when Gerardo Lugo passed to Joel Gonzalez in the box only for the winger to skew his shot wide from six yards (meters).

Cruz Azul striker Emanuel Villa leapt above two defenders but saw his downward header tipped round the post by Alvarez in the 78th minute.

The win gave Cruz Azul 35 points from 15 matches atop the general standings, ahead of Monterrey, which has 29 from 14.

The Mexican league is split into three groups to decide which clubs advance to the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Sergio Blanco gave Queretaro the lead in the 25th minute at home against UNAM Pumas, but Raul Mendoza was sent off for the home side with 15 minutes left.

Javier Cortes looked to have rescued a draw for Pumas with a goal in the last minute of normal time and Queretaro was reduced to nine men when Daniel Valdez was sent off.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Alen Skoro hit the winner for Queretaro deep into injury time.

The win revived Queretaro's chances of reaching the playoffs from Group Three.

Elsewhere, the league's top scorer Christian Benitez notched his 13th goal of the season with a header to open the scoring for Santos against Chivas in the 88th minute.

Omar Arellano equalized for Guadalajara two minutes later to take a share of the points, but Chivas needed a win to bolster its faint hopes of reaching the playoffs from Group One.

"The draw isn't much use to us, but we have to keep on fighting," Arellano said.

Santos moved to 26 points in third place in the general standings and second behind Monterrey in Group One. Guadalajara has 18 points in the same section.

In Monterrey, UANL Tigres' draw with Chiapas left both clubs in playoff positions. Chiapas is second in Group Three with 21 points, while Tigres is third in Group One with 23.

In the day's final match, Alfredo Moreno gave Atlas the lead over Pachuca with a 28th-minute strike, but goals from Damian Manso in the 32nd and Dario Cvitanich in the 74th gave the visitors a comeback victory.

Pachuca moved to 19 points in fourth place in Group Two, behind San Luis (22), America (21) and Toluca (21), all of which play Sunday.

Atlas, already eliminated from the postseason, has 12 points in the same section.