Liga MX Femenil 2023 Apertura, Week 2 Recap

This week was not a week for the faint of heart. Six of the nine games were won by three goals or more, with América dispatching Santos 6-0 and Rayadas hanging seven on León in a 7-0 drubbing. While I think these matches were reflective of the gap in quality between these teams, I think Querétaro’s 4-0 win over San Luis and Toluca’s 3-0 win over Mazatlán should give Atleti and Las Cañoneras pause to see what went wrong. It’s one thing to be blown out by a team that’s light years ahead of you, it’s another to suffer a heavy defeat by a team about on your level, and they should look to learn lessons from those losses.

These results unfortunately do raise all-too familiar questions about the gap in quality between the teams like América and Rayadas who are perennial contenders, and León and Santos who have one Liguilla appearance each despite being among the original teams from the inaugural 2017 Apertura. Perhaps it all comes down to the investment in the teams at both macro and micro levels. If teams have bad facilities and pay their players well, the players won’t be able to reach their full potential. If teams have world class facilities but don’t pay their players a living wage, they also won’t live up to their potential and will leave at the first opportunity.

This doesn’t take into account however poor coaching hires, underfunded staff positions or positions that just don’t exist. For instance of the 18 teams in the league, only two - Mazatlán and Toluca - have a goalkeeping coach listed on the Liga MX Femenil website. Necaxa and Puebla don’t have fitness coaches listed. In modern fútbol, these things are standard in the men’s game, and this doesn’t even touch on things that aren’t listed like nutritionists, sports psychologists, data analysts and scouts, and so on.

It doesn’t just take throwing gobs of money at the problem however. Teams with less financial resources need to spend their money smartly. Hire people that know what they’re doing in the context of women’s fútbol. Almost every aspect of the women’s game is different, from tactics to training to development and scouting, and while sometimes pulling in a U18 boys coach works out, often it doesn’t. The rich teams don’t do that often, and when they do they’ve done the work to see if that coach is committed to learning the craft (Chore Mejía and the late Osvaldo Batocletti are good examples) or simply looking to go up a rung on the coaching ladder.

I don’t know where else to go from here without turning this into a full-blown screed. It’s tiring to have these same narratives season after season, year after year. Hopefully at some point teams will stop thinking they’re doing enough and start aiming to be world class. We’ll all be better for it.

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Game of the Week

Pachuca 0, Cruz Azul 2

Who could have predicted that Cruz Azul would be a perfect 2-0-0 after the second week, especially considering that second match was away to Pachuca? Yet, here we are and La Máquina are indeed there with Tigres and América at the top of the table (albeit in third place because they haven’t blown anyone out for a garish goal differential yet). Pachuca isn’t the same team without Jenni Hermoso, and Cruz Azul showed no fear, with Norma Palafox almost converting a break in the third minute. Esthefanny Barreras made a great save however to keep the game level. Viri Salazar then sent one just over the bar a minute later, and the game was a real back-and-forth match that at times resembled the pace and flow of basketball as opposed to soccer. Palafox was finally able to break through in the 26th minute, getting on a great cross into the box and getting a step on the defender to tap it in.

It looked like Charlyn Corral had equalized in the 29th minute, but it was ruled that Salazar had touched it in an offside position. Replays showed however that Salazar did not touch the ball, something a VAR review could have cleared up. In the 32nd Palafox had shouts for a penalty after getting tangled with Alexandra Godínez in the box, something that a VAR review could have cleared up but no call was also given in this instance. Palafox did earn a penalty in the 35th minute after being submarined in the box by Godínez. Daniela Monroy however sent the penalty wide and Pachuca was still only down a goal. Pachuca had more goals ruled offside, in the 50th minute during the run of play and in the 56th off of a corner kick, much to the chagrin of the players and fans. Erica da Silva put the nail in the coffin though in the 59th minute, getting onto a great ball from Palafox that Barreras got her hands on but couldn’t stop.

Other scores:

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 4, Atlético San Luis 0

This is one of the games I thought showed how much Querétaro has improved and shouldn’t reflect on the overall quality of San Luis. Querétaro was a defensively sound team last season, with the big knock being that they couldn’t score. It would seem at least from their lone game this season that they’ve fixed the issue with scoring without sacrificing defensive quality. Querétaro got on the board in the 18th minute when Jazmín Enrigue got a header on a cross in from Claudia Anguiano. San Luis had plenty of looks at goal but were unable to make anything of it, firing off target or right at goalkeeper Marta Alemany. In the 68th, Fabiola Santamaria doubled the lead with a shot from close range. Lía Morán hit on a wonderful free kick in the 78th minute, and Stephanie Zuniga rounded out the scoring in the 87th with a nice little chip inside the box.

Mazatlán FC 0, Toluca 3:

Mazatlán was competitive in their home opener, but it was hometown hero Cinthya Peraza’s day as she lead Toluca to the 3-0 win. Mazatlán almost got on the board in the 11th minute when Magalí Cuadrado hit the crossbar. Toluca really got things cooking in the second half, getting a couple of good chances early before Peraza hit a golazo, putting her left foot through a cross in from Brenda Woch in the 48th. In the 80th it was Peraza sending a great through ball up the gut to Destinney Duron, who buried it for her first goal of the season. Then in the 89th minute Natalia Colin got her head onto a corner kick for Las Diablas’ third and final goal of the night.

FC Juárez 0, Tigres UANL 4

A dominant win by Tigres, and it could have been by even more. Stephany Mayor looked to have scored in the 6th minute but it was ruled offside. A minute later Mayor knocked in a cross in and it was not offside. In the 10th Mayor hit the crossbar in a nifty little flick in the box. In the 17th, Belén “Pollito” Cruz hit an olímpico that goalkeeper Renata Masciarelli looked to get a finger onto but couldn’t stop. Masciarelli did make a huge stop in the 60th minute on a shot from close range by Jana Gutiérrez, and got an assist in the 70th from the crossbar on a Jackie Ovalle shot, but a minute later Anika Rodríguez hit a rocket from distance off of a corner kick to extend the lead to three. Then with the game out of reach, Nayeli Rangel got her first of the season on a loose ball in the box in the 86th.

UNAM Pumas 4, Atlas 1

Pumas got out early and never looked back in their 4-1 rout of Atlas. Dinora Garza hit a shot from distance in the second minute that took a bounce to fool Camila Vázquez, who was making her first start for the senior team. Maritza Maldonado pulled Atlas level in the fifth minute, getting a great cross in from Fabiola Ibarra and knocking it in. Five minutes later it was Marylin Díaz re-gaining the lead for Pumas though, converting a penalty after Aerial Chavarin was knocked down in the box by Karen García. After that, Atlas was never really in the game. Dania Padilla hit a long-range bomb in the 30th minute to extend Pumas’ lead. Paola Chavero capitalized on a turnover in the 55th minute getting her first goal of the season.

Rayadas de Monterrey 7, León 0

It was never going to be easy for León, but Monterrey showed them no mercy in a 7-0 thrashing. Christina Burkenroad had four goals in the game, becoming the first player to do so since Kiana Palacios did it against Necaxa on January 30th in the 2023 Clausura. Chinwendu Ihezuo got her first of the season in the rout, as did Carlee Giammona and newly-acquired Myra Delgadillo.

América 6, Santos Laguna 0

Burkenroad wasn’t the only one making a claim for the Golden Boot, as Katty Martínez had a hat-trick in this to give her four total goals on the season. Alison González, Kiana Palacios, and Andrea Pereira also scored for América as they remain perfect on the season. Santos meanwhile has a goal differential of -17 over their last three games, which includes a 9-0 thumping by Tigres to end the 2023 Clausura.

Guadalajara 2, Puebla F.C. 0

Puebla really gave a good account of themselves in Estadio Akron, but Chivas were just too much and got the 2-0 win. Dr. Adriana “Boyi” Iturbide had several good chances early and finally was able to get one past Karla Morales in the 40th minute with a nice run into the box, with a cut and a shot to give Chivas the lead. Puebla had a couple of good looks and weren’t fully out of the match until Casandra Montero iced the match in the 85th, getting a well-placed header off of a cross into the box. Puebla have a lot they can take away from this one, while Chivas should be happy with their first win of the campaign.

Necaxa 1, Club Tijuana 2

I’m still not sure what this result says about either team. Is Necaxa improving, or is Tijuana falling behind? Of course both things can be true at once, and only hindsight will really tell us which was which. The match itself was pretty even, and it was a set piece that unlocked it for Xolos Femenil. In the 13th minute, Daniela Espinoza got her head onto a corner kick and put it in past Valeria Martínez. Tijuana almost had a second in the 24th minute but for a fantastic double save by Martínez to keep her team in it. In the 32nd Tijuana scored again, this time on a blast from distance by Joselyn De La Rosa. Necaxa got one back in the 41st on a seeing-eye shot through traffic from Joseline Hernández. Necaxa fought for an equalizer, but a good performance from Alejandra Gutiérrez preserved the lead for Tijuana.

Sub 19 results

Week 1

UNAM Pumas 2, Necaxa 0

Pachuca 1, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 2

León 0, Atlas 1

FC Juárez 1, Toluca 3

Rayadas de Monterrey 2, Club Tijuana 2

Mazatlán FC 1, Santos Laguna 2

Cruz Azul 0, América 2

Atlético San Luis vs. Chivas - postponed until August 9

Bye Week: Puebla (0-0-0), Tigres UANL (0-0-0)

Week 2 (all records are in W-D-L format, all times as listed):

Saturday, July 29

América (1-0-0) vs. UNAM Pumas (1-0-0) - 12:00 PM

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (1-0-0) vs. Cruz Azul (0-0-1) - 3:45 PM

Necaxa (0-0-1) vs. Toluca (1-0-0) - 3:45 PM

Puebla F.C. (0-0-0) vs. Pachuca (0-0-1) - 3:45 PM

Sunday, July 30

Santos Laguna (1-0-0) vs. León (0-0-1) - 9:00 AM

Atlas (1-0-0) vs. Tigres UANL (0-0-0) - 9:00 AM

Club Tijuana (0-1-0) vs. Atlético San Luis (0-0-0) - 10:00 AM

Mazatlán FC (0-0-1) vs. Rayadas de Monterrey (0-1-0) - 10:00 AM

Bye Week: Guadalajara (0-0-0), FC Juárez (0-0-1)

Liga MX Femenil Table