Puebla escapes basement; another Liga MX game postponed

You won’t see this crowd on Saturday night. Liga MX officials postponed the Santos Laguna at Monterrey match after a Tuesday night concert churned up the playing field at Estadio BBVA Bancomer. (Photo by JULIO CESAR AGUILAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Matchday 10 is off to a fascinating start as Puebla climbed out of the Liga MX basement by handing Atlas its first home loss of the Apertura 2023 on Thursday night.

The 3-2 victory lifts the Camoteros out of the basement and sets up a first place vs last place contest on Saturday – leaders Atlético de San Luis welcome Cruz Azul to Estadio Alfonso Lastras with a chance to confirm their position atop the Liga MX table.

This weekend also features a “Clásico Capitalino” (for a closer look at the América-UNAM contest, click here), while yet another Liga MX game has been postponed due to a concert.

Saturday’s Monterrey-Santos Laguna game has officially been moved to Nov. 8. Liga MX officials ruled the pitch unplayable after examining the condition of the playing field following Tuesday’s concert by The Weekend.

Third time’s definitely not a charm

The cancelation of the Rayados-Guerreros match is the third time this season that a concert has impacted a match and Liga MX HQ looks likely to take action this time.

A Carín León concert at Estadio Corregidora in July forced the cancelation of the Querétaro-América scheduled for Matchday 2. The make-up game was played on Sept. 20.

In August, a Romeo Santos concert at Estadio Jalisco cost Atlas a home game as Liga MX officials switched the Zorros-América clash to Estadio Azteca.

This time, stadium workers were unable to repair the Estadio BBVA Bancomer turf after a Sept. 26 The Weekend concert, resulting in the postponement.

Not only does that mean Monterrey now has two games in hand (the Matchday 4 game at Tijuana was postponed because the Rayados were still participating in the Leagues Cup tournament. That match will take place on Oct. 25), but Liga MX officials have opened an inquiry to see if Monterrey will be sanctioned for the cancelation.

The reason officials might levy a fine is because the club owner is also the owner of the stadium (unlike the situations involving Querétaro and Atlas in which the city owns the stadium and so the teams have no control over other events that take place there) and so ownership is directly responsible for the poor condition of the playing field.

Liga MX round-up

The weekend calendar offers Liga MX fans Friday and Saturday triple-headers.

Tonight’s schedule opens with 11th-place León (11 points) at 13th-place Querétaro (also 11 points), followed by last place Cruz Azul (5 points) visiting table-topping Atlético de San Luis (19). The nightcap has 10th-place Tijuana (11) hosting 4th-place FC Juárez (15).

On Saturday, Pachuca (10) welcomes Necaxa (7) in an eminently missable game since it is followed by the “Clásico Capitalino” (Pumas cross town to play at Estadio Azteca) with Tigres (17) at Mazatlán FC (10) bringing down the curtain. Tigres added to its trophy case this week, bringing home the Campeones Cup after defeating LAFC in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

The lone Sunday match has slumping Guadalajara (14) paying a visit to “El Infierno” to take on the Diablos Rojos of Toluca (13).

Speaking of the Chivas, they extended their winless streak to five games on Wednesday, losing 3-1 at home to Mazatlán FC. “El Rebaño Sagrado” is now 1-2-4 since starting the season 3-0-0.

Thursday night provided a thriller as lowly Puebla handed Atlas its first home loss of the season.

The visiting Camoteros jumped out to an early lead, scoring twice in the game’s first 10 minutes. “Los Rojinegros” pulled one back just before the half and equalized on the hour mark.

Puebla’s winner came after VAR confirmed a handball in the box and Guillermo Martínez knocked home the resulting penalty in minute 75.

Next: Liga MX at midpoint: By the Numbers

The result lifted “La Franja” out of the cellar pending the outcome of the Necaxa and Cruz Azul games.