Mazatlán - Pachuca: Home breakthrough lifts Mazatlán, complicates Pachuca’s Jornada 8 plans

Why this matters now: Mazatlán’s narrow 1-0 win over Pachuca in the octava jornada del Clausura reshapes immediate standings, ends a painful home run without a victory, and resolves a pair of season-long threads — a long goal drought for a marquee signing and the race to meet age‑limit minute requirements. The match finished 1-0 and featured the decisive action in added time of the first half.

Who sees the most immediate impact after Mazatlán - Pachuca

The result moved Mazatlán to seven points and into the 14th position, while Pachuca stayed on 14 units in fifth place. For Mazatlán the win halted a poor string at home in the Clausura 2026 and represented a second victory of the season under coach Sergio Bueno. For Pachuca, the defeat leaves attacking figures like Salomón Rondón, Enner Valencia and Luis Quiñones still searching for a finishing touch despite moments of control in the first half.

Mazatlán - Pachuca: how the decisive sequence unfolded

Pachuca dominated the first half with the Venezuelan Salomón Rondón as the offensive reference and Rondón produced the clearest chance of the early period in the 13th minute after a series of rebounds inside the box, but he lacked accuracy. The match was decided in added time of the first half when the Argentine Facundo Almada won a header inside the area that extended the ball to the entry of the Brazilian Luiz Teodora 'Dudu', who finished unmarked in front of the goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

Key match incidents, lineups and discipline

• Goal: Dudu (Luiz Teodora), added time of the first half — Mazatlán 1, Pachuca 0.
• Expulsion: Sebastián Santos (Mazatlán) was sent off 15 minutes from the end, after which Pachuca intensified their search for an equalizer but Rondón, Enner Valencia and Luis Quiñones did not score.
• Mazatlán starting XI and changes listed: Ricardo Rodríguez; Jair Díaz, Lucas Meroilla, Facundo Almada, Sebastián Santos; Said Godínez (79’ Joaquín Esquivel), Mauro Zaleta, Josué Ovalle (62’ Mauro Laínez), Yoel Bárcenas; Brian Rubio (79’ Ángel Saavedra), Dudu Teodora (69’ Jesús Hernández).
• Pachuca starting XI and changes listed: Carlos Moreno; Brian García, Sergio Barreto, Eduardo Bauermann, Carlos Sánchez (80’ Cristóbal Hernández); Sergio Rodríguez (56’ Víctor Guzmán), Cristian Rivera, Alan Bautista (46’ Enner Valencia); Alexei Domínguez (56’ Kenedy), Oussama Idrissi (46’ Luis Quiñones), Salomón Rondón.

Here's the part that matters for squad stories: Dudu’s goal ended a 906‑minute drought since his arrival last season and marked his first goal as a Mazatlán player.

Minutes, milestones and immediate scheduling

Mazatlán and Pachuca are also leaders in the race to accumulate the minutes required by the competition’s age‑limit rule; during this match both clubs completed the 1, 300 minutes demanded. There will be very little recovery time: Mazatlán are scheduled to visit Atlético de San Luis on Tuesday night at the Estadio Libertad Financiera as they look to secure their second victory of the season.

Other Friday results and the weekend slate

Other action on the same day included Querétaro drawing 2-2 with Santos Laguna. For Querétaro the scorers were the Argentine Mateo Coronel and the Uruguayan Santiago Homenchenko (the latter from the penalty spot). Santos’ goals were scored by the Argentine Lucas Di Yorio (also from the penalty spot) and the Ecuadorian Carlos Gruezo; both Di Yorio and Gruezo were expelled in the second half.

Friday’s schedule closed with a string of matches still to be played: Pumas UNAM, with the Costa Rican Keylor Navas, versus Tijuana, coached by the Uruguayan Sebastián 'Loco' Abreu; and the fixture between Juárez and Atlas. The octava jornada was set to continue Saturday with five more matches, among them Toluca hosting the leader Guadalajara, managed by the Argentine Gabriel Milito; Monterrey, with the Spaniard Sergio Canales, facing Cruz Azul; Tigres, with Ángel Correa in their ranks, visiting América; San Luis versus Puebla; and León against Necaxa.

• 27 feb — Mazatlán beat Pachuca 1-0 in the octava jornada del Clausura (decisive goal in added time of the first half).
• 3 October — the team’s last home victory had been in Jornada 12 of the Apertura 2025, when Mazatlán defeated Atlético de San Luis.
• Next: Mazatlán travel to Atlético de San Luis on Tuesday night at Estadio Libertad Financiera, with little recovery time before that game.

It’s easy to overlook, but the combination of Dudu’s long-awaited goal and the completion of the 1, 300 required minutes are tangible turning points for both squads within this Clausura run.