Tijuana - Pumas end 1-1 as Juninho rescues Pumas and extends unbeaten run
Pumas survived a frantic visit to Tijuana to leave Estadio Caliente with a 1-1 draw, and that result keeps their undefeated start intact. The tijuana - pumas encounter produced a rapid exchange of goals late in the first half, a near-miss early in the second, and cemented Pumas’ string of eight matches without defeat.
Tijuana - Pumas at Estadio Caliente
The match in Tijuana delivered an open, end-to-end game that energized the crowd at Estadio Caliente. Ramiro Árciga put the home side ahead in the 40th minute with a powerful strike from the edge of the area that took a deflection and found the net. Four minutes later, Juninho equalized in first-half stoppage by tapping in a rebound from the post to make it 1-1, his fourth goal of the campaign.
Ramiro Árciga’s 40th-minute strike
Árciga’s goal changed the rhythm of the match and forced Pumas to respond. His shot from the fringes of the box looped past defensive bodies and beat the goalkeeper José Antonio Rodríguez despite the intervention attempts in the area. The early second-half moments that followed were high on intensity, with both sides seeking an advantage.
Juninho’s 44th-minute equalizer
Juninho’s finish at 44 minutes was the decisive action that preserved a point for the visiting side. The Brazilian forward reacted to a rebound off the post and steered the ball into an open net, drawing Pumas level before the break. Pedro Vite came close to changing the scoreboard for Pumas shortly after the interval with a long-range effort that hit the crossbar and bounced near the line, but it did not cross fully.
Efraín Juárez, lineups and absences
Manager Efraín Juárez set Pumas up with an offensive starting eleven and did not shy from taking the match to Tijuana’s defense. Pumas’ starting lineup listed Keylor Navas, Rodrigo López, Nathan Silva, Ángel Azuaje, Álvaro Angulo, Pedro Vite, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Alan Medina, Jordan Carrillo, Juninho and Robert Morales. Tijuana’s starting players were José Antonio Rodríguez, Rafael Fernández, Unai Bilbao, Jackson Porozo, Jesús Vega, Iván Tona, Kevin Castañeda, Ramiro Árciga, Ignacio Rivero, Domingo Blanco and Mourad Daoudi. The fronterizo side continues without young forward Gil Mora, sidelined for much of the tournament with a muscular injury.
Pumas’ unbeaten run, standings and upcoming fixtures
The draw extends Pumas’ undefeated run in the Clausura to eight matches and leaves them provisionally in second place with 16 points, behind Chivas on 18. Pumas and Toluca remain the only teams in the championship without a defeat. The club is three matches shy of equaling its best start to a campaign: an 11-match run in the Clausura 2011 (seven wins, four draws) and a 10-match run in the Apertura 2020 (six wins, four draws) are the benchmarks. Pumas return to Ciudad Universitaria to face Toluca on Tuesday, March 3 at 21: 10 (Central Mexico time). Tijuana drop to 10th with nine points and have gone six matches without a victory (five draws and one defeat); they will visit Atlas at Estadio Jalisco on Wednesday, March 4 at 21: 00 (Central Mexico time).
Liga MX roundup: Querétaro, Santos, Mazatlán, Pachuca, Ciudad Juárez and Atlas
The weekend slate included several other outcomes that reshaped the lower half of the table. Santos Laguna fought back for a 2-2 draw at Querétaro: Mateo Coronel scored at 13 minutes and Santiago Homenchenko converted a penalty at 30 for Querétaro, while Lucas Di Yorio scored a penalty at 23 and Carlos Gruezo netted at 45+6 for Santos. Santos remains the only team without a victory, stuck on two points, and Querétaro sits 15th with six points.
Mazatlán edged Pachuca 1-0 when Dudu Teodora scored in the second minute of stoppage before the break, lifting Mazatlán to three matches unbeaten and seventh in form, and leaving Pachuca on 14 points in fifth. Ciudad Juárez ended a five-match winless spell with a 3-1 victory over Atlas; the win places Juárez 13th with seven points while Atlas fell to sixth with 13.
What makes this notable is how marginal moments — a deflected strike, a rebound off the post, a crossbar bounce — directly determined points and shifted positions in a compact table. The result in Tijuana underscored Pumas’ resilience and left both clubs facing quick turnarounds as the calendar moves into midweek fixtures.
