Franco Arizala, Jaguares (Action Images)

1. Where were all the goals?: This particular weekend did not offer up much for the neutrals: eight games on Saturday and Sunday produced 10 combined goals. Three of those affairs ended in scoreless draws. And the one shootout of the weekend – the five-goal thriller on Friday night – leaned on a unique set of circumstances to generate all of that action in the final third…

2. Injuries threaten to sidetrack Chivas’ Liguilla push: Guadalajara manager Benjamin Galindo once again turned to a raft of reserves to carry his tattered side through a match. Unlike the Súper Clásico defeat to Club América last weekend, Chivas still looked capable of handling a visit to Jaguares on Friday. The shoddy back four – once again stripped of Héctor Reynoso (hamstring) – disagreed as it somehow squandered the advantages created by a pair of Rafael Márquez Lugo goals and an ample share of the ball. Franco Arizala’s winner nine minutes from time incited celebrations in Chiapas and left tattered Chivas two points off the pace in the playoff race.

3. Tigres spurns yet another chance to pull clear at the top: Ricardo Ferretti’s side wasted a glorious opening to compile a genuine cushion over second-place Atlas (0-0 draw with Morelia) and third-place Club América (1-1 draw with Puebla) with a victory against lowly Club León. The resulting 0-0 draw instead maintained the modest two-point advantage over Atlas heading into the final four weeks of the season. Ferretti and his players have yet to taste defeat in 13 Clausura matches, but they must take care of business to ensure they do not somehow allow Atlas or América (two points further back) to overtake them in the next few weeks.

4. So much for potential distractions for La Máquina: Cruz Azul could have turned its attentions to Wednesday’s Copa MX final against Atlante a few days early with a first title since 1997 on the horizon. Instead of dropping its guard ahead of the trip to Querétaro, Guillermo Vázquez’s side erased the deficit created by Diego de la Torre’s early marker and secured three valuable points in the battle for a Liguilla place. A similar triumph in Cancún in midweek would end the lengthy drought and strengthen Vázquez’s tenuous position significantly.

5. Home slip leaves Gallos Blancos with a relegation mountain to climb: De la Torre’s early goal provided hope of a critical result in the battle against relegation. Victory against Cruz Azul – plus the expected away defeat for then-bottom side San Luis in Cancún – would have drawn Querétaro within three points of safety with four matches to go.

No such luck for the bottom feeders on this weekend, though. Nicolás Bertolo and Javier Orozco snatched the points for Cruz Azul in the second half on Saturday night. And then Luis Rodriguez struck with a quarter of an hour to play at Estadio Andres Quintana Roo on Sunday night to give San Luis its first road victory of the season.

The unfortunate sequence of events left Querétaro seven points behind Atlante in the race to avoid relegation. Barring some sort of miracle over the next few weeks, Gallos Blancos will spend next season in Ascenso MX.

Results: Jaguares 3 – Chivas 2 (Friday); América 1 – Puebla 1,  Querétaro 1 – Cruz Azul 2, Pachuca 1 – Pumas 2, Tigres 0 – León 0, Atlas 0 – Morelia 0, Tijuana 0 – Santos 0 (Saturday); Toluca 1 – Monterrey 0, Atlante 0 – San Luis 1 (Sunday).

— By Kyle McCarthy