Pachuca won Liga MX’s 2022 Apertura title on Sunday night, beating Toluca 3-1 and winning 8-2 on aggregate.
Facing a 5-1 defeat in the first leg, Toluca took the lead at Pachuca’s Estadio Hidalgo for the first time. In the 21st minute, right-back Raul “Dedos” Lopez dashed in and headed the ball from Carlos Gonzalez and scored from a distance to put Diablos Rojos 1-0 up.
Pachuca finally gained more momentum in the first half, and though Tuzos forward Nicolas Ibanez there was a penalty saved by Toluca goalkeeper Tiago Volpi in the 48th minute, midfielder Victor Guzman react seconds later to level the score 1-1 and 6-2.
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Right after the first half ended, Pachuca found the net again. Through a clever combination, the midfielder Luis Chavez sent a pass to the sprinting Ibanez, who then shot the ball into the net. More hungry and driven by family crowds, Los Tuzos continued to pressurize in the final third, they were eventually awarded another penalty in their favor in the second half.
Defender Gustavo Cabral stepped up to position in the 75th minute and fired another shot past Volpi to make it 3-1.
With no extra minutes of injury time, the Estadio Hidalgo field exploded in the 90th minute when the final whistle sounded to confirm Pachuca’s championship through the final score of 8-2.
With another Liga MX title in hand, Pachuca now has a total of seven goals in the league and ranks sixth (together with Pumas and Tigres) in the all-time leaderboard for Mexico’s top flight. All seven of Los Tuzos’ Liga MX titles have been won since 1999.
Both Pachuca and Toluca have qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League 2024, while Pachuca has also automatically earned a place in the knockout stages of next summer’s League Open Cup which will feature all the matches. Liga MX and MLS clubs.
Pachuca finished with 70 points in 2022 while Atlas champion Clausura earned 40, ie Los Tuzos will reach the 2023 Confederation Cup in the knockout round.
