Liga MX Goals of the Week: The best from Jornada 4 of the Clausura
There were 22 goals in Liga MX Jornada 4's nine matches and every game saw at least one goal. It's a bit of a relief for fans after Jornada 3 brought four scoreless draws. This weekend, things were back to normal in Liga MX, with Tigres' thrilling 3-2 win over Pachuca leading the way for scoring aficionados and Necaxa's shock 4-0 smashing of Leon bringing excitement for fans who don't support La Fiera.
Each week, Goal runs through the top three goals in Liga MX, giving points for style, scenario and swagger. Honorable mention this week goes to Monterrey's Aviles Hurtado for a top-class goal against Chivas and America's Bruno Valdez for his header against Atlas.
Below are the Liga MX goals that topped even those efforts this weekend:
3. Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres) - 3-2 v. Pachuca
#NoTeLoPierdas
G⚽⚽⚽LAAAAAZO de André Pierre Gignac@TigresOficial 3-2 @Tuzos #Jornada4 #Clausura2018 #LIGABancomerMX
⚽ #SienteTuLiga ⚽ #AbrazadosPorElFutbol pic.twitter.com/371pi3grgW
— LIGA Bancomer MX (@LIGABancomerMX) January 28, 2018
Goal's Liga MX Goal of the Week committee feared an ethical quandary during Tigres' win over Pumas on Saturday. Eduardo Vargas scored a lovely goal from a back-heel but was clearly offside. Should the goal be included in our prestigious list? Would you, the reader, ever return to trust us again if we put a goal that would've been invalidated were there VAR or other technology in Mexico? It was a gorgeous play, and it was a goal. But the ethics of it all.
Luckily for us, and for Tigres fans, Andre-Pierre Gignac made the question go away with his even better goal. This one, scored just two minutes after Pacuca drew level, gets just the slightest redirection from Gignac's plant foot. Did the Frenchman mean it? He definitely wasn't sure it would go in but as soon as it crosses the line he's off to celebrate like it was just what he had planned the whole time.
2. Dieter Villalpando (Necaxa) - 4-0 v. Leon
#NoTeLoPierdas
G⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽LAAAAAAAAAAZO de Dieter Villalpando 😮😮😮😮 @
CLUbleonfc 0-4 @
CLUbNecaxa #Jornada4 #Clausura2018 @LIGABancomerMX
⚽ #SienteTuLiga ⚽ #AbrazadosPorElFutbol pic.twitter.com/lbDxejmq7G
— LIGA Bancomer MX (@LIGABancomerMX) January 28, 2018
This goal won't be punished for coming at the end of a four-goal rout by Necaxa. In fact, maybe it's all the more impressive that Villalpando and his team were up three goals to begin with. Leon's spirit may have been broken, but it's hard to imagine any defender or goalkeeper William Yarbrough being able to stop this rocket from the Mexico City native.
It's just his fifth career Liga MX goal, but a lack of opportunities for Villalpando always has been a bit puzzling for a player who often puts good things together when he is on the field. This goal had to have gotten manager Nacho Ambriz's attention.
1. Pablo Barrientos (Toluca) - 1-0 v. Cruz Azul
#NoTeLoPierdas G⚽⚽⚽L de @TolucaFC Pablo Barrientos anota un verdadero Golazo y pone el 1-0 sobre @
cruz_Azul_FC en la #Jornada4 #Clausura2018 #LigaBancomerMX⚽ #SienteTuLiga ⚽ #AbrazadosPorElFutbol pic.twitter.com/ARHC7pPlg1
— LIGA Bancomer MX (@LIGABancomerMX) January 28, 2018
Barrientos picks out the exact place where Cruz Azul goalkeeper Jesus Corona will have absolutely no chance to get a hand on it with the shot kissing the underside of the crossbar and going in for Toluca's only goal of Sunday's 1-1 draw.
The other thing I love about this goal is that Barrientos is standing around doing absolutely nothing on the set piece. Then, because of a strange effort to keep the play alive after the set piece goes long, it's suddenly right there for him. The Argentine takes one touch to line it up and then lashes home the goal. From there, he's off to celebrate the first-half lead and now can celebrate winning Goal's Goal of the Week crown
