Uzziel Lozano and Miguel Zepeda scored first-half goals and Toluca held off Guadalajara, 2-1, Friday night in Houston to grab a three-point lead in Group A of the Interliga with one game to play.
Lozano, who stepped in for injured Paraguayan forward Jose Saturnino Cardozo, scored in the 20th minute, and the recently acquired Zepeda doubled the advantage in the 33rd minute before 22,124 at Reliant Stadium.
Adolfo Bautista scored his first goal in a Guadalajara uniform in the 84th minute, but the Chivas' second loss in the tournament ended their Interliga title hopes.
Former Dallas Burn forward Damian Alvarez's 78th-minute goal gave Morelia a 3-2 victory over Santos in the first game of the doubleheader, keeping the Monarcas' title hopes alive.
The Group A winner will meet the top Group B team in Wednesday's final at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., with the victor gaining one of Mexico's two slots in the Libertadores Cup. The champion of the eight-team Interliga will compete in Group 3 of South America's club championship, battling Cruzeiro (Brazil), Universidad de Concepcion (Chile) and Caracas FC (Venezuela).
Toluca, which opened the competition with a 1-0 victory Jan. 4 over Morelia, needs only a tie — and possibly less — in Sunday's match against Santos at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas to advance to Wednesday's Interliga final.
Santos and Morelia remain in contention, but Guadalajara's only Libertadores hope is to win Wednesday's third-place game, then beat the second-place finisher in a playoff later this month for Mexico's second berth in the Libertadores Cup. To reach the third-place game, Guadalajara must beat Morelia on Sunday in Dallas, Toluca must beat Santos, and the Chivas must overcome Morelia on goal differential or total goals.
America (with four points), Atlas (with four) and UNL Tigres (with three) remain in contention for the Group B title. Atlante meets Atlas and America faces Tigres in Sunday's group finales in Houston.
Honduran star Carlos Pavon and Gustavo Trujillo also tallied for Morelia, which watched a pair of leads disappear on goals by Vicente Matias Vuoso and, on a penalty kick, Jared Borguetti. Borguetti's goal was his third of the tournament.
Cardozo sustained a broken rib against Morelia and will miss the remainder of the Interliga.
The Interliga is the second event produced by Soccer United Marketing, which is owned primarily by Major League Soccer investors Anschutz Entertainment Group, Hunt Sports, Kraft Group Sports and Kroenke Sports Enterprises, and by Dentsu, a Japanese marketing company. SUM's first venture was the Women's World Cup, which made a reported $6 million profit.
SUM also owned the U.S. television rights to the 2002 World Cup (and owns the rights to the 2006 tournament).
INTERLIGA 2004
Jan. 9 at Houston
Morelia 3 (Pavon 26, Trujillo 49, Alvarez 78) Santos 2 (Vuoso 39, Borguetti pen. 61)
Toluca 2 (Lozano 20, Zepeda 33) Guadalajara 1 (Bautista 84)
Jan. 6 at San Jose, Calif.
America 2 (Blanco 77, Navia 85) Atlas 2 (Morales 1, Garcia 65)
UNL Tigres 3 (own goal Gonzalez China 29, De Nigris 50, Mendoza 54) Atlante 2 (Martel 12, S.Gonzalez 81)
Jan. 4 at Stockton, Calif.
Toluca 1 (Abundis 66) Morelia 0
Atlas 2 (Duran 39, Perez 77) UNL Tigres 0
Jan. 4 at Carson, Calif.
Santos 2 (Borguetti 4, 55) Guadalajara 1 (Bravo 2)
America 3 (Navia 38, 52, A.Gonzalez 82) Atlante 2 (Padilla 21, S.Gonzalez 70)
STANDINGS
Group A
W-L-T GF-GA Pts
Toluca 2-0-0 3-1 6
Santos 1-1-0 4-4 3
Morelia 1-1-0 3-3 3
Guadalajara 0-2-0 2-4 0
Group B
W-L-T GF-GA Pts
America 1-0-1 5-3 4
Atlas 1-0-1 4-2 4
UNL Tigres 1-1-0 3-4 3
Atlante 0-2-0 4-6 0
Remaining Games
Jan. 11 at Houston
Atlante vs. Atlas, 1 p.m. CST
America vs. UNL Tigres, 3:30 p.m. CST
Jan. 11 at Dallas
Guadalajara vs. Morelia, 5:30 p.m. CST
Toluca vs. Santos, 7 p.m. CST
Jan. 14 at Carson, Calif.
Third-place game, 6 p.m. PST
Championship, 8:15 p.m. PST