Juárez – Pachuca carried far more weight than a typical Matchday 7 fixture in the Apertura 2026, and for good reason. FC Juárez walked into this one under a brand-new head coach, desperate to snap a six-match losing streak that had already cost the previous manager his job. What played out at the Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez, though, was another chapter in a season that simply refuses to turn around for the Bravos.
Juarez vs Pachuca ended 0-2 in favour of the visitors, with Salomón Rondón and Alan Bautista scoring the goals that sealed FC Juárez’s seventh straight defeat of the tournament. For a club that brought in Argentine coach Gustavo Lema specifically to halt the freefall, the result was about as discouraging a debut as it gets.
Juárez – Pachuca Match Report: How the Goals Came
Juárez – Pachuca stayed goalless for the opening 53 minutes, with both sides cautious and Juárez, under Lema’s instructions, leaning into a more defensive setup than fans might have expected from a home side desperate for points. That plan held up reasonably well until the hour mark, when Pachuca finally broke through.
Salomón Rondón opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, continuing a season in which he has looked genuinely unstoppable in front of goal. Juárez pushed for an equaliser through the second half but couldn’t find a way past a well-organised Pachuca backline. The game was put fully out of reach deep into stoppage time, when Alan Bautista added a second goal in the 90+10th minute to confirm the final scoreline.
Juárez vs Pachuca: Match Summary
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Final Score | FC Juárez 0-2 Pachuca |
| Goal Scorers | Salomón Rondón (53′), Alan Bautista (90+10′) |
| Venue | Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez, Ciudad Juárez |
| Competition | Liga MX Apertura 2026, Jornada 7 |
| Juárez Coach | Gustavo Lema (debut match) |
| Pachuca Coach | Benjamín Mora |
Salomon Rondon: Still the Man No One in Liga MX Can Stop
Salomon Rondon has been the single biggest storyline of Pachuca’s season so far, and this match only added to it. Going into the fixture, the Venezuelan striker was already the Apertura’s top scorer with six goals in six matches — a goal a game, and one better than his closest rival, Lucas Ocampos of Monterrey. His strike against Juárez pushed his tally further ahead of the pack, cementing his position at the top of the goalscoring charts.
What makes Rondón’s form even more notable is his age. At almost 37, he’s not just keeping pace with Liga MX’s younger strikers — he’s outscoring almost all of them, relying on strength, aerial ability, and sharp movement inside the box rather than raw pace. For Pachuca, a team that has otherwise struggled with consistency this season, Rondón has essentially been carrying the attacking load on his own.
Pachuca: A Win That Keeps Liguilla Hopes Alive
Pachuca came into this match sitting in the lower-middle stretch of the table, having failed to win since their opening-day victory over Pumas. Three points against Juárez gives Benjamín Mora’s side some much-needed breathing room as they push to climb back toward the direct qualification places for the Liguilla, where only the top eight teams advance without a play-in.
It wasn’t a dominant performance from start to finish, but Pachuca did enough — patient in midfield, direct on the counter, and clinical when the opportunities finally arrived in the second half. For a side whose fans have grown increasingly frustrated with manager Benjamín Mora, this result buys some short-term patience, even if question marks around consistency remain.
FC Juarez: Gustavo Lema’s Rough Introduction
FC Juarez arrived at this match in genuine crisis. Before facing Pachuca, the Bravos had lost all six of their opening Apertura 2026 fixtures, conceding 19 goals in the process — comfortably the worst defensive and offensive record in the entire league. That collapse had already cost Pedro Caixinha his job, with interim boss Salvador Valero also failing to arrest the slide before Gustavo Lema was brought in just two days before kickoff.
Lema, who previously managed Pumas in Liga MX, inherited a squad low on confidence and short on answers, and his first game in charge did little to change the narrative. With this defeat, Juárez’s losing streak extends to seven matches, and their goal difference — already deep in negative territory — takes another hit.
Gustavo Lema: What Comes Next for Juárez’s New Coach
Gustavo Lema now faces an uphill task that would challenge even an experienced Liga MX veteran. Reports ahead of the match noted that a single point would already have been enough to double Juárez’s total output across their first six matches — that’s how bare the cupboard was heading into this game. A loss, even a narrow one, means Lema starts his tenure exactly where his predecessors left off: at the bottom of the table with zero points.
To his credit, his tactical approach against Pachuca — prioritising defensive solidity over reckless attacking — suggested a coach trying to first stop the bleeding before building anything more ambitious. Whether that patience pays off will depend heavily on how quickly his squad can adapt, starting with next week’s Jornada 8 fixture.
Liga MX Standings: Where Both Teams Stand After Jornada 7
Liga MX Apertura 2026 standings continue to tell two very different stories for these clubs. Pachuca’s win nudges them further up the table and keeps their Liguilla ambitions realistic, while Juárez remain rooted at the very bottom, still searching for their first point of the entire tournament heading into Jornada 8.
For neutral observers, this fixture was a genuine snapshot of where both sides stand right now — one team defending a spot near the qualification line, and another trying to avoid a historically bad start to a Liga MX season.
Final Word: Juárez – Pachuca Sums Up a Tale of Two Seasons
If there’s one takeaway from this Juárez – Pachuca clash, it’s that changing a coach doesn’t fix a broken system overnight. Gustavo Lema will get more time, and rightly so — no manager can undo six matches of dysfunction in ninety minutes. For Pachuca, meanwhile, Rondón’s brilliance continues to paper over some genuine inconsistencies elsewhere on the pitch, and it remains an open question how long that can carry them.
Both sides now turn their attention to Jornada 8, with very different problems to solve — one searching for any sign of life, the other hoping their talisman keeps the goals coming just a little longer.
This article is based on match reports and statistics from Liga MX Apertura 2026, Jornada 7, played on September 4, 2026. Standings and player statistics are accurate as of the match date and may change as the tournament progresses.
