Chivas' woes continue; Independiente alone in first

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Sergio Amaury Ponce scored the lone goal as Toluca beat Guadalajara 1-0 on Sunday, in week nine of the Mexican Apertura.

Ponce sent a powerful shot to score in the 74th for the Red Devils, who are on a four game winning streak.

Toluca, coached by Jose Pekerman, now has 19 points, placing it in second place in the league standings.

Omar Bravo missed a penalty kick in the 28th for Guadalajara, whose offense had trouble connecting. Chivas has scored only seven goals in nine weeks; only Tecos is worse, with five.

On Saturday, Nigerian Alain Nkong scored a goal in injury time and Atlante drew a 2-2 tie against Cruz Azul to remain undefeated.

Nkong scored in the 92nd minute on a header as Atlante came back from a 2-0 deficit for the fourth straight match. Venezuelan Giancarlo Maldonado also scored for Atlante in the 70th.

Carlos Bonet found the net in the sixth minute and Miguel Sabah scored in the 44th for Cruz Azul.

In San Luis, Argentine Alfredo Moreno scored twice and the Gladiators beat America 2-1. Moreno scored in the 37th and 75th to reach a tournament best of 10 goals. Paraguayan Salvador Cabanas converted for America in the 79th.

In other results, the Pumas defeated Morelia 3-0, the Tigres defeated Monterrey 1-0 on a goal by Uruguayan Sebastian Abreu, the Jaguars got a 1-0 victory over Atlas, Tecos drew a 1-1 tie against Necaxa and Santos destroyed Puebla 4-1.

Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Independiente beat Olimpo 3-0 to take the sole lead in Argentina's first-division race after Boca Juniors drew 2-2 with Gimnasia of Jujuy Sunday to cede its share of the top spot in the 10th round.

Elsewhere, first-division newcomer Tigre smashed past River Plate 4-1 for its first victory since November 1947 at River's Monumental stadium against its storied Buenos Aires rival, now stumbling back in the pack.

Independiente opened scoring in the 13th minute Saturday off a cross by Daniel Montenegro. German Denis, the tournament's leading scorer after the 10th round with 13 goals, stuck six minutes later and booted in a right-footer later in the match to finalize scoring.

Olimpo botched a chance to score as forward Josemir Lujambio smashed a penalty kick that ricocheted' off INdependiente's crossbeam. On Sunday, Boca drew 2-2 with Gimnasia and fell out of first place, a position it had shared with Independiente for weeks.

Playing on the road against the lower-ranked Gimnasia, Boca was stunned in the 10th minute by a header by Jujuy forward Osvaldo Miranda, who nearly repeated with another header five minutes later, the shot bouncing off the crossbeam.

Boca, despite attempts by star striker Martin Palermo to escalate the counterattack, failed to jar its rival for most of the first period. In the 43rd, making matters worse for Boca, forward Rodrigo Palacio left the field with a knee injury after running into an advertising sign set alongside the field.

In the 67th, Mauro Boselli got Boca's first goal off a right-footer for to level the scores at 1-1, then Boca's Gabriel Paletta headed in a free kick to put Boca up 2-1 with six minutes remaining.

Gimnasia's Marcelo Berza headed in the game-winner in the 90th, electrifying the home crowd. Both teams finished a man down after the expulsion of Boca player Claudio Morel Rodriguez and Silvio Luvale, playing for Gimnasia.

Independiente now leads after 10 rounds with 22 points, two ahead of Boca.

Elsewhere, River took a beating as Roman Martinez headed in the first goal in the ninth minute for Tigre. In the 60th, Tigre's Matias Gimenez scored the second goal off a questionable shot after he appeared to brush the ball with his hand -- but the referee let the goal stand.

Diego Cagna scored the third goal for Tigre in the 61st and Marco Ruben came back five minutes later with the lone River goal. Tigre added one more in the 84th, again by Ayala.

Out of control, River finished the match with nine on the field after the expulsions of Ariel Ortega and Rene Lima for rough play.

Elsewhere in the 10th round, it was Huracan 2, Colon 2; San Lorenzo 3, Rosario Central 1; Banfield 1, Gimnasia of La Plata 0; Argentinos Juniors 4, Newell's Old Boys 0; San Martin E, Velez Sarsfield 2; Lanus 1, Estudiantes 0; Racing Club 1, Arsenal 0.