Americas

Americas Top Five: Alexis Castro tops the rankings with a 10

The best players this week all feature in Argentina and Mexico.

 
4:54pm on Friday 1st November 2019
By
Martin Macdonald
Alexis Castro
M, DM (C) - Defensa - 25 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
10
Oct 30, 2019

Castro was the best player on the pitch as Defensa defeated San Lorenzo 3-1 midweek. After going a goal behind, the winger got his side back into contention with a close-range header before assisting two further goals to complete the comeback. Firstly, he played the ball precisely inside for Fernando Marquez to score, then crossed to the near post for Rafael Delgado to bullet a header home. Overall, he sent six crosses into the box from his position on the right wing, and won 15 out of 23 duels, too.

Iván Arboleda
GK - Banfield - 23 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.9
Oct 31, 2019

Banfield secured a point away at Racing Club after a 0-0 draw, largely due to their goalkeeper who faced no less than 23 shots from the home side. Seven of those were on target, and he managed to beat away every single one, while also making an impressive 14 ball recoveries from inside his area. It was a key point gained for Banfield as it lifted them a point clear of the relegation zone.

Luis Mendoza
M, AM (R) - Monarcas - 29 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
9.3
Nov 1, 2019

Mendoza was in scintillating form for Monarcas as they defeated Juarez 6-1, assisting two and scoring the final goal. His first assist came through a neat pass to the edge of the box, while his next was actually taken via a team-mate stealing the ball from his feet before running through to score. He also won the penalty scored by the hosts after firing a cross into the box which was handled. For the icing on the cake, he side-stepped the defender effortlessly inside the box before thumping a finish into the roof of the net to the right of the goal.

Víctor Malcorra
M (CL) - Pumas UNAM - 32 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.9
Oct 30, 2019

Another big performance from another big win, as Malcorra recorded two assists in Pumas' 5-1 destruction of Atlas. Both of his set-ups were fairly similar and came from the left-hand side where he caused so much trouble all night. While others would have flashed an aimless cross inside, both of his were precision passes into team-mates, first for Carlos Gonzalez to score and then Andres Iniestra. He provided further ammunition to the forwards with six additional crosses into the area.

Carlos Salcedo
D (CR) - Tigres UANL - 26 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.8
Oct 31, 2019

Tigres moved within three points of the top of Liga MX thanks to a 1-0 win over Toluca, with the solitary strike coming from Salcedo with just seven minutes of normal time remaining. From a cross from Jurgen Damm, he rose above everyone to glance a superb header low into the bottom corner. Defensively, he was also superb, as he won 6/9 duels and 100% of his tackles.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Salcedo's team-mate Guido Pizarro (8.7), had as good, if not better, of a defensive game for Tigres. He won 9/12 duels, 3/3 tackles, and 5/6 aerial duels, but just misses out due to his team-mate's winning goal.

ROUND TO FORGET

Elio Castro (4.3) was hopeless at the back for Juarez as they were demolished by Monarcas, winning just one tackle the entire match, while he made one direct error leading to a goal.

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