The first arrived in the 18th minute when referee Marco Antonio “Gato” Ortiz awarded a penalty after Diego González fouled Cristian Borja. The Colombian went to ground as the Atlas defender closed in, and Ortiz wasted no time pointing to the spot. Brian Rodríguez converted to put América in front.

By the 55th minute, Uroš Đurđević appeared to have pulled one back to make it 3-1 for the home side, but Ortiz ruled Gaddi Aguirre offside in the buildup.

In the 82nd minute, Aldo Rocha’s heavy challenge on Erick Sánchez left no room for debate. Moments later, another foul in the Atlas box raised doubts – a tug that divided opinion – but from that sequence came América’s fourth goal, with Diego Valdés sealing it in the 90th minute.

In the end, América left Estadio Jalisco with a 4-2 victory, moving into second place in the table on 14 points, just one behind leaders Monterrey on 15. Next week, they host Pachuca, led by manager Jaime Lozano.