Guadalajara recorded its first away league victory in almost a year on Sunday, grinding out a 1-0 victory over Puebla in the Estadio Cuauhtemoc in a game of low quality.
Aldo de Nigris was the scorer for Chivas after finding himself free in the center of the penalty area to head home a cross from Omar Bravo in the fourth minute.
After the early goal and a bright start from Chivas, the team again opted to drop back instead of pressing for more goals.
"Chivas decided to protect the result from the fifth minute," complained Puebla manager Ruben Omar Romano in the press conference after the game. "We explored every angle and put different variations on against a team that scored a goal and retreated."
Romano summed up a frustration that many Chivas fans feel in spite of a valuable three points: coach Jose Luis Real's tactic of protecting leads is not in line with a team that claims to be Mexico's most popular.
Not that Real shares that particular point of view.
"If we ask people is they prefer the spectacular or points, they would say the points," Real said after the game. "We managed the game well and nothing compares to a triumph."
Real could point to Chivas finishing match-day six in the 2014 Clausura in a playoff position, having lost just once in six league matches this year. He could add that the team looks much more solid in defense than the one that leaked 30 goals in 17 games last season.
Yet the problems are undeniable.
Jesus "Chapo" Sanchez returned from injury to replace the injured Carlos Fierro, but was forced off with what looked like a nasty knee injury.
Upfront, De Nigris got a welcome goal, but the partnership with Rafa Marquez Lugo is still not firing, with the latter being asked to sacrificed when he is perhaps Chivas' most natural goal-scorer.
The team’s best attacking four players aren't firing as a unit and the honest truth is that Puebla's defense was comfortable for the majority of the game.
These are strange times for Chivas. On the one hand, it feels like a good, big win which is coinciding with the possible returns of Jorge Enriquez, Gerardo Rodriguez and Fierro next week against Queretaro. That could be the catalyst to boost confidence, shake off those mental blocks Nestor Vidrio was talking about earlier this week and have a real go at making the playoffs.
On the other, a couple of losses and the crisis that was 2013 may be just around the corner.
The reality -- as Sunday's game once again proved -- is that while this Chivas team will have its ups and downs, it is currently a middling Liga MX outfit that lacks squad depth and three or four quality players to stand up to the very best sides in Mexico.