The curse is broken.
Querétaro beat Xolos 2-1 in Tijuana and not only heated up the race for a playoff spot in the Clausura 2023 but also put an end to a nasty, shameful record: the victory in the Caliente Stadium cut an incredible 52-game winless streak playing away.
ESTO ES QUERÉTARO. ⚫️
Para todos los Gallos Blancos de corazón de su equipo de futbol.#DePieConQro pic.twitter.com/vxZRYrb1lg— Gallos Blancos (@Club_Queretaro) April 8, 2023
Querétaro avoids longest away winless streak in Liga MX history
With the all-time mark of 54 held by Correcaminos looming on the corner of their street, Querétaro really needed an accessible opponent in their fixture to try to turn the tide. And Xolos seemed to be a perfect chance to achieve it.
Club Tijuana is not having a great season. They sucked with coach Ricardo Valiño at the beginning of the tournament and the experienced Miguel Herrera hasn't been able to inspire the team since his arrival in February.
Sure, Xolos has shown some improvement under Piojo's orders. They also have displayed character to come back from a 3-0 deficit and get an exciting 3-3 draw against Toluca on Herrera's 55-year birthday a couple of weeks ago.
Inconsistency, however, has been a capital sin in this team. And Querétaro, a squad grinding with few resources under Mauro Gerk's guidance, exploited Xolos' weaknesses to get that long-awaited away win.
José Zúñiga and Ángel Sepúlveda bagged Querétaro's goals, while Joaquín Montecinos put Xolos on the scoreboard when there was not a lot of time left on the clock.
¡¡¡G⚽⚽⚽L!!!
De volea, Zúñiga inauguró el marcador y pone arriba a los Gallos en el Caliente.#LigaBBVAMX | #Clausura2023 | #NoTeLoPierdas pic.twitter.com/RwSfG71eWW— Liga BBVA MX (@LigaBBVAMX) April 8, 2023
¡¡¡G⚽⚽⚽L!!!
Ángel Sepúlveda definió de manera correcta frente al arco, para aumentar la ventaja en el tablero.#LigaBBVAMX | #Clausura2023 | #NoTeLoPierdas pic.twitter.com/BilvWPegdJ— Liga BBVA MX (@LigaBBVAMX) April 8, 2023
The last time that Queréraro had won an away game was on February 16th, 2020, in a 3-2 victory over Necaxa, weeks before the world turned upside down because of the COVID pandemic.
Finally, and with no intention to raise suspicions, it's worth mentioning that Xolos and Querétaro belong to the same owner, Grupo Caliente, a casino and sport-betting company dominating the Mexican market.