It's been a while since I've done a roundup of the leagues in Central America, but now's a good time now that we're approaching the midway point of the short seasons:
In Guatemala, Municipal have opened up a four point lead over their closest rivals Xelajú. The big surprise in the Apertura has been the performance of promoted side Juventud Retalteca. They lie in third place on 17 points -- five points behind Municipal's 22 -- thanks to their home record (best in the league along with Municipal) and their goal-scoring record (best in the league at 19 goals, with Henry Hernández as top scorer with 14).
The Apertura tournament in Honduras has produced a huge gap between the top four teams and the rest of the competition. Olimpia (22), Motagua (21), Marathón (21), and Real España (20) are separated by two points, are separated from fifth place by four points, and are the only clubs in the Liga Nacional with a positive goal differential. Were it not for Platense's 2-0 upset win over Marathón today, the gap would have been six points.
FAS lead the El Salvador Apertura after seven rounds. Despite their 1-0 loss to Águila, they lead the San Miguel side by three points, with Firpo, Alianza and promoted side Atlético Marte further behind. FAS have a hefty advantage in goals scored (15) and goals allowed (2).
After six rounds, Saprissa and Herediano lead their respective groups in the Costa Rica Apertura tournament. Saprissa lead Group A with 12 points, with Alajuelense and Cartaginés a point behind. Herediano lead Group B on 10 points, with Puntarenas and Brújas FC two points back. It's odd that Alajuelense have been drawn into the same group as Saprissa; were the groups arranged on previous league results?
Deportivo Árabe Unido have taken a four-point lead after seven rounds of Panama's Clausura. They seem to have done so by scoring outright wins against their closest rivals and scraping draws and 1-0 results against everyone else.
A surprising result in Nicaragua, compared to the domination by Real Estelí in the last three seasons. Halfway through the Apertura championship, Walter Ferreti and Estelí share the lead on 18 points but Ferreti have a much larger goal difference.
I haven't been able to find anything about Belize.
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