SOCCER: MORELIA DEFEATS CRUZ AZUL.

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH Staff Writer

Morelia needed all of 20 seconds to score against Cruz Azul when the teams met in a Mexican Primera Division clash Saturday, and by the 19th minute each had hit the net three times.

Another such display was improbable Tuesday night, when they clashed again, in a ``friendly'' at the Coliseum, but sure enough, the Monarcas were ahead just 65 seconds after the opening whistle. Rafael Marquez Lugo netted that one and two more, and Morelia eased to a 3-0 victory, disappointing most in a sparse but spirited crowd of about 5,000.

Cruz Azul played most of the match a man short, just like Saturday.

Gabriel Pereyra was red-carded in the 14th minute after a late challenge on Paulo Cesar Chavez (coach Isaac Mizrahi would follow in the 61st), and Morelia -- the favorite of Southern California's many Mexicans from Michoacan -- dictated play the rest of the way.

Two other Mexican teams had more important games Tuesday. In Copa Sudamericana openers, Toluca, the reigning Apertura champion, beat Ecuador's El Nacional 1-0 on Carlos Esquivel's goal; and Pachuca, winner of the spring Torneo Clausura, fell 2-1 at Colombia's Deportivo Tolima.

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