Alejandro Vela and Horacio Cervantes scored at the beginning of each half to help Cruz Azul to a 3-0 home win against Santos in the Mexican league on Saturday, while second-placed Monterrey kept pace with a 2-0 win over Toluca.
Vela opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Cervantes doubled the lead just after the break. Christian Gimenez added a late third as Cruz Azul moved to 28 points in the Apertura standings, two clear of Monterrey.
Santos stayed third, four points further back, after stuttering in recent weeks.
The match between Monterrey and Toluca was given extra spice by the head-to-head between the two coaches.
Monterrey's Victor Manuel Vucetich and Toluca's Juan Manuel De La Torre have both been interviewed for the Mexican national team job, but Vucetich - who appeared to be the favored choice - pulled out of the race earlier Saturday for unspecified personal reasons.
After the match, Vucetich shook De La Torre by the hand and said his opposite number was in the best position to become the new Mexico coach.
"I wish him the very best of success because he is a great person, honest and hardworking," Vucetich said. "This result has got nothing to do with it."
Elsewhere, a 10-man San Luis beat Queretaro 3-2, with Cesar Gonzalez scoring the winning goal in the 81st minute, two minutes after teammate Sergio Ponce was shown a red card.
Also Saturday, Guadalajara had a 1-0 home win over Necaxa, Pachuca drew 1-1 with Morelia, and Atlante and UANL Tigres also finished 1-1.
At the Estadio Azul, Vela arrived late in the box to meet Adrian Cortes' cross in the fifth minute and put Cruz Azul ahead of Santos in a clash between first and third placed teams.
Vela then set up Cervantes, who scored the second goal in the 47th minute.
Gimenez cut past two defenders on the edge of the box to strike a rising shot left-footed across goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez for the third in the 89th.
Jesus Zavala headed in a free kick from Humberto Suazo to give unbeaten Monterrey the lead at home against Toluca in the 17th minute and Francisco Gamboa headed into his own net from Ricardo Osorio's cross in the 55th to give the home side a 2-0 win.
The Mexican Football Federation told AP on Saturday that the meeting to announce the national coach would still take place as planned on Monday, though would not say whether De La Torre would be confirmed as coach or whether other candidates would be considered.
Earlier, Juan Medina gave San Luis the lead over Queretaro in the first minute, but goals from Julio Nava in the 15th and Sergio Blanco in the 33rd put Queretaro in front.
Michael Arroyo leveled the scores three minutes later, before Ponce's 79th-minute red card seemed to put San Luis at a disadvantage.
Despite the sending off, Gonzalez cut in from the right to score the winner with a low finish two minutes later.
San Luis moved to 19 points after the win, topping the tournament's Group Two ahead of Toluca by two points. Queretaro has 12 points and is bottom of Group Three.
In Guadalajara, Marco De La Mora skipped past four players in the box and hit a right-footed shot low into the far corner in the 68th minute to give Chivas its first victory in six weeks with a 1-0 home win over Necaxa.
Guadalajara desperately needed the points to keep hopes of qualifying for the end of season playoffs alive and moved to 15 points in fourth place in Group One.
Necaxa stayed on 13 points in the same group, with five games left to play in the regular season.
In Pachuca, Miguel Sabah scored after an hour as Morelia rescued a 1-1 draw against the home side. Carlos Pena put Pachuca ahead from Juan Carlos Rojas' cross in the 12th minute.
Sabah had the chance to grab all three points for Morelia but missed a penalty in the 88th minute to leave the scores level.
Morelia climbed to third place in Group Three, while Pachuca is fourth in Group Two.
In Cancun, Johan Fano opened the scoring for Atlante against UANL Tigres in the 11th minute, but Andres Carevic scored an own goal in the 48th to leave the sides level at 1-1.
UANL Tigres is third in Group One on 16 points, trailing Santos and Monterrey, while Atlante is fifth in Group Two.
On Friday, UAG Estudiantes won the Guadalajara derby with a 2-1 home win over Atlas.
On Sunday, Puebla hosts America and Chiapas travels to UNAM Pumas.
