Match recap: Club Santos 5, Club León 1

While it was Club León that got the scoring started it was Club Santos Laguna who came out on top, thrashing León by a 5-1 final score. Cape Verde striker Djaniny Tavares continued his blistering pace, leaving the match as Liga MX’s leading scorer.

In the second minute Mauro Boselli capitalized on a mistake by Santos goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco. Orozco either tried to stop the throw in toward him and his touch was far too heavy or his pass to Néstor Araujo was far too light. Either way the ball went directly to Boselli, who was able to go around Orozco and score easily.

This wouldn’t stand for long however. In the 24th minute, Santos was awarded a free kick about 25 yards from goal. Oswaldo Martínez hit a great free kick that evaded the wall and then dipped into the goal to draw the sides level. On the replay though, it looks like León goalkeeper William Yarbrough started going toward his right when Martínez struck the ball and had to correct his balance and dive toward the shot (which was heading toward his left). This momentary hesitation cost Yarbrough the distance and time that could have put him into position to make a save on the shot.

In the 31st minute Santos was awarded a penalty. Djaniny Tavares calmly slotted the ball past Yarbrough to give Santos the lead. Just four minutes later, Djaniny would score again. He made a beautiful move to get around Miguel Herrera, drew Yarbrough out off of his line, and chipped it over him to make it 3-1 for the home team.

Djaniny wasn’t done though. In the 39th minute, he got on the end of a great cross by Julio Furch and Yarbrough was in no position to stop the header. Djaniny’s third goal in eight minutes was his tenth of the season. To put that in context, by halftime of the seventh game he had one less goal than the 2017 Apertura co-leaders had for the entire season.

The second half was a little more subdued. León was able to retain possession and challenge Santos defensively. But Santos still wasn’t finished. Jesús Isijara found Djaniny’s replacement Jonathan Rodríguez wide open in the box, and Rodríguez didn’t miss.

With the outcome all but determined, both sides played rather conservatively. Santos will be most pleased with their performance, while León will need to change something in order to stop the downward spiral they’ve been on. In their past four games, they’ve conceded fifteen goals.

Santos will head to Toluca to face Los Diablos Rojos on Sunday, while León returns to Estadio Nou Camp to host Querétaro FC on Saturday.

Club Santos: Jonathan Orozco; Jorge Villafaña (David Andrade, 82’), Néstor Araujo, Carlos Izquierdoz, Jose Abela; Brian Lozano (Javier Cortés, 76’), Jose Vazquez, Osvaldo Martínez, Jesús Isijara; Djaniny Tavares (Jonathan Rodríguez, 66’), Julio Furch

Club León: William Yarbrough; Juan Cornejo, Miguel Herrera, Andres Mosquera,Fernando Navarro; José Rodríguez, Emanuel Cecchini (Osvaldo Rodríguez, 65’); Andrés Andrade (Álvaro Ramos, 78’), Luis Montes (Jorge Diaz, 66’), Elías Hernández; Mauro Boselli

Scoring: Club Santos - Osvaldo Martínez (25’), Djaniny Tavares (31’, 35’, 39’), Jonathan Rodríguez (66’); Club León - Mauro Boselli (2’)

Disciplinary: Club Santos - Carlos Izquierdoz (Yellow - 15’); Club León - Andrés Andrade (Yellow - 43’), Luis Montes (Yellow - 58’), Fernando Navarro (Yellow - 88’)