Match recap: Club Tijuana 2, Club Santos 2

Defying expectations, Xolos started out on the offensive foot. Tijuana put the pressure on early, although Santos was able to break upfield with some regularity. Neither side however could manufacture a quality chance until just before the end of the first half, when both sides exploded into a flurry of activity.

It wouldn’t be until the second half when Santos would finally break through with a fantastic give and go between Brian Lozano and Julio Furch. Lozano found himself with space on the return pass and ripped a shot past goalkeeper Gibran Lajud to give the visitors the lead.

Both teams would get good chances and the tempo would be ratcheted up. Xolos would find an equalizer in the 69th minute when Diego “Pulpo” González would hit a seeing-eye shot that would find its way past Carlos Acevedo.

With the teams looking at taking a point each, Eryc Castillo went down and unleashed a right-footed blast that beat Acevado to give Tijuana the lead in the 89th minute.

Santos would not go quietly into the night. Julio Furch got free in the box and would beat Lajud to rescue the point for the visitors.

The teams would continue the blistering pace of back-and-forth chances up until the final whistle. Both teams will be able to take positives out of this. Xolos played well in attack, which is something they haven’t done much of this season. Santos was able to get a valuable point on the road on a short week, however in the end neither team wanted to split the result. Xolos will feel they should have been able to hold on to the win, while Santos will feel they should have beaten Xolos in a much easier fashion.

Xolos head to Veracruz to take on Tiburones Rojo on Saturday, while Santos will return to Torreón to host league-leaders Cruz Azul on Sunday.

Club Tijuana: Gibran Lajud; Luis Fuentes, Juan Carlos Valenzuela, Gustavo Canto, Omar Mendoza; Miller Bolaños, Diego González, Diego Rodríguez (Luís Chávez, 81’), Ignacio Rivero (Fabián Castillo, 53’); Erick Torres, Juan Martín Lucero (Eryc Castillo, 69’)

Club Santos: Carlos Acevedo; Javier Abella, Hugo Nervo, Matheus Doría, Jesús Angulo; Osvaldo Martínez (Eduardo Herrera, 90’), Brian Lozano, José Juan Vázquez, Jesús Isijara (Ayrton Preciado, 70’); Jonathan Rodríguez (Deinner Quiñones, 81’), Julio Furch

Scoring: Club Tijuana - Diego González (69’), Eryc Castillo (89’); Club Santos - Brian Lozano (47’), Julio Furch (90+1’)

Disciplinary: Club Tijuana - Miller Bolaños (Yellow - 73’); Club Santos - Javier Abella (Yellow - 28’)