Match recap: Santos Laguna 1, Guadalajara 0

A golazo by José Juan “Gallito” Vázquez was the difference as Santos hands Chivas their first loss of 2019. Jonathan Orozco had five saves on the night.

Both teams started the match eager to find weaknesses in their opponents. Santos was able to work the ball deep into Chivas territory but their back four was able to hold fast and make a stop before shots could be had. On the other end, Chivas was able to maintain possession in spells in Santos territory, but their final ball in was always well-defended.

In the 12th minute, Alan Pulido cut across the top of the Santos box and hit a shot that was tipped by a defender. This change in trajectory caught goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco off guard, however luckily for the home fans Jona was able to tip it and the ball rolled just outside of the goal mouth.

In the 19th minute, José Juan “Gallito” Vázquez would have the ball fall to his feet approximately 25 yards out and he hit a rocket that beat Raúl Gudiño to give Santos the lead.

Ten minutes later, Diego Valdés would play Javier Correa in on goal with a fantastic ball. With only Gudiño to beat, he shot low and hard but the goalkeeper was able to extend his leg and stop the ball.

In the 49th minute, Josecarlos Van Rankin was able to corral the ball in deep and play it to Alexis Vega, who hit a shot that Jona Orozco made a diving save on to push it away. Shortly after at the other end of the pitch, Gudiño was forced to make a diving save of his own on a shot.

In the 56th minute Correa drove down the left side of the pitch, got a step on his man, and unleashed a shot that rang off of the underside of the crossbar and out. In the 63rd, Brian Lozano would try and catch Gudiño off of his line, but the goalkeeper was able to jump and catch the shot from distance. Shortly after, Jesús Molina would get a close-range header in on Jona Orozco, but the goalkeeper was positioned perfectly and grabbed the ball in mid-flight.

Both teams would push for a goal in the second half, with Chivas throwing numbers forward and Santos looking to hit on a counterattack. As the clock wound toward 90, it appeared that Santos had scored a second when Eduardo Aguirre got a ball and beat Gudiño, however the assistant referee had raised his flag and judged the play to be offside.

Santos heads to Nuevo León to face Tigres UANL on Saturday, while Chivas will host Cimarrones de Sonora in Copa MX play on Tuesday before hosting Veracruz on Monday, February 4 in a rare Monday night Liga MX match.

Santos Laguna: Jonathan Orozco; Jesús Angulo, Matheus Doría, Hugo Nervo, José Abella; Brian Lozano (Hugo Rodríguez, 89’), José Juan Vázquez, Diego Valdés, Brayan Garnica (Gerardo Arteaga, 70’); Javier Correa (Eduardo Aguirre, 82’), Julio Furch

Guadalajara: Raúl Gudiño; Miguel Ponce, Hiram Mier, Jair Pereira, Josecarlos Van Rankin (Carlos Cisneros, 88’); Fernando Beltrán, Hedgardo Marín (Gael Sandoval, 75’), Jesús Molina, Isaác Brizuela; Alexis Vega (Luis Madrigal, 75’), Alan Pulido

Scoring: Santos Laguna - José Juan Vázquez (19’), Matheus Doría (58’), Diego Valdés (85’); Guadalajara - Jesús Molina (Yellow - 71’)

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - Julio Furch (Yellow - 16’); Guadalajara - None