Match recap: Santos Laguna 4, Tijuana 1

A solid win for Santos Laguna, rebounding from their worst outing of the season to beat Xolos 4-1 in Torreón. While Xolos will not be happy with the result, they shouldn’t be disheartened either. Almost no one but Santos wins in Torreón these day, and Xolos were shorthanded, missing the services of Kevin Balanta, Camilo Sanvezzo, and Ariel Nahuelpán. The three were shown red cards in Xolos’ last match against Atlas, and manager Oscar Pareja went with youth over experience, opting to start Fernando Arce, Jr. and Erick “Cubo” Torres over the available Washington Camacho and César Falletti.

Santos also changed things up a bit, starting Chilean international Diego Valdés over Adrián Lozano, wanting to utilize Valdés’ two-way abilities more than Lozano’s blistering speed.

On the kickoff, Santos immediately came down the field and had two great chances, the better of the two when Julio Furch got on the end of a great cross but his shot went just over the crossbar. In the sixth minute, Xolos would have a chance however the shot was deflected just wide of the net. In the eighth minute they’d have another good chance when Jonathan Orozco came way off of his line to try and punch out a ball, but missed and the resulting header went over the bar.

In the 20th minute Xolos had a free kick but goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco saw it the entire way and punched it out of harm’s way. Orozco appeared in his 100th game, and was honored by the club prior to kickoff. Santos grew more and more comfortable in possession, however Tijuana was able to remain solid defensively and disrupt most of Santos’ chances.

Santos would finally break through in the 32nd minute when Diego Valdés broke past a Xolos defender on to Lajud and drew the defense to his side. He was able to slot the ball off to the left to an open Brian Lozano. “Huevo” Lozano’s initial shot was stopped by Lajud, but the Uruguayan was able to recover quicker and knock the ball in.

In the 42nd minute, Santos broke down field again and Diego Valdés was able to get onto the end of a cross and shoot it past Lajud for the second goal of the evening. VAR would be used to review a possible foul on Ignacio Rivero, however it was upheld.

As the clock struck 45, Julio Furch struck a rocket from outside of the box that beat Lajud but hit off of the far post and out. Into stoppage, Furch would get his eighth of the season when Fernando Gorriarán hit a perfect through ball to him on a counterattack.

After the half, Xolos went on the attack, and Cubo Torres had a decent chance in the start of the second half but his first shot was a weak one and stopped well by Jonathan Orozco and his second went over everything, landing in the stands. In the 55th, Bolaños hit a fantastic cross but the one-time shot went well over the bar.

Xolos would draw one back in the 52nd when Cubo connected with a shot that froze Orozco.

Things got chippy and several yellow cards were shown to players on both teams, however cooler heads prevailed. In the 80th minute, José Juan “Gallito” Vázquez got onto the end of a fantastic cross, however his header went just wide of the net. Gallito would take a cart ride off of the pitch after taking a spill and appearing to wrench his knee, but he was able to return to the field of play shortly.

In the 85th, Santos would get a fourth when Julio Furch played a great through ball for Octavio Rivero, who shot past Lajud.

In the 89th, Santos almost got a fifth when a shot rang off of the post. It wouldn’t matter much though, as the whistle blew at the 90th minute and Santos got a much needed win.

Santos will head to Tamaulipas to face Correcaminos UAT in the Copa MX on Tuesday before heading to Morelia to face Monarcas on Friday. Tijuana will return to Baja California to host Mineros de Zacatecas in Copa MX play before hosting Veracruz.

Santos Laguna: Jonathan Orozco; Gerardo Arteaga, Matheus Dória, Hugo Rodríguez, Emilio Orrantía; Diego Valdés (Adrián Lozano, 84’), Fernando Gorriarán, Ulíses Rívas, Brian Lozano (José Juan Vázquez, 66’); Eryc Castillo, Julio Furch (Octavio Rivero, 75’)

Tijuana: Gibran Lajud; Omar Mendoza, Julián Velázquez, Jordan Silva, Omar Mendoza (César Falletti, 70’); Ignacio Rivero (Jorge Rojas, 83’), Fernando Arce, Leonel Miranda, Mauro Lainez; Miller Bolaños, Erick Torres

Scoring: Santos Laguna - Brian Lozano (33’), Diego Valdés (42’), Julio Furch (45+4’), Octavio Rivero (85’); Tijuana - Erick Torres (56’)

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - Matheus Dória (Yellow - 59’), Eryc Castillo (Yellow - 59’); Tijuana - Miller Bolaños (Yellow - 67’)