Match recap: Monarcas Morelia 2, Santos Laguna 2

It wasn’t the result that either side wanted, but the 2-2 draw was a fair result as Monarcas Morelia hosted Santos Laguna.

Early on the rain was coming down in sheets, pooling on the pitch and making play difficult for both teams. In the fourth minute, Julio Furch had a wide open shot in the box but he mis-hit it and it went high. In the eighth, it was Carlos Ferreira that scuffed his shot and knocked it out wide. In the 11th, Fernando Gorriarán had a chance for Santos that just missed the mark. In the 15th, Monarcas was able to hit Santos on a counterattack and Edson Flores hit a cross that Carlos Ferreira got his head to, redirecting it past Jonathan Orozco.

Not two minutes later though Santos would equalize. Julio Furch hit a shot that Sebastián Sosa stopped, but the rebound fell to Diego Valdés. Valdés hit a shot that beat Sosa, scoring his fourth goal of the season against his former team.

In the 24th minute, Morelia hit Santos on another break but this time Jonathan Orozco was in the perfect position and made the save. Play was sloppy and full of stops and starts and weird bounces, but considering how hard it was raining the pitch was holding up rather well, with only some ponding in spots.

In the 42nd minute, Edison Flores put Monarcas ahead when he got the ball at the top of the box, made a move, and hit a fantastic shot that Jona Orozco had little chance at stopping.

In the 55th it looked like Diego Valdés was stepped on in the box, but play was allowed to continue. On stoppage, the referee went to VAR and determined hat it was a penalty. Julio Furch stepped up and hit the shot, but goalkeeper Sebastián Sosa guessed correctly and saved the penalty.

Santos didn’t stop fighting, looking for the equalizer. To their credit, Monarcas kept pushing for a third goal. In the 83rd, Hugo Rodríguez would get the equalizer for Santos when he got his head onto a corner kick. It would be his first goal of the season and the first since the 2018 Clausura when he was with Puebla.

Morelia will host Juárez on Thursday night while Santos returns to Torreón to host Querétaro in midweek Liga MX matches.

Morelia: Sebastián Sosa; Efraín Velarde, Sebastián Vegas, Emanuel Loeschbor, José Joaquín Martínez; Edison Flores, Rodrigo Millar (José Ortiz, 81’), Aldo Rocha, Mario Osuna; Miguel Sansores (Fernando Aristeguieta, 60’), Carlos Ferreira (Luis Mendoza, 66’)

Santos Laguna: Jonathan Orozco; Gerardo Arteaga, Hugo Rodríguez, Matheus Dória, Emilio Orrantía (Eduardo Aguirre, 81’); Ulíses Rívas (Octavio Rivero, 72’), Fernando Gorriarán, Diego Valdés, Brian Lozano (Adrián Lozano, 67’); Julio Furch, Eryc Castillo

Scoring: Morelia - Carlos Ferreira (15’), Edison Flores (43’); Santos Laguna - Diego Valdés (17’), Hugo Rodríguez (83’)

Disciplinary: Morelia - Emanuel Loeschbor (Yellow - 9’), Aldo Rocha (Yellow - 20’), Mario Osuna (Yellow - 68’); Santos Laguna - Darwin Quintana (Yellow - 43’, Red - 43’)