Match recap: Santos Laguna 2, Monterrey 1

Santos came out with a chip on their shoulder, determined to put last week’s loss to Necaxa behind them. By the tenth minute they were up 2-0 and well on their way to getting their fifth win of the season and regaining (at least temporarily) their spot atop the Liga MX table.

In the first minute, Santos would set the tone when Julio Furch came down and hit a shot that beat Marcelo Barovero to put Los Guerreros up.

Just minutes later Brian Lozano would force a turnover, and get it to Furch .Furch’s shot was blocked but it was picked up by Eryc “La Culebra” Castillo who rifled it into the back of the net for Santos’ second goal of the match.

Monterrey thought they had a goal in the eighth minute but Rogelio Funes Mori was adjudged to have been played in the offside position. The game’s frenetic pace settled down a bit, although both teams were still able to get some good chances. Brian Lozano got his foot onto a lazy clearance attempt on a live ball by Barovero and the ball went out for a goal kick.

In the 36th minute there was a bit of controversy when Funes Mori drove into the box but goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco executed a sliding tackle to dislodge the ball. Funes Mori went flying, but the replay showed that the contact was minimal at best and the decision not to call a penalty was most likely the correct one.

Castillo almost netted a second in the opening minutes of the second half when it looked like Barovero misread one of his shots, but the ball bounced and caught the goalkeeper in the chest and went out for a corner kick. In the 50th, Dória got his head on a ball and Barovero made a fantastic diving save to tip the ball up and over the bar.

In the 54th it looked like Santos had scored another when Lozano chipped Barovero but Lozano was ruled to have been offside. It was close, but it looked like the assistant referee indeed made the correct call. In the 57th minute it was Monterrey who would chip the goalkeeper only to have the goal annulled for being offside.

The game devolved into a rather physical affair, with both teams garnering a decent amount of yellow cards for hard fouls. Monterrey went down a player in the 76th minute when Miguel Layún had to be helped off of the field after a hard collision. In the 78th, Jonathan Orozco would make a brilliant save on a shot to keep the scoreline stable.

Rayados would pull one back in the 83rd minute when Vincent Janssen scored his first goal in Liga MX since moving from Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the year.

In the 88th, Santos would hit Rayados on a counter. Castillo would hit a great cross over to Fernando Gorriarán. “Nando” hit a hard, low shot but Barovero read it well and made a solid stop on the shot. Santos was able to hold on for their fifth win in six games on the season.

Santos will head to Guanjuato to face León on Wednesday, while Monterrey will return home to host UNAM Pumas on Thursday.

Santos Laguna: Jonathan Orozco; Gerardo Arteaga, Matheus Dória, Félix Torres, Emilio Orrantía; Eryc Castillo, Fernando Gorriarán, Ulíses Rivas, Brian Lozano; Julio Furch, Adrián Lozano (Diego Valdés,

Monterrey: Marcelo Barovero; Jesús Gallardo, Stefan Medina, Nicolás Sánchez, Johan Vázquez (Avilés Hurtado, 55’), Miguel Layún; Celso Ortíz, Rodolfo Pizarro (Dorlan Pabón (71’), Carlos Rodríguez (Vincent Janssen, 62’); Rogelio Funes Mori, Maximiliano Meza

Scoring: Santos Laguna - Julio Furch (1’), Eryc Castillo (5’); Monterrey - Vincent Janssen (82’)

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - Matheus Dória (Yellow - 46’), Darwin Quintana (Yellow - 65’), Brian Lozano (Yellow - 72’); Monterrey - Johan Vázquez (Yellow - 47’), Rodolfo Pizarro (Yellow - 64’), Celso Ortíz (Yellow - 67’)