Match recap: Monterrey 2, Santos Laguna 2

A tough night for Monterrey’s Nicolás Sánchez, whose two mistakes lead to two Santos Laguna goals as the teams played to a 2-2 draw. Santos should be the more disappointed of the two sides, as they controlled the pace of play for large swathes of the game and gave up a late goal to drop points. Monterrey will take the point, although they’ll have plenty to review ahead of their next match.

Monterrey started the game out on the front foot, making runs at Santos’s defense and keeping possession well. Santos to their credit bent but didn’t break. Carlos Rodríguez and Dorlán Pabón both had good opportunities, but their shots on goal went straight into the hands of Carlos Acevedo. In the eighth minute however Monterrey would break through when off of a corner kick Dorlán Pabón chipped a ball in to Nicolás Sánchez. Sánchez headed the ball out to Rogelio Funes Mori, who got it past a diving Acevedo back in to Sánchez who knocked it in to an empty net.

Monterrey almost doubled their lead in the 12th minute when A blown assignment by Hugo Rodríguez allowed Maxi Meza in on Acevedo, but his shot went wide past the sprawling goalkeeper. Santos looked back on their heels and Monterrey kept pressing for a second goal. Pabón had a shot from just outside of the box in the 18th minute but Acevedo was there to make another strong save.

It was a big mistake by Nico Sánchez that gave Santos the equalizer in the 24th minute. Sánchez played a pass to Eduardo “Mudo” Aguirre, which is problematic since Mudo is on the opposing team. Mudo calmly slotted the ball over to Julio Furch, who rifled the ball into the back of the net.

This breathed life into Santos, who looked to gain a ton of confidence and started pressing Monterrey when they got the ball. Monterrey held their own however, and Pabón had another shot from distance in the 31st minute that Acevedo had to make a diving save on. A minute later Pabón hit a rocket from long distance that hit off of the crossbar. Another mistake would almost cost Monterrey though in the 36th minute when Betsiel Hernández played a treat ball in to Furch in the box. Stefan Medina kicked Furch in the back, and referee Marco Ortíz didn’t hesitate to call the penalty. Furch hit it hard but Hugo Rodríguez pushed it out wide to preserve the scoreline.

The run of play for the rest of the half was fairly even, with Monterrey perhaps having an edge, but even with a little stoppage time added neither side could grab a lead to take into the locker room.

Monterrey started off with some possession but in the 49th Santos hit Rayados on a counter. Carlos Orrantia hit a great cross to Mudo Aguirre but his shot just went wide of the goal. Santos hit Monterrey on another counter on the 52nd but the shot by Aguirre was well saved by Hugo González . On yet another counter in the 55th it was Diego Valdés whose shot González was forced to make a diving save on.

Monterrey would have a good chance of their own when Miguel Layún hit a cross from the right flank in to Funes Mori, but his header was high and not troubling Carlos Acevedo. Santos had another good opportunity in the 60th minute when Aguirre played a great ball to Fernando Gorriarán. but Gorri’s shot went well wide of the net.

The play turned physical and disjointed, however Rayados was able to hit a good counter in the 72nd minute that resulted in a chance from Miguel Layún, but Acevedo did well to position himself well and turned it into a routine save. Then Santos was able to create a good goal when Carlos Orrantia made a great move on the right side of the pitch and fired a ball in toward the center of the pitch. Nico Sánchez raised his leg to try to stop the shot but instead re-directed it into the back of the net for an own goal.

In the 79th Rayados had a good build-up that culminated in a shot by Funes Mori but he scuffed the shot and it was saved by Acevedo. Pabón fired another long shot in the 85th minute, and Acevedo was up to the challenge again. In the 89th, Rayados would get the equalizer when a free kick from Dorlán Pabón hit the wall and pinballed around before falling to the feet of Daniel Parra. Parra hit a clean shot right past Acevedo, and the sides were level once again.

Deep in stoppage time González made a fantastic diving save on a header to preserve the draw. Due to the doble jornada, Monterrey will head to CU to face Pumas on Wednesday before returning to Monterrey to host Necaxa on Saturday. Santos meanwhile will also head to Mexico City, facing Club América on Thursday (also at CU) before heading home to host Atlas on Sunday.

Monterrey: Hugo González; Miguel Layún (Arturo González, 80’), Sebastián Vegas, Nicolás Sánchez, César Montes; Maximiliano Meza (Vincent Janssen, 66’), Carlos Rodríguez (Matías Kranevitter, 66’), Celso Ortíz (José Alvarado, 80’), Stefan Medina; Rogelio Funes Mori, Dorlán Pabón

Santos Laguna: Carlos Acevedo; Betsiel Hernández (Carlos Orrantia, 48’), Matheus Dória, Hugo Rodríguez, Edgar Games (Jonathan Díaz, 80’); Alan Cervantes, Fernando Gorriarán, Diego Valdés, Ulíses Rívas; Julio Furch Eduardo Aguirre (Jesús Ocejo, 74’)

Scoring: Monterrey - Nicolás Sánchez (8’), Dorlan Pabón (89’); Santos Laguna - Julio Furch (23’), Nicolás Sánchez (75’ - own goal)

Disciplinary: Monterrey - Maximiliano Meza (Yellow - 40’), Stefan Medina (Yellow - 77’); Santos Laguna - None