Match recap: Tigres UANL 2, Santos Laguna 0

While both sides have struggled, Tigres was able to seize the opportunity and defeated Santos 2-0 at El Volcán. Neither team looked especially threatening, however Tigres was able to take advantage of an early mistake by young goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo and hold on to capture all three points on the evening.

Tigres looked like they would have the first good chance of the game in the second minute of play when Jesús Dueñas slipped in behind the Santos defense and played a good ball square to Julián Quiñones, but Matheus Dória took the ball off of his foot before he could line up for a shot. Quiñones would get a shot on goal a minute later, but Acevedo saw it all the way and was in perfect position to absorb the shot. André-Pierre Gignac got his first attempt in the fourth minute when he tried to volley a cross on net but he wasn’t able to strike the ball cleanly and it rolled meekly wide.

Santos had a good chance in the ninth minute when off of a quick restart Diego Valdés knocked the ball forward to Julio Furch, who had remained onside. Furch took the shot but Nahuel Guzmán was able to parry the ball wide and out of danger. Tigres would strike in the 13th minute when Santos tried to press Tigres in their own end and a flick on got past the press. Gignac got the ball along the left side, and Valdés tried to muscle him off of the ball but Gignac was able to spin around him and get a shot on net that hit off of Acevedo before going in. Acevado was charged with the own goal.

Tigres had a great chance to double the lead in the 10th when Dueñas hit a fantastic cross to Quiñones, but his header was saved brilliantly by Carlos Acevedo. A minute later Acevedo made another critical save on a ball in the midst of a scrum in the box. Santos was eventually able to mount some pressure, but ultimately couldn’t get a shot on frame. Tigres had a good rush in the 38th minute, but Gignac’s pass was behind the mark and the resulting shot was easily saved by Acevedo. Santos had a good chance in the 42nd when they broke in on goal and Guzmán rushed off of his line and made a good save at close range, but the rebound went back to a Santos player who lobbed one on frame, but it was just over the bar of the empty net.

The second half started out much like the first half had ended, with Tigres holding the majority of possession and getting good chances only to be stymied by superb goalkeeping from Acevedo. At the other end, Nahuel kept things tidy for Tigres, stopping a point blank shot by Julio Furch in the 56th. Santos though kept the pressure on, pinning Tigres in their own end for long stretches. Those stretches however often didn’t result in any clear-cut looks at goal as Tigres was able to keep players back and clog up passing lanes in the final third.

Tigres allowed Santos to punch themselves out while not getting any clear-cut chances at scoring. Deep in stoppage time, Nicoás López was able to get onto the end of a great through ball and fire a blast past Carlos Acevedo to put the final nail in Santos’ coffin.

Tigres will remain at home as they host Querétaro next Saturday, while Santos remains on the road, heading to Toluca to face Los Diablos Rojos next Sunday.

Tigres UANL: Nahuel Guzmán; Luis Rodríguez, Carlos Salcedo, Hugo Ayala, Francisco Meza; Rafael De Souza, Jesús Dueñas; Javier Aquino, Julián Quiñones (Eduardo Vargas, 45’), Leonardo Fernandez (Nicolás López, 73’); André-Pierre Gignac

Santos Laguna: Carlos Acevedo; Josecarlos Van Rankin (Alan Cervantes, 75’), Hugo Rodríguez, Matheus Dória, David Andrade; Brayan Garnica (Jordan Carrillo, 64’), Diego Valdés, Fernando Gorriarán, Jair González (Gael Sandoval, 45’); Octavio Rivero (Eduardo Aguirre, 65’), Julio Furch (Jesús Ocejo, 75’)

Scoring: Tigres UANL - Carlos Acevedo (13’ - autogol), Nicolás López (90+3’); Santos Laguna - None

Disciplinary: Tigres UANL - Carlos Salcedo (Yellow - 86’), Luis Rodríguez (Yellow - 88’); Santos Laguna - Darwin Quintana (Yellow - 28’, Red - 69’), Hugo Rodríguez (Yellow - 46’), Fernando Gorriarán (Yellow - 55’), David Andrade (Yellow - 68’), Diego Valdés (Yellow - 73’)