Match recap: Mazatlán FC 0, Santos Laguna 0

Known more for their offensive tendencies, Mazatlán showed they are equally capable of defending as they held Santos Laguna to a scoreless draw. Both teams bent but didn’t break defensively, although the momentum of the match mostly belonged to the visitors.

Santos started out on the front foot, taking the game to Mazatlán. An early free kick by Diego Valdés just missed curling into the top corner of the net in the third minute. Then in the seventh minute, Carlos Acevedo made a great diving save on a shot through traffic. Acevedo made another diving save in the 15th minute, smothering a shot from the top of the box that looked destined to find the corner. Santos dictated the tempo and flow of large portions of the first half, pressuring Mazatlán into poor decisions and isolating Camilo Sanvezzo to neutralize any threat he posed. For all of this though, they were unable to get many good chances at goal and the teams went to the locker room at halftime tied at zero.

The second half was as evenly matched, although the intensity seemed to have been dialed back some. Mario Osuna had a decent look from distance in the 53rd but his shot missed the mark. In the 75th there was controversy as a scrum in the box saw the ball squirt free to Diego Valdés, who rifled a shot into the top of the net. As he ran off to the touchline in celebration however, the AR raised the flag to indicate the play was offside. Replays showed the correct call was made on the field. Valdés had a header just miss the top corner of the net in the 79th. Santos ratcheted up the pressure in the final minutes, and Fernando Gorriarán unleashed a shot from distance as the clock struck 90 but it was off target and not troubling Nicolás Vikonis. Mazatlán’s defense was able to hold on and keep Santos from getting a game winner in stoppage.

Mazatlán heads to Toluca where they’ll face off against Los Diablos Rojos on Sunday afternoon, while Santos will return to Torreón to host América on Sunday evening.

Mazatlán FC: Nicolás Vikonis; Cándido Ramírez, Carlos Vargas, Nicolás Díaz, Israel Jiménez (Néstor Vidrio, 81’), Mario Osuna; Manuel Pérez (Giovanni Oliveira, 62’), Rodrigo Millar (Gael Sandoval, 43’), Lorenzo Reyes (Roberto Meraz, 81’) , Luis Mendoza; Camilo Sanvezzo

Santos Laguna: Carlos Acevedo; Ronaldo Prieto, Félix Torres, Matheus Dória, Jonathan Díaz (Carlos Orrantia, 74’); Juan Ferney Otero, Fernando Gorriarán, Alan Cervantes, Jesús Isijara (Eduardo Aguirre, 55’); Diego Valdés, Jesús Ocejo (Ignacio Jeraldino, 55’)

Scoring: Mazatlán FC - None; Santos Laguna - None

Disciplinary: Mazatlán FC - Lorenzo Reyes (Yellow - 66’), Roberto Meraz (Yellow - 90+1’); Santos Laguna - Fernando Gorriarán (Yellow - 20’)