Match recap: Santos Laguna 0, Club Atlético de San Luis 0

Coming into the match, Santos’ place atop the repechaje was assured. They couldn’t make the Liguilla, and they weren’t finishing any lower. San Luis needed just a point to make the repechaje and bump out Mazatlán, and they got it as the teams ended in a 0-0 draw.

Diego Valdés was the most dangerous player early on, continuing his blistering run of form from the last match. In the second minute he dribbled into the box, drawing contact and going down but not enough contact to get the penalty call. Then in the 12th minute he had a shot that went just outside of the far post. Santos had another good chance just before the 20th minute when Valdés was able to get onto a ball heading out of bounds and chip it back into the box, but the resulting shot was blocked out for a corner.

The big moment came in the 32nd when a header in the box deflected into Omar Campos’ arm. A VAR review confirmed the penalty, however Germán Berterame pushed his shot wide of the net and the score remained knotted at zero. At the other end, Juan Ferney Otero ripped a shot from distance in the 41st that Marcelo Barovero made a nice save on. Then Eduardo “Mudo” Aguirre had a good chance on a nice ball in from Juan Ferney Otero In the 43rd, but his touch failed him in the moment and the ball went high over the crossbar. Both teams had a couple of chances, but ultimately neither were able to convert in the first half.

In the second half. Santos kept the pressure on early. They kept the possession in the Atleti end and won several set pieces, however they weren’t able to convert on anything. In the 70th minute Brian Lozano hit a hard shot from a middle distance, but Barovero made another diving stop to keep the scores at zero, where it would stay until time expired. Neither team performed at their best, perhaps in part to both teams having played exhausting matches earlier in the week.

The teams will meet again in the repechaje, with fifth seed Santos hosting the twelfth and final seed San Luis on a date to be determined.

Santos Laguna: Carlos Acevedo; Omar Campos, Matheus Dória, Félix Torres, Emilio Orrantia; Fernando Gorriarán, Alan Cervantes (Alberto Ocejo, 68’); Ayrton Preciado (Brian Lozano, 68’), Carlos Valdés, Juan Ferney Otero (andrés Ibargüen, 83’); Eduardo Aguirre (Ignacio Jeraldino, 76’)

Club Atlético de San Luis: Marcelo Barovero; Jair Díaz, Unai Bilbao, Leonardo Coelho, Jesús Piñuellas (Efraín Orona, 65’), Ricardo Chávez; José Hernández (David Rodríguez, 85’), Javier Güémez, Juan Sanabria; Germán Berterame, Andrés Vombergar

Scoring: Santos Laguna - None; Club Atlético de San Luis: - None

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - None; Club Atlético de San Luis: - None