Mineros de Zacatecas saw off Tlaxcala 3-1 in the second round of the Liga de Expansión MX Apertura on Friday night. The hosts moved into fifth place with seven points from seven matches, while Tlaxcala languished in fifteenth with just five.
And here's the thing about this one — Mineros did not need much. L. Sandoval gave them the lead in the sixteenth minute, a quiet opener that set the tone. By then the visitors were already chasing shadows, their shape looking loose from the first whistle.
The second half brought the moment that shifted everything. R. E. Camacho Lastra doubled the advantage in the sixty-sixth minute, then came off for D. Alvarez — a substitution that read as confidence rather than concern. Tlaxcala pulled one back through J. Cano in the eighty-seventh, but Mineros had already answered. A. Garcia sealed it in stoppage time, the fourth-minute addition of extra time proving decisive.
To be fair, the statistics tell a different story. Tlaxcala registered more attacks at sixty-nine and crossed more with twenty-two attempts, but their shot accuracy sat at a paltry twenty-one percent. Mineros created three big chances against one, and their six shots on target found the net three times. The away end never stopped, but they could not find a rhythm.
Mineros' recent results have been unpredictable — a 3-3 draw with Correcaminos, a 0-4 defeat to Atlético San Luis, and a 4-7 loss to León among them. Tlaxcala's form has been steadier only in the sense that they have not won, with four losses in seven games. This result keeps them five points from safety and gives Mineros a cushion.