Toluca and Santos Laguna met in the Liga MX Apertura ninth round at Estadio Nemesio Díez on Monday evening. The hosts held a lead for much of the game but Santos turned it around to win 3:2. It was a result that shifted momentum in a way nobody expected, especially after the red card in stoppage time of the first period.
Federico Viñas opened the scoring in the 25th minute for Toluca, and João Paulo Dias Fernandes doubled the advantage just before half-time. Ezequiel Bullaude added a third from the spot in the 45th minute, but then Everardo Lopez saw red in the 45+7th. By then Toluca were down to 10 men and had to defend for the rest of the match.
Santos took their time to respond. Kevin Palacios pulled one back in the 86th minute, and Francisco Villalba completed the comeback in the 90+5th minute. There was a moment when Eduardo Aguirre appeared to have scored, but the goal was cancelled by VAR in the 90+3rd minute, so the equaliser never stood.
Toluca generated more chances overall. Their expected goals totalled 3.45 compared to Santos' 1.86, and they had 18 shots inside the penalty area against 12. But Santos were more clinical, converting two of their six shots on target while Toluca managed only one goal from nine attempts on target.
The result leaves Toluca top of the table with 19 points from eight games, though it was their first drop of points at home. Santos remain in 17th place with four points, still searching for consistency after six defeats.
We had backed the hosts with 74 per cent confidence, but the match went another way. The red card at the break changed everything — Toluca could not find the rhythm after playing a full 45 minutes with ten men.
