Santos Laguna beat Juárez 2:1 in the Liga MX Apertura eighth round on Monday night at Estadio TSM Corona. The hosts ended a run of poor results, while Juárez remain winless after eight matches. It was the sort of game where one side dominates the numbers but the other has to be more clinical.
The visitors took the lead through a penalty by Oscar Estupiñan in the fifty-fourth minute. He had already picked up a yellow card earlier in the half. Santos responded quickly — Ezequiel Bullaude equalised in the sixty-fourth. Then Esteban Lozano put them ahead in the seventy-eighth, and Juárez could not find a way back.
By then the match had settled into a rhythm. Both sides created chances, but Santos Laguna carried more threat. They registered ten shots on target compared to five, and their expected goals figure of 3.31 told the story. Juárez managed only 1.63 on that measure, despite having eight shots on target of their own. Franco Pardo missed a late penalty for the visitors in the ninetieth minute, which might have changed everything.
We had backed Santos to win at 41 per cent confidence, and the result confirmed that call. The hosts pressed high up the pitch and switched formations when needed. They created eight big chances against one for the visitors, and their possession of 53 per cent reflected that control. The statistics show a clear picture — many shots with three goals meant Juárez paid for sloppiness when it mattered.
The result leaves Santos Laguna in seventeenth place with four points from eight games. Juárez sit eighteenth with zero points, zero wins, and eight defeats. Neither side is in a comfortable position, but this win at least gave the home side something to build on.