Querétaro defeated Tigres UANL 3:2 in the third round of the Liga MX Apertura on Friday night. The hosts took an early lead through two first-half goals before the visitors fought back to level the scores. A dramatic late penalty from Santiago Homenchenko in the 102nd minute sealed the win for Querétaro.
Ali Avila opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Mateo Coronel doubled the advantage with a goal in the 18th. Rodolfo Aguirre pulled one back for Tigres in the 41st minute and Juan Brunetta equalised from the spot after the interval. The match appeared destined for a draw until Homenchenko converted his spot-kick in stoppage time.
The match was punctuated by yellow cards, with Querétaro accumulating six and Tigres receiving three. V. Lorona and F. Gorriaran picked up bookings for the visitors in the 27th and 28th minutes respectively. Several tackles and challenges brought referees into play throughout the second half.
Tigres made changes to try and find a winner, bringing on V. Lorona in the 72nd minute and O. Herrera at 88 minutes. Querétaro responded with fresh legs, substituting Paulo Victor early in the second half and bringing on B. Duarte in the 74th minute. Both managers trusted their bench in the closing stages.
Tigres dominated possession with 65 per cent but could not convert their dominance into victory. They created 102 attacks compared to Querétaro's 75 and registered 2.59 expected goals against the hosts' 2.02. However, shots accuracy tells a different story - 40 per cent for Querétaro versus just 20 per cent for the visitors.
The victory moves Querétaro up to eighth place in the table with 10 points from six matches. Tigres remain in 15th position with six points from seven games, extending their winless run. The result ends a difficult period for the hosts following their defeat to América.