Jaguares de Chiapas vs. Santos Laguna: 1-1 Halftime, Two Great Finishes Have It Tied

Jaguares and Santos engaged in an exciting and fast-paced first half, resulting in a goal for each side. Santos narrowly missed on a couple of other chances and Jaguares’ goal was not without controversy. Superstar Cristian Benitez didn’t score the goal for Santos, but he has looked sharp and not at all like he played 80 minutes last night.

Santos got the opener on a spectacular counter-attack. In the 21st minute, Santos got everyone involved as the quickly moved the ball up the pitch with one touch passing, culminating in attacking midfielder Daniel Ludueña hitting a great pass from the top of the box to Fernando Arce on the right side of the box. Arce picked up the through ball and hit a great finish, beating Jorge Villalpando at his near post to put his team up 1-0.

The equalizer came in the 33rd minute through Carlos Ochoa. Alan Zamora played an unorthodox lobbed free kick from the center of the pitch, 30 yards out to Ochoa, running into the box on the left side. Ochoa was completely unmarked, picked up the ball, and seized his opportunity, hitting a great finish past Osvaldo Sanchez. On replays, Ochoa appears to be offsides, but that certainly doesn’t take away from the quality of his finish.

Jaguares are likely to be the more aggressive team in the second half. Santos have more quality in midfield then at striker on their bench and could opt to bring on a midfielder for Cristian Benitez if he’s too fatigued to play deep into the second half.