Mexican Liguilla Final, Santos Laguna vs. Monterrey: Santos Go 1-0 Up Through Estrada

It took only 23 minutes for Santos Laguna to take the lead at home in the first leg of La Gran Final, and their goal came from an unlikely source. On a well orchestrated counter-attack, striker Cristian Benitez found Jorge Ivan Estrada with a through ball on the right side of the penalty area. Estrada picked up the ball and finished past Jonathan Orozco into the roof of the net for only his sixth goal in five full years with the club, giving Santos a 1-0 lead. It was a fantastic run by Estrada from his right back position and no one on Monterrey accounted for the extra body coming forward into the box. Walter Ayovi appeared to be the man responsible for tracking him and his run, but Ayovi did no such thing.

Benitez has had a very large influence early on in the game, even prior to his assist. Monterrey’s central defenders are playing a very deep line out of respect for the abilities of Benitez and his partner Carlos Darwin Quintero, but that deep line has allowed for him to have plenty of time and space on the ball when he drops closer to the midfield. Between the influence of Benitez and the general struggles of the partnership of Humberto Suazo and Aldo de Nigris, both in previous matches and early on in this match, Jose Manuel Vucetich will be considering significant tactical adjustments.