Santos Laguna Vs. UANL Tigres, 2011 Apertura Liguilla Final: Tigres Defeat Ten-Man Santos 1-0

For the first 22 minutes of the first leg, the 2011 Apertura Liguilla final was living up to the hype. Santos Laguna and UANL Tigres were playing a fantastic match, with Tigres scoring early on the road but Santos pressing hard for an equalizer. It was exciting football, and it was impossible to tell what would happen next. Then, Juan Pablo Rodriguez went and got himself sent off. No more goals would come after that, with Tigres winning the first leg 1-0 in Torreon.

Damian Alvarez’s 7th minute goal was spectacular. After picking up a ball from Hector Raul Mancilla, he picked the defense apart with a spectacular dribbling move before shooting past Oswaldo Sanchez from a narrow angle. Oribe Peralta almost equalized with a 15th minute shot off the crossbar, then Lucas Lobos almost doubled the lead when he forced a save out of Sanchez in the 22nd. It was fantastic play, with everything one might want out of a final.

There are only 45 minutes gone from 180 minutes in the Mexican Primera’s 2011 Apertura Liguilla Final, but this one appears to be very close to over. It’s going to take a miracle for Santos Laguna to get back into this match, as they’ve already had a man sent off and given up a goal to UANL Tigres, who lead 1-0 at halftime. Damian Alvarez scored the goal, and it was an absolute beauty.

In the 7th minute, Hector Raul Mancilla laid off a ball for Alvarez, who dribbled through the defense and broke the ankles of Jorge Estrada with his moves. Eventually, he got himself into a position to shoot from a narrow angle and put a shot past Oswaldo Sanchez to put his team ahead.

Some red cards are undeserved and some definitely are. In tonight’s first leg of the 2011 Apertura Liguilla Final, Santos Laguna’s Juan Pablo Rodriguez was shown a straight red after this follow through on a kick that connected with UANL Tigres player Manuel Viniegra in, lets just say a “sensitive area”.

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Santos Laguna were already down a goal to UANL Tigres at home in the 2011 Apertura Liguilla final, and their task just got a whole lot harder. Star defensive midfielder and former Mexican international Juan Pablo Rodriguez has been shown a straight red card for the Saints in the 24th minute, and it was a well deserved red.

While going for a ball around the waist-level of Manuel Viniegra of Tigres, Rodriguez missed horribly. Instead of getting the ball, his foot ended up in the general vicinity of Viniegra’s groin. He then followed through with his kick, appearing to intentionally put his studs into the groin of Viniegra. The referee didn’t hesitate to show a red and the protest was minimal, at least compared to the usual harassment of referees in Mexican football.

UANL Tigres have taken a lead on Santos Laguna after just six minutes in the 2011 Apertura Liguilla final, and Damian Alvarez is the man who has his side ahead. Tigres’ attack was respectable for the large period of time in which Alvarez was injured - including the last time these teams met - but they’ve been taken to a completely different level with him back in the team in Liguilla. He’s continued his fantastic run of form with an early goal, and Santos now have their backs against the wall.

Hector Raul Mancilla provided the assist with some solid back to goal play and a good layoff, but the goal was scored mostly due to a spectacular individual effort. Alvarez made Santos right back Jorge Estrada look downright silly on the goal, turning him inside out a good three times before putting the ball into the far corner, past the legendary Oswaldo Sanchez from a narrow angle.

Remember when Diego Cocca was managing Santos Laguna and they were hanging out near the bottom of the Mexican Primera table? Probably not. That was a long time ago and that team seemingly fell off the face of the earth. That’s because this new Santos side popped up, one managed by Benjamin Galindo and they don’t resemble that original Santos team at all. No one who watched Santos at the beginning of the season would believe that they would be in the Liguilla final, but here they are, getting ready to take on UANL Tigres for the Mexican Apertura title.

From August 2 to August 27, Santos did not win any of their five matches, only drawing one. That meant the end for Cocca and brought in Galindo after a long and sometimes strange search that saw them interview several candidates. In the end though, they landed Galindo and did it ever pay off. From September 10 to October 15, Santos did not lose a match, winning five of six and powering their way up the table. By the end of the season they were fourth in the table before taking down Jaguares and Morelia in the first two rounds of the Liguilla.

Wondering why the headline above says ‘expected lineups’ and not just ‘lineups’? Because this is Mexican football and nothing is ever set in stone. These lineups come via the Mexican football federation, and yet they still cannot be trusted as 100 percent accurate. If you’re not already sold on the potential entertainment value of the unpredictable and outrageous nature of FMF, I’m not sure what to tell you. Tonight is the first leg of the 2011 Apertura Liguilla playoff final between Santos Laguna and UANL Tigres. Here are the expected lineups.

Santos Laguna Lineup (4-4-2): Sanchez; Estrada, Hoyos, Baloy, Ibañez; Suarez, Salinas, Rodriguez, Ludueña; Quintero, Peralta