Monterrey Vs. Santos Laguna, 2012 Liguilla Final: Santos Break The Curse(s)

Up 2-0 at home and needing just a win to be crowned Mexican Clausura champions, Santos Laguna were supposed to have it easy, but it wasn’t. Monterrey put together a furious rally late on, cutting Santos’ lead to 2-1 and piling on the pressure late, but in the end, this one was all Santos. They held on to beat Monterrey 2-1 in the match and win the Liguilla final, 3-2 on aggregate, for the Clausura title.

Santos were on the front foot from the start and got on the scoreboard after just six minutes. Darwin Quintero got Santos going when his blazing run got the Monterrey defense scrambling before passing to Daniel Ludueña, whose brilliant footwork got him in behind the defense. In alone on goal, Ludueña beat Jonathan Orozco and Santos were in front.

Here we go. It’s Santos Laguna vs. Monterrey and after 90 minutes we’ll have the Mexican champion. The first leg in Monterrey finished 1-1 so the second leg is winner-take-all, assuming there isn’t a draw, in which case there’s extra time to be played because there is no away goals in the final, nor is there the higher seed tiebreaker as there is earlier in the Liguilla.

Obviously, with the match in Torreon, Santos have the big edge in this second leg and they came on strong after a slow start in the first leg so they know they can beat Monterrey without a problem. Still, Monterrey stole a late draw so they have momentum, although doing it on the road is a whole other animal. Having Humberto Suazo and Aldo de Nigris does make things easier, though.

Both finals opened in Monterrey, but in the Champions League Los Rayados took advantage, winning 2-0 and putting Santos in a deep hole. In the Liguilla, Santos managed a tie in Monterrey and now head to the second leg in Torreon needing any win to lift the trophy. A little different? You betcha.

Santos scored the opening two goals of the Champions League final second leg to get things even before Monterrey won it in the 82nd minute, which was a surprise because Monterrey was without Humberto Suazo. That won’t be the case in tonight’s LIguilla finale, where ‘Chupete’ will almost assuredly feature. That gives Monterrey some hope as they can team him up with Aldo de Nigris and really put some fear into Santos, but that’s not enough to make Santos feel as if they are not in the driver’s seat.

Santos Laguna appeared to have the Liguillla final completely in the bag heading into the second leg in Torreon, but Monterrey made things interesting at the death. Santos will still be the favorites to win the title, but the tie is more up in the air that it should be after the Rayados grabbed a 1-1 draw in stoppage time.

The first half was an eventful one with both goalkeepers called into actions multiple times, but the two sides went into half scoreless. The second half was a midfield battle for the most part, but Santos bypassed the very solid Monterrey midfield for the opening goal. On a ball over the top, Oribe Peralta did brilliantly to hold off two Monterrey defenders, then turned and hit a stellar shot over Jonathan Orozco from 25 yards. Monterrey was on top and looking like the more likely team to score in the first two-thirds of the game, but after 69 minutes, it was Santos that had the lead.

Monterrey and Santos Laguna are almost unquestionably the two strongest teams in North America at the moment. Not only were they the two finalists in CONCACAF Champions League, but they finished first and second in the Mexican Primera’s 2012 Clausura regular season standings. Both teams have accomplished Mexican internationals and internationals from other countries, and both had to beat top opposition to get to the Liguilla final.

Santos made the final in dramatic fashion, pulling off an incredible comeback in the semifinal second leg against UANL Tigres. Down two goals in the dying minutes, Santos found the net twice through Oribe Peralta in a five minute span, sending them through to the final on a tiebreaker. Monterrey got through in slightly less dramatic fashion, comfortably defeating Club America.