Playing for 90
Fansided

Pachuca makes statement, manhandles Santos 2-0

By Thomas Buckley

Óscar Murillo (left) led the Pachuca defense in the 2-0 shutout win over Santos Laguna whose 24 goals scored are tied for most in Liga MX. (Photo by Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images)
Óscar Murillo (left) led the Pachuca defense in the 2-0 shutout win over Santos Laguna whose 24 goals scored are tied for most in Liga MX. (Photo by Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Pachuca Santos Liga MX
Nicolás Ibáñez (right) was a headache for the Santos Laguna defense all game long. His seventh goal of the season – tops in Liga MX – put the Tuzos ahead in minute 54 and they never looked back. (Photo by Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images) /

They’re baaack!

Pachuca declared their intention of returning to the Liga MX Finals with a convincing 2-0 over Santos Laguna, dropping the Guerreros from third to fourth while climbing (momentarily) into second place pending the outcome of two other games.

Nico Ibánez scored for the 22nd time this year to put the Tuzos up 1-0 in minute 54, cutting in front of a defender at the near post to redirect a Kevin Álvarez centering pass off Ronnie Prieto who was guarding the back post. Ibánez now has 7 goals on the season, tied with América’s Henry Martín for first in Liga MX.

Sub “Chofis” López doubled the lead 23 minutes later when he first-timed a feed from Avilés Hurtado, sweeping a shot with his privileged left foot past a lunging Carlos Acevedo.

Glimpses of last season’s regular season Liga MX champs

The first half at Estadio Hidalgo was rather evenly matched with the host Tuzos enjoying a slight advantage. Then Pachuca exploded out of the locker room and simply dominated the second 45 minutes.

Guillermo Almada’s men outplayed and outhustled the visiting Guerreros, finishing the game with 23 shots, 7 of them on goal. Santos Laguna only managed 6 shots in all, just one on target.

In his second season in charge, Almada has fiddled with his roster, mixing in several youngsters with the veterans who finished atop the Liga MX table last season before making a bid for the club’s 7th Liga MX title.

The feisty Uruguayan manager has his team on the rise and, no doubt, Pachuca’s fourth consecutive victory delighted Almada as it came against the club that fired him last November. Santos had gotten the better of Almada and the Tuzos in April with the Guerreros winning 3-1.

Next. Clásico or not, Tigres-América a must-see. dark

Pachuca (24 points) will be no worse than fourth after the weekend (the winner of tonight’s América-Tigres game would leapfrog the Tuzos, a tie would keep Pachuca ahead of both; if Toluca defeats the Chivas by 5 goals they would displace the Tuzos), while Santos (22 points) could slip to sixth if both the Tigres (21) and Toluca (21) win.

Home/Liga MX