Brian Lozano scores brace against Atlas, Santos lead the standings
Santos Laguna earned their third straight victory in Liga MX after a 2-1 win in Estadio Jalisco over Atlas. Brian Lozano scored both goals, putting him at four in the Apertura 2019.
It was an interesting matchup between these two undefeated teams. While neither had conceded any goals in the first two games, Santos was still the clear favorite, but Atlas was up for the challenge to take down Los Guerreros.
In the 16th minute, Diego Zaragoza tried kicking the ball out of Atlas’ defensive side, but Brian Lozano applied pressure and stole the ball after a rebound off his foot. Lozano quickly ran with the ball, and into the penalty area, striking it into the far right corner of the goal.
Los Rojinegros were feeling overwhelmed and lost on the field as they kept losing the ball, and four of their players received yellow cards before the end of the first half.
Santos kept its dominance at the start of the second half with many opportunities on goal and most possession on the field. Atlas, on the other hand, kept struggling to find any chances to change the scoreboard. Things got worse for the Jalisco team after their rivals scored their second goal in the 86th minute.
Lozano crossed the ball inside the penalty area, where it bounced off Camilo Vargas’ hands. The ball stayed in the box, leading the ball into a series of rebounds and going back to Lozano, to score his second goal of the game.
It all seemed like Santos had the win in the bag until Atlas was allowed to score in the 95th minute. It took the referee about five minutes to call a penalty in favor of the home team, after a foul inside the penalty area in the 88th minute during a VAR review.
Osvaldo Martinez, known for his penalty taking skills, scored with no problem but it wasn’t enough to prevent their first loss in the season.
Santos’ new victory, puts them at the top of the standings with nine points and continue with only one goal received. They’ll be up against Puebla in Torreon on Sunday and Atlas will visit Veracruz next Friday night.
