TIJUANA (Interstat) — Club Tijuana used two early goals and a second-half response to beat visiting Santos Laguna 4-1 in a Liga MX match on Sunday at Estadio Caliente. Francisco Gonzalez opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Ignacio Rivero doubled the lead in the 18th. Club Tijuana carried a 2-0 advantage into halftime. Santos Laguna pulled one back when Esteban Lozano scored in the 66th minute, but Rivero answered in the 69th and Adonis Preciado capped the home side’s scoring in the 72nd. Santos Laguna’s goal briefly cut the deficit to 2-1 before Club Tijuana scored twice in a three-minute span. Santos Laguna could not close the gap over the final stretch as Club Tijuana saw out the result before a home crowd.

Preciado finished with one goal and one assist over 79 minutes for Club Tijuana. Rivero scored twice over 79 minutes, with his goals coming in the 18th and 69th minutes. Lozano played 90 minutes for Santos Laguna, scored once and received a yellow card. Gonzalez scored once and was booked over 76 minutes for Club Tijuana. A. Vega played 90 minutes for Club Tijuana and supplied one assist. Ezequiel Bullaude played 79 minutes for Santos Laguna, had one assist and was booked.

The match produced six yellow cards and ten substitutions. Gonzalez was booked in the 27th minute, and Bullaude followed in the 29th. F. Sanchez received a yellow card in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. Lozano was booked in the 59th minute, A. Lopez in the 68th and I. Tona in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time. The yellow-card sequence included Club Tijuana’s Gonzalez and I. Tona and Santos Laguna’s Bullaude, F. Sanchez, Lozano and A. Lopez. Substitutions began in the 64th minute for Santos Laguna with F. Caseres and R. Sordo. Club Tijuana made changes in the 70th minute with R. Arciga and in the 71st with M. El Ghezouani. Gonzalez was substituted in the 76th minute, while Preciado and Rivero were substituted in the 79th for Club Tijuana. Bullaude was substituted in the 79th for Santos Laguna, and J. Perez and M. Cuevas were substituted in the 85th for Santos Laguna.

Club Tijuana’s season record in the competition is now 5 wins, 3 losses and 5 draws. Its record across all competitions is also 5 wins, 3 losses and 5 draws. Santos Laguna’s competition record is now 4 wins and 1 loss, and its all-competitions record is also 4 wins and 1 loss. Club Tijuana’s previous results this season include a 2-2 draw at Toluca, a scoreless draw at home against Puebla, a 1-1 draw at Juarez, a 3-2 home loss to Atlas, a 2-2 draw at Pachuca, a 1-0 home loss to Queretaro, a 2-0 home win over UNAM Pumas, a 5-2 loss at Guadalajara Chivas, a 2-1 home win over Cruz Azul and a scoreless draw at Atletico SL. Santos Laguna’s previous results include a 2-0 home win over UNAM Pumas, a 5-0 home win over Queretaro, a 2-1 win at Atl. San Luis and a 1-0 home win over Pachuca. Club Tijuana’s upcoming Liga MX schedule includes a home match against Santos Laguna, a road match at Club America, a road match at Monterrey, a road match at Necaxa and a home match against Atlante.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Club Tijuana 2, Santos Laguna 1. Its ELO system gave Club Tijuana a 77.2 percent probability to win. Club Tijuana was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -0.5. The total score of 5 went under the over/under line of 2.75.