Finishing third in the final Liga MX Apertura standings, León stood as a team capable of making a strong run in the Apertura playoffs. Blitzing past Morelia in the second leg of the quarterfinals, León advanced to the next round by way of a 7-3 aggregate after drawing 3-3 in the opening match. Facing off against a talented Santos team with a trip to the finals on the line, Los Panzas Verdes played with tremendous form, upending Santos Laguna by a 3-1 mark at the Estadio León.
José Juan Vázquez began the scoring for Leon in the 35th minute and from that moment on, Panzas Verdes controlled the tempo of the match. The second goal of the opening leg came from Carlos Peña, with Franco Arizala ending the evenings scoring for the home squad. Surrendering just one goal to Santos in the 90th minute - a window dressing tally notched by Javier Orozco - León did their part in the beginning of the series, etching out a convincing 3-1 victory heading into the closing leg.
Needing more production from offensive workers including Orozco, Oribe Peralta and Darwin Quintero, Santos Laguna could find themselves in an even bigger hole if they're not able to get on the board quickly and efficiently when the second leg kicks off Sunday night at Estadio Corona. The task will surely be difficult with Leon completely aware that one more strong performance will send them to the 2013 Liga MX Apertura final where they would face either defending Clausura champion America or Toluca but fans of Santos can expect their club to come ready to play.
Leon vs. Santos Laguna: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO
DATE: Sunday, December 8
TIME: 9:00pm, ET
TV SCHEDULE: Univision
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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