José Paradela gives Cruz Azul victory over Santos Laguna

José Paradela decided a tight match in the 89th minute, giving Cruz Azul a 1-0 victory over Santos Laguna in the seventh round of Mexico’s Apertura tournament.

Both teams missed attacking chances, but Cruz Azul improved during the final half-hour. Uruguayan forward Gabriel Fernández struck the post in the 83rd minute before Santos goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo, a Mexico international, failed to clear the ball. After several touches, it reached Andrés Montaño, who set up Paradela for a decisive left-footed finish.

The result placed Cruz Azul sixth with 12 points from four wins and three defeats, four points behind leaders América. Cruz Azul also has a match in hand. The seventh round included four postponed games because of the Leagues Cup final and third-place playoff, which involved teams including América, Monterrey, Pumas UNAM and León.

Guadalajara moved into second place after a 3-0 win at San Luis. An own goal by goalkeeper Andrés Sánchez opened the scoring, Ricardo Marín added a left-footed strike and Richard Ledezma completed the victory from Marín’s pass. Guadalajara reached 14 points.

Tigres drew 1-1 with Necaxa, with Rodrigo Aguirre scoring for Tigres and Owen González for Necaxa. Atlas also drew 1-1 with Atlante. Luis Estéves put Atlas ahead, but Martín Sarrafiore scored his second goal of the tournament to rescue a point. Atlas goalkeeper Camilo Vargas saved a penalty from Ecuadorian forward Jhojan Julio and helped his team remain fifth.

The round began with Pachuca’s 2-0 win over Juárez, where Venezuelan striker Salomón Rondón scored again. Rondón leads the scoring chart with seven goals, two more than Monterrey’s Lucas Ocampos. Cruz Azul will face América in the eighth round.