Santos Laguna produced the biggest upset of the Liga MX Apertura 2026 so far on Sunday night, coming back from two goals down to beat Toluca 3-2 at the Estadio Nemesio Díez in Jornada 9. The Guerreros trailed 2-1 at halftime and played the entire second half with a numerical advantage after Toluca defender Everardo López del Villar was sent off late in the first half, and they made it count with two goals after the break. The defeat ends Toluca’s four-game league winning streak but the Diablos Rojos remain top of the table with 19 points, while Santos earned their first away points of the tournament and climbed to 17th.
Toluca led 2-1 at the break through Federico Viñas and Paulinho, but Ezequiel Bullaude had pulled one back before halftime, and the red card left Antonio Mohamed’s side defending a narrow lead with ten men for the entire second half. Kevin Palacios equalized in the 86th minute and Fran Villalba struck the winner in the 95th, completing a comeback that gives Renato Paiva’s team their second victory of the season.
Toluca vs Santos Laguna result
Toluca started the stronger side and took the lead in the 25th minute when Federico Viñas met a cross with a precise header to beat Carlos Acevedo. The lead doubled in the 43rd minute through Paulinho, who finished a low cross across the penalty area with a backheel past the Santos goalkeeper. At 2-0, the home side appeared to be cruising toward a fifth straight league win.
Santos found a lifeline in first-half stoppage time. Ezequiel Bullaude took advantage of an opening inside the penalty area in the 45+4th minute to make it 2-1, and the match turned decisively moments later when Everardo López del Villar was shown a straight red card for a stamp on a Santos player, an incident the referee confirmed as serious foul play after a VAR review. Toluca went into the break ahead but down to ten men.
The second half followed the pattern the red card suggested. Santos pushed their lines forward and finally broke through in the 86th minute, when Kevin Palacios finished an attacking move to level the score at 2-2. The visitors thought they had completed the comeback in the 92nd minute through Eduardo Aguirre, but VAR intervened and disallowed the goal for a handball in the build-up. The winner arrived in the 95th minute: Fran Villalba found space on the edge of the penalty area and fired a powerful shot from outside the box past Luis García to make it 3-2.
Key match stats
| Stat | Toluca | Santos Laguna |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 45% | 55% |
| Shots | 18 | 13 |
| Shots on target | 8 | 5 |
| Corners | 6 | 7 |
| Saves | 2 | 6 |
Source: Sportradar match data.
Three takeaways
1. The red card decided the match. Toluca played the entire second half with ten men after López del Villar’s dismissal in first-half stoppage time, and the numbers show the cost. Santos held 55 percent of possession and scored twice after the break, while Toluca, who had outshot the visitors overall, could not protect a lead they had built with a full side. Conceding twice in the second half with the extra man on the pitch turned a comfortable 2-0 into a 3-2 defeat.
2. Santos finally won on the road. The Guerreros entered the night with zero points from four away matches this season, and they had only one win in the entire tournament, the 2-1 home victory over FC Juárez on September 13. This was their second win of the Apertura and their first points away from the Estadio TSM Corona. Three goals from five shots on target, the last two after halftime, turned a 2-0 deficit into the club’s most important result of the season.
3. Toluca’s streak ends, but first place survives. The Diablos Rojos had won four straight league matches, scoring 12 goals and conceding three in that run, and this was their first home defeat of the tournament. The loss keeps them on 19 points from nine matches, still one point ahead of Chivas Guadalajara, who drew 2-2 with Club América in the Clásico Nacional on Saturday. With Cruz Azul unable to reach 19 points this round, Toluca cannot be caught at the top regardless of the remaining Jornada 9 results.
What the result means for the Liga MX table
Toluca stays first with 19 points from nine matches (6 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats, plus-11 goal difference). Chivas Guadalajara sit second on 18 points after their 2-2 Clásico Nacional draw with América, while América hold third with 17 points from eight games. It is still far too early for any qualification conclusions, but the top of the table remains tightly packed with the international break approaching.
For Santos, the three points move them to seven points from nine matches (2 wins, 1 draw, 6 defeats, minus-6 goal difference), lifting them to 17th place. They sit level on points with Tigres UANL, who stayed on seven after Friday’s 2-0 defeat to FC Juárez, and four points clear of bottom side Juárez. Jornada 9 is not yet complete, with Querétaro vs León still to play, so the lower positions may still shift.
Readers following the title race can keep up with every fixture through our Liga MX viewing guide.
What comes next
Toluca face a demanding trip on Saturday, September 26, when they visit Cruz Azul at the Estadio Banorte in Jornada 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET, and the match will be a direct clash near the top of the table. Santos Laguna, meanwhile, return home the same day to host Pachuca at the Estadio TSM Corona, with kickoff set for 9:00 PM ET, looking to build on this comeback with a second straight victory.
