Santos won its fifth straight Primera Division contest, edging out
Toluca thanks to a pair of goals from in-form Oribe Peralta in a game that saw three red cards and plenty of goals.
Veteran playmaker Sinha opened the scoring just six minutes in, weaving his way past the
Santos defenders and even colliding with one of his own defenders before finding space to fire home. Things quickly went south for the visitors, though, as two minutes after the opener, Francisco Gamboa was shown straight red for pulling Carlos Quintero down when he was through on goal, though Santos could not convert the resulting free kick.
Before
Santos could equalize, the teams were even, as Felipe Baloy saw a straight red card of his own for an insult directed at referee Jose Rojas. However, it proved to be the impetus for Santos to find its form offensively, as Peralta went on to score two goals before halftime. The first came as Peralta slid in to volley home a cross from Christian Suarez just prior to the half hour mark, while his second came right before the break when he found himself on hand to tap in following Alfredo Talavera's save on Quintero.
Peralta, whose excellent form has earned him a place in the Mexican national team, has now collected five goals in his last four league games.
Issac Brizuela equalized for Toluca five minutes after the restart, taking down the ball very well with his chest before powering the ball past Oswaldo Sanchez. However, a moment of madness would end up costing Toluca in the 70th minute, as Diego Novaretti was the second Toluca defender to see red following a hard sliding challenge from behind on Peralta.
It would take until the final moments of the match for Santos to capitalize though, with Peralta and Suarez coming up as the heroes. Suarez played a give-and-go with Peralta which saw the Ecuadorian burst through to finish past Talavera and secure three points and the top spot for
Santos Laguna.
