The Pumas defeated Santos Laguna 4-0 for their first home victory. After a great first half, the Cougars sealed the game and temporarily climbed into third place as they continue their unbeaten run in the 2026 Spring League. Pumas will begin their CONCACAF Champions League campaign on Tuesday when they travel to the United States to face Santiago FC before returning to Mexico to face Atlas in Guadalajara on Saturday.
The Cougars started the first half with Alvaro Angulo returning from suspension. New signing Uriel Antuna sat on the bench. Juninho got the ball outside the penalty area and shot wide with his right foot. Jordan Carrillo headed in a cross from Alan Medina and past Santos goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo to give Cougars a 1-0 lead. It was a great goal from Carrillo, but Javier Abela made a terrible mistake, Abela losing Carrillo and thus allowing him a clear header from close range. A wonderful combination between Carrillo and Juninho passed back to Adalberto Carrasqueira, who fired a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, passed through Acevedo’s hand and scored into the net, giving Cougars a 2-0 lead. It was a good game, but Acevedo should have done better with his saves. Santos passed the ball back into the penalty area and Julio Osejo headed in from close range, but Pumas goalkeeper Keylor Navas made a great save. The cross into the penalty area was passed to the open Angulo, who shot wide with his left foot. Ezequiel Bulluade’s header went wide from a cross. After entering the penalty area, Jordan Carrillo made a great performance, breaking through the defender and firing a low shot past Acevedo and scored to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead. Carrillo showed his own style against his old club. Ramiro Sordo’s right-footed shot was saved by Navas. After a great combination play, Alan Medina’s left-footed shot went past Acevedo and into the net to give Puma a 4-0 lead. The Cougars have been given their best half of the Evra In Juarez era.
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At the beginning of the second half, Santos replaced Cristian Dayome, Emmanuel Echeverria and Jaret Ortega with Ezequiel Blueard, Bruno Amione and Javier Abela. After a cross into the penalty area, the ball was deflected into the path of Kevin Balanta, who wasted a good opportunity when he failed to hit a shot from close range. The corner kick passed to Efrain Orona, who fired a shot from close range straight to Navas. Pumas replaced Guillermo Martinez and Uriel Antuna, who made his debut, with Roberto Morales and Alan Medina. Due to a mistake by Santos, Juninho would fight 1 on 1, but his high shot was blocked by Acevedo’s face when he was about to receive the ball outside the penalty area. The Pumas replaced Pedro Veit with Adalberto Carrasqueira. Santos replaces Tahir Jimenez with Julio Osejo. Minutes later, Acevedo looked dizzy, nearly vomiting, and had to seek medical attention. After being ruled a concussion (Juninho’s shot), he would be substituted (which also gave the Pumas their sixth substitution). Hector Holguin came on as a substitute. A cross was almost blocked by Jesus Rivas for an own goal. Sordo took a free kick and missed with his right foot. The Pumas replaced Rodrigo Lopez, Jose Caicedo and Dennis Ramirez with Jordan Carrillo, Cesar Garza and Juninho. Santos replaces Kevin Picon with Ramiro Sordo. Outside the penalty area, Dayome fired a wonderful left-footed shot, forcing Navas to make a wonderful save. The match remains the same, with Pumas recording a solid victory that gives them momentum ahead of their CONCACAF Champions League debut.
In the third home game of the 2026 Spring League, the Cougars finally took three points. In what was probably their best game since Efrain Juarez took over as coach, Puma put in a brilliant 45 minutes to demolish a Santos side that didn’t feature. The Pumas performed well after a very tight win in which they sold Jorge Rubalcaba to the New York Red Bulls and brought in Antuna as his replacement. Jordan Carrillo was the best player in the game, which is good news for the Cougars after a slow start to the season. Pumas need to move forward quickly as they begin their CONCACAF Champions League journey against Santiago FC in the first leg of their series. They will then travel to Guadalajara to face Atlas before hosting Santiago on the return trip. Santos Laguna’s poor start to the 2026 Spring League, on the other hand, continues as they travel to Monterrey to take on Tigres, the last of the MXQ finalists, and they have another tough task ahead of them.
