A bad-blooded Liga MX clash between Pumas and León on Sunday ended with both sides having 10 men on the pitch, but Pumas could've gone down to nine in the final minutes if not for an incredible piece of sportsmanship from León's Luis "Chapo" Montes.
The two sides entered matchweek five separated by just a point, and the first half at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City was finely poised with Santiago Colombatto giving León the lead in the 20th minute with a left-footed strike from 17 yards out before Rogério brought Pumas level just four minutes later.
¡Gooooool golaaaaaaaazo de @pumasmx!
Qué manera de tocar de los auriazules para que Rogério marque su cuarto gol de la temporada.1-1 #SoyDePumas | #SerFieraEsUnOrgullo | #TuClausura2022
¡EN VIVO!
TUDN y @univision
https://t.co/TBW8XvRGvy pic.twitter.com/qJp61KoNFR— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) February 13, 2022
Palermo Ortíz gave Pumas a 2-1 lead just before halftime with a header off a set piece, and then the second 45 was all about expulsions.
León went down to 10 in the 51st minute after Federico Martínez pretended to be interested in playing the ball but really only wanted to plant his studs into Fabio Álvarez.
¿Roja?
El VAR manda a llamar al silbante y decide la expulsión. El León se queda con 10.2-1 #SoyDePumas | #SerFieraEsUnOrgullo | #TuClausura2022
¡EN VIVO!
TUDN y @univision
https://t.co/TBW8XvRGvy pic.twitter.com/GEjfbUamal— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) February 13, 2022
Pumas' Alan Mozo was then sent off in the 82nd for a wild slide that's really nothing more than a yellow.
¡Roja para Pumas!
Alan Mozo se va expulsado por una barrida en medio campo... ¿Era expulsión?2-1 #SoyDePumas | #SerFieraEsUnOrgullo | #TuClausura2022
¡EN VIVO!
TUDN y @univision
https://t.co/TBW8XvRGvy pic.twitter.com/NbizbE9DUG— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) February 13, 2022
Having already been on the end of one harsh red, it looked like Pumas got another in the 90th minute.
Montes went down while holding off Washington Corozo and the referee initially saw it as an elbow, so Corozo was given a straight red. However, the 35-year-old Montes quickly told the ref that there wasn't any elbow and it was downgraded to a yellow.
¡Esto es FAIR PLAY, señores!#JuegaLimpio #SienteTuLiga @Chapomontes10 le aclaró al silbante que Corozo no le había pegado en la cara tras haberle sacado la tarjeta roja.
¡Gran gesto del jugador de @clubleonfc!EJEMPLO. pic.twitter.com/RyjzSHwnpz
— Liga BBVA MX (@LigaBBVAMX) February 13, 2022
We continued 10 vs. 10 and Pumas held on for the 2-1 win. Fair play, Chapo Montes.
