Ricardo Marín scores twice as Chivas rout Xolos 5-2, staking his claim as heir to the Guadalajara goal-scoring throne after Armando González's exit

Rain poured down on Zapopan and kickoff had to be delayed two and a half hours. When the ball finally started rolling, Chivas made one thing clear right away: Armando González's departure was not going to be a problem.

Guadalajara routed Xolos 5-2 in Matchday 5 of the Apertura 2026, with a player who had already been making his case for a couple of weeks stealing the show: Ricardo Marín. The forward nicknamed "4K" scored twice in just 15 minutes of the first half and is emerging as the natural heir to Chivas' scoring load.

All of this comes just hours after Armando González's move to Olympiacos was confirmed. The groundwork for this transition had actually been laid since the last Leagues Cup match, and in Matchday 4 against Santos, González wasn't even called up as he sorted out his move to Greece. Marín stepped into the starting lineup in Torreón and delivered with a penalty goal in the win. Against Xolos, he repeated the trick and then some.

A game settled in the first half

The pitch, soaked but playable after the storm, saw a ruthless Chivas team feast on set pieces. In the 23rd minute, a corner kick taken by Efraín Álvarez and flicked on by Luis Romo found Santiago Sandoval, who opened the scoring. Eight minutes later, an almost identical script played out: a corner from Omar Govea, a header from Diego Campillo, and Ricardo Marín arriving to make it 2-0. Right before halftime, in the 45th minute, Marín calmly converted a penalty to make it 3-0 and complete his brace.

Chivas didn't ease up in the second half. In the 59th minute, a combination between Brian Gutiérrez and Roberto Alvarado, who continues his strong start to the tournament, produced another goal. Ten minutes later, Diego Campillo added the fifth with a cross-shot from inside the box. Xolos put a better face on the final score with a brace from Elías Manoel, in the 71st minute and again in the 91st, on a night when the Brazilian was clearly playing for a starting spot as Tijuana's forward.

With this result, Chivas matched in a single half the three goals it had scored across its first four matches of the tournament. The club also tied its best scoring output in a match under Gabriel Milito, a mark it had previously hit against Puebla back in April. And there's another notable detail: Chivas hadn't scored five goals against Xolos since the Apertura 2011, when Tijuana was still a newcomer to Mexico's top flight.

Marín settling in

With this brace, Ricardo Marín now has three goals and one assist this season, outpacing what both Armando González and Ángel Sepúlveda, who is going through a tough stretch to start the tournament, have managed so far. His best scoring mark in a Liga MX regular season stands at four goals, a total he hit in the Apertura 2023 with Chivas and matched with Puebla across the two 2024 tournaments. He's just one goal away from matching it, with 12 matchdays still to play.

There was room for another notable stat too: Santiago Sandoval, just 18 years old, became the second Under-18 player to score in this Apertura 2026, behind only Gilberto Mora, who, in a fitting coincidence, was on the field that night as a Xolos player.

Chivas has now won two straight matches and will next travel to face Pachuca at Estadio Hidalgo. Xolos, meanwhile, will host Pumas as it looks to get back in the win column.