Ricardo Marin's Penalty Kick Gives Chivas the Win at Santos

A penalty, a mistake and a 76 minute wait. That was all Chivas needed to walk away from La Comarca with three points. Ricardo Marin stepped up from the penalty spot and scored the only goal of the night as Guadalajara took a 1-0 win over Santos in the first match back after the Leagues Cup break.

It wasn't a pretty game, and that needs to be said. Chivas struggled mightily to find space against a well organized Santos defense. Hugo Camberos tried his luck a couple of times, but couldn't quite find the touch needed to trouble Carlos Acevedo. Santos, for its part, grew into the match as the minutes ticked by, and by the second half the home side was controlling the game, with long range shots from Mauricio Cuevas and Emmanuel Echeverria that failed to find the target.

Just as the home team looked set to keep the upper hand, the mistake that would cost them arrived. Echeverria committed a foul on Santiago Sandoval inside the box that the referee initially waved off, but which was overturned into a penalty after a VAR review. Marin stepped up, made no mistake, and made it 1-0 in the 76th minute.

Breaking the reliance on 'Piojo'

With that goal, Chivas also snapped a stat that had started to draw attention: through this matchday, Guadalajara's only two goals of the Apertura 2026 had come off the boot of Roberto Alvarado. Having a box forward like Marin get on the scoresheet takes some pressure off 'Piojo' and gives Gabriel Milito's side another attacking option.

The win moves Chivas to two wins, one draw and one loss through four matchdays, while Santos remains stuck at the bottom of the table with four losses in four games, a start to the tournament to forget in Torreon.

There were also a couple of side stories within the match. It was the first time this tournament that Chivas wore its away kit, a predominantly white second jersey for which Nike even adjusted the colors of the crest; in the three previous matches between Liga MX and Leagues Cup play, the team had worn its usual red and white. And on Milito's bench, the lack of minutes for Armando 'Hormiga' Gonzalez stood out, coming right in the middle of reported interest from Olympiacos in the forward.

There was also an awkward homecoming: Jordan Carrillo, a Santos academy product who joined Chivas this transfer window after a stint at Pumas, returned to Torreon, this time as an opponent. His night passed without incident until he was subbed off in the 64th minute, at which point the home fans greeted him with boos.

Now the schedule shows no mercy. Santos will visit Puebla next Friday to open Matchday 5, while Chivas, after several weeks on the road, will host Xolos on Saturday at Estadio Akron.