Apertura 2022 quarter-final results, 13 October: wins for Tigres, Toluca

Tigres and Toluca both scored late goals to secure slender first-leg advantages in the Liga MX Apertura 2022 quarter-finals on Thursday.

Tigres 1-0 Pachuca

At the Estadio Universitario, André-Pierre Gignac’s 88th-minute penalty gave Tigres a 1-0 win over Pachuca, the Frenchman beating Óscar Ustari from 12 yards to score his 11th goal of the tournament.

Prior to the match, Gignac was presented with the Liga MX award for the best forward in the 2021/22 season - the third time he has received the accolade.

Bidding to lift their eighth Mexican title, Tigres now go to Pachuca’s Estadio Hidalgo for the second leg on Sunday.

The winners of the last-eight tie are all but certain to face Club América in the semi-finals, after the regular-season champions thrashed Puebla 6-1 in the teams’ quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

Toluca 4-3 Santos Laguna

In Thursday’s other quarter-final clash, meanwhile, Toluca goalkeeper Thiago Volpi netted a stoppage-time penalty to win a thrilling, topsy-turvy encounter with Santos Laguna.

Inside the first five minutes, goals by Carlos González and Camilo Sanvezzo appeared to put Toluca in charge - but by early in the second half, the 10-time Liga MX champions had fallen behind.

Fernando Gorriarán reduced the arrears for Santos with a penalty on the half-hour mark, before Harold Preciado headed in a leveller shortly before the break.

Four minutes after half time, Eduardo Aguirre’s strike then completed the turnaround at the Estadio Nemesio Díez.

However, Toluca responded by launching a fightback of their own. With just under 20 minutes to go, Sanvezzo fired in to equalise, and after Juan Brunetta was sent off for Santos, Volpi’s last-gasp spot-kick snatched a winner for the Los Diablos Rojos.

Santos now host Toluca in the second leg on Sunday, with either Monterrey or Cruz Azul awaiting in the semi-finals. They drew 0-0 in their opening leg on Wednesday.

Apertura 2022 quarter-finals: second-leg fixtures (times ET)