MEXICO CITY — Toluca defeated UANL Tigres on penalty kicks 9-8 on Sunday night to win the Apertura tournament title and became the fifth team since 1996 to win back-to-back titles in the Mexican league.
Fernando Gorriaran put the visitors side ahead in the 12th minute, but Brazilian winger Helinho leveled the scoring in the 41st and Portuguese striker Paulinho put Toluca ahead in the 52nd to send the match into extra time with a 2-2 aggregate.
Former Atlético Madrid winger Ángel Correa gave Tigres a 1-0 lead in the first leg of the final. However, Correa also missed Tigres’ 12th spot kick to open the door for Toluca’s Alexis Vega to hit his second of the shootout and seal the victory for the home side.
The Red Devils joined Pumas, León, Atlas and America as teams that have repeated league titles in Mexico since 1996, when the league started playing two tournaments each year.
Toluca now has 12 league titles to tie Chivas as the second winningest team in Mexico. Both teams trail America, which has 16.
Toluca’s coach Antonio Mohamed won his fifth league title in Mexico and is two short of the all-time leaders Ignacio Trelles and Ricardo Ferretti.
Alexis Vega scored two penalty kicks, including the game winner.
