Atlético San Luis come from behind to beat Necaxa, Juan Reynoso suffers defeat in debut

Rafael Llorente's shot deflected off goalkeeper Andrade's leg and went into the Necaxa net. In the 73rd minute, the Alfonso Lastras Stadium erupted. But I wasn't watching the celebration. I was watching the space that Necaxa's defense left in front of their own box — where the ball bounced a second time, then a third time, and none of the white-shirted center-backs could control that zone. I watched it back three times. On the third viewing, I saw something VAR can never catch: a defensive system waiting to collapse. The context was unremarkable. Atlético San Luis entered Matchday 9 of Liga MX in terrible form — a winless run extending, sitting 13th with 9 points. Necaxa, 15th with 8 points, had just appointed Juan Reynoso — a coach who won the Guard1anes 2026 title with Cruz Azul — hoping for a morale boost. Away fans believed a positive run would follow. They were wrong. Reynoso started well. In the 10th minute, Carranza headed home from a set piece, putting Necaxa ahead. The first half was balanced. But in the second half, San Luis revealed a clear attacking pattern: overload the left flank, then switch the ball to the far side. That wasn't luck. That was design. The equalizer came exactly from that script. A great combination on the left wing, the ball played across to David Rodríguez. He didn't shoot immediately. Instead, Rodríguez crossed back into the box, where Felipe Mora arrived to head home at close range. Necaxa's defense was stretched completely — the offside trap failed, no center-back tracked the runner. The goal came from exploiting the back side of the defensive block, a layer of space that weaker teams often leave open. Necaxa kept making mistakes on loose balls. Tactics don't live on a board. They live in the space between two players. And in this match, that space was right in front of Necaxa's box. When Llorente shot from close range, the ball hit goalkeeper Andrade — who had lost his bearings after the initial save — and deflected in. It was San Luis's second goal, but it should have been recorded as a systemic error: no one in white occupied the danger zone after the first shot was parried. I saw it in how Necaxa's defenders watched the ball instead of running. And everything clicked. The third goal was just the inevitable consequence. In the 85th minute, a shot hit the crossbar and rebounded, with center-back Eduardo Águila rushing in to tap in — a goal that perfectly reflected the visitors' defensive chaos in the second half. The notable thing here isn't San Luis's win. They beat a 15th-placed side, needing an own goal and a rebound to take all three points. Their real quality remains a big question mark. The real issue is the narrative around Reynoso. He arrived with the reputation of a champion, expected to ignite a sinking team. But football doesn't follow media scripts. Every formation is a lie — until the ball rolls. The classic Mexican saying "a debutant coach doesn't win" held true. But blaming a proverb isn't fair. Necaxa's problem isn't debut-day superstition — it's the inability to protect the penalty box from loose balls, and conceding from two such situations is a sign of a recurring tactical issue. The match against América next round will be Reynoso's real test. If Necaxa loses again in the same manner — conceding from second balls, losing control of the zone in front of the box — then this stops being "debut bad luck" and becomes a systemic flaw. San Luis is the opposite: this win might be masking a fragile reality. The away trip to Pumas will show whether they've truly improved or just got lucky against a team in crisis. I'll track those two matches, watching the footage at least three times each. Because one match never tells the whole story. But it always leaves clues — and those who patiently piece them together will see the real picture before the crowd does.