An early goal by Argentine Damian Alvarez gave Tigres UANL a 1-0 away win over 10-man Santos Laguna in Torreon in the first leg of the Mexican Apertura Championship final on Thursday. Tigres took the lead in the seventh minute when left winger Alvarez raced onto a pass from Chilean striker Hector Mancilla, beating two defenders to shoot left-footed past goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez from a narrow angle. Santos was down to 10 men for more than an hour after Juan Pablo Rodriguez was sent off midway through the first half for a bad tackle on fellow midfielder Manuel Viniegra. The Tigres defense, best in the league phase of the championship when it conceded 13 goals in 17 matches, coped well with the home side's attack though it had a couple of scares. Santos striker Oribe Peralta hit the bar with a shot from outside the box in the first half and five minutes from time Juan Cardenas crossed low from the left and Peralta lunged forward but just failed to make contact. The sides meet again at the Estadio Universitario in the northern city of Monterrey in the second leg on Sunday when Tigres will be looking for their third league title and first in 29 years. Vidic out for season Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament in the Champions League defeat by Basel, manager Alex Ferguson said Friday. “We thought it was a bad one,” Ferguson told a news conference. “He's out for the season. It's not unexpected but it's still bad news. “He'll see a specialist Monday to work out the progress of when he has the operation. It won't be immediate as we have to let the swelling come down.”
