Ramos kicked an opponent: "I wasn't going to leave this league without a red card"

Spaniard Sergio Canales led Mexican football's Rayados de Monterrey to a 3-1 win at Pumas on Sunday with a goal and two assists, a result that gave Argentinian coach Martin Demichelis a new lease of life.

Iker Fimbres and Argentine German Berterame were the other scorers for Monterrey, which moved up from ninth to seventh place with 19 points. Guillermo Martinez scored for UNAM, who remained in 11th place, outside the play-off zone.

The win, in which Spanish centre-back Sergio Ramos suffered his first dismissal in Mexico, gave Demichelis, who according to local press reports was one foot out of the team after his side's elimination last Wednesday in the last 16 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, some breathing space.

With the game all but decided, Colombian defender Stefan Medina gave Aliva Avila a penalty, which Martinez converted to make it 1-3 in the 90th minute. After that, Ramos kicked the scorer of the Pumas goal from behind in the right leg, in a play in which the ball was not in dispute, which led to his first sending-off in Mexico.

The Spanish cenetral himself spoke about it on his ‘X’ profile after the match with some humour: "Very important victory against a complicated opponent on a difficult pitch. Time to rest and think about the next game. It was clear that I wasn't going to leave this league without a red card. 3+ and counting!"