Suazo brace inspires Monterrey to Mexican title

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Chile striker Humberto "Lollipop" Suazo scored twice as Monterrey beat Santos Laguna 3-0 to win the Mexican Apertura championship final 5-3 on aggregate.

Argentine Jose Basanta also scored for the "Stripes", who lifted their fourth title at their Tecnologico stadium on Sunday, having gone down 3-2 in the first leg on Thursday.

It was a second successive defeat in the final for Santos, nicknamed the "Warriors", who lost the 2009/2010 Clausura final on penalties to Toluca in May.

The shaven-headed Suazo, a member of Chile's 2010 World Cup squad, hit the bar early on before opening the scoring with a shot from outside the box in the 23rd minute.

Basanta headed the second from a corner in the 72nd and Suazo added the final touch with a solo goal after weaving past three defenders to beat goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez from close range.

The third goal sparked wild celebrations by the Monterrey bench who doused coach Manuel Vucetich with water.

Celebrating fans later swarmed into Monterrey's Macroplaza, one of the biggest squares in the world at 400,000 square metres.

The match was the last for Mexican referee Armando Archundia, who officiated at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. He equalled the record of French referee Joel Quiniou by taking charge of eight World Cup matches.