Portuguese striker Paulinho’s show of sportsmanship touches Mexico [video] | OneFootball

Toluca 2-1 Santos Laguna

Paulinho has established himself as one of the most consistent goalscorers in Mexican football, and the Portugal international was again on-target this weekend for Toluca against Santos Laguna.

However, it was Paulinho’s sporting gesture which took much of the attention following the match in Liga MX, after the striker successfully argued against a red card given to opposition player Javier Güemez.

Paulinho opened the scoring at the Venue Estadio Nemesio Díez in the 39th minute with a typically clinical finish on his left foot. Marcel Ruíz added a second on the stroke of half time to put the hosts 2-0 up, but Güemez halved the deficit in the second period, meaning a close end to the game.

With his side 2-1 up heading into the closing minutes, Paulinho was caught by Santos goalscorer Güemez, leading referee Luis Santander to brandish a red card. However, Paulinho got to his feet and convinced the referee that the contact was not severe enough for a sending off, with Santander complying and reducing the punishment to a yellow card.

Güemez shook Paulinho’s hand in gratitude for his sportsmanship and the video was widely shared in Mexico and beyond, leading to the Portuguese being lauded for his show of fair play. “If Paulinho gave an indication that it was not a red card, that speaks very highly of Paulinho,” said opposition manager of Santos Laguna, Fernando Ortiz. “We all make mistakes and if the referee was helped by that, congratulations on Paulinho’s sincerity.”

Paulinho’s manager Antonio Mohamed of Toluca followed by saying: “They told me it was a Fair Play decision; they were probably going to review it with VAR, but those Fair Play actions are always good."

The victory sees Toluca level on points with America at the top of Liga MX after 14 rounds of action in the Clausura. Paulinho, who has missed a couple of matches through injury, has scored 9 goals from his 12 appearances. Toluca fired Portuguese boss Renato Paiva, now of Botafogo, after only making the quarter finals of the Apertura stage.