The two teams combined to take 28 shots and 16 corner kicks, but neither Atlas or Santos Laguna could find the back of the net in a goalless draw in an the all-Mexican Group B SuperLiga match at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night.
Earlier in the evening, the host New England Revolution played Major League Soccer rival Kansas City Wizards to a 1-1 draw.
The Revs remain atop Group B with four points from two matches, while Atlas and Kansas City are now tied for second with two points apiece and Santos has one point.
Matias Vuoso had Santos' best scoring chances in the opening 45 minutes. After being unable to pull the trigger after rounding Atlas goalkeeper Jose Francisco Canales earlier in the half, Vuoso took a touch with his back to goal and got outside a defender, but Canales saved his low sharp-angle shot in the 34th minute.
Three minutes later, Jorge Torres made a darting run from the sideline, split two Santos defenders inside the box, but Mexican national team goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez turned his shot away.
Vuoso had another attempt at the stroke of halftime, but his header from 12 yards out took a deflection and resulted in another corner kick for Santos, one of eight for the game.
Vuoso wasn't done yet, though. The powerful Argentinean-born striker dribbled along the endline, fending off a challenge and fed Jorge Estrada, whose shot also deflected out for a corner.
Just five minutes into the match, both Hebert Alferez of Atlas and Christian Sanchez of Santos were bloodied as a result of a nasty clash of heads in the box. After lying on the turf for a few moments, both players received medical attention, but neither would complete the game.
On the ensuing corner kick after the injuries, Hugo Ayala just missed putting Atlas in front, but he was unable to slide in and get a piece of a headed ball back across the goal.
Sergio Vizcarra came on for Alferez at halftime, while Sanchez was off on 20 minutes, replaced by Osmar Mares.
Ayala had another scoring attempt, following Edgar Pacheco's corner kick that squirted loose at the back post. But his shot was off the mark in the 66th minute.
Santos was reduced to 10 men in the 74th minute when referee Erim Ramirez Ulloa sent off Francisco Torres with a straight red card for a dangerous studs-up sliding tackle on Jorge Torres.
In the 82nd minute, Carlos Ochoa Mendoza, who came on in the 67th minute for Agustin Herrera, had his shot from the top of the 18-yard box deflect out for a corner kick.
The game's final chance came in the 90th minute when Saul Villalobos, who replaced Jesus Paganoni in the 79th minute, took a low, bouncing shot from distance that Sanchez just got a piece of.
In the final game of group play, New England plays host to Atlas on Sunday afternoon, while Santos heads to CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City to take on the Wizards, also on Sunday.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
