Olimpia Vs. Santos Laguna, CONCACAF Champions League: Santos Advance Despite 2-1 Loss

Santos Laguna entered the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League preliminary tie leading Olimpia 3-1 so it wasn’t going to take much to put them through to the group stage. Doing so wouldn’t be easy though as they had to travel down to Honduras and keep the match from getting away from them in a hostile environment. The match did get away from them as Olimpia absolutely dominated, but Olimpia’s dominance didn’t turn into enough of an edge on the scoreboard as their 2-1 win only sent Santos through, 4-3 on aggregate.

It was an early goal that just about wrapped things up for Santos. A 13th minute finish by Cristian Suarez put the Mexican side ahead 1-0 and 4-1 on aggregate, a seemingly impossible deficit for Olimpia to overcome. It was anything but impossible though as Olimpia gave it a good run.

Just two minutes after Suarez put Santos on top, Roger Rojas equalized for Olimpia. The striker was able to get to the edge of the six-yard box and finish to make the tie interesting again. Sure, they still needed two more goals to force extra time, but it was feasible.

The rest of the match was an Olimpia onslaught. By the time the final whistle blew Olimpia had 17 shots to Santos’ three. They had 18 corner kicks to Santos’ two. The Hondurans were everywhere and in complete control, but it only resulted in one more goal as Brayan Beckeles tallied in the 86th minute when it was too late. Santos has been dominated, but all that mattered was that they were through to the group stage.

Santos will open group play on August 16 or 17 against Honduran side Real Espana. The Colorado Rapids and Metapan are also in Group B with them.