CONCACAF Champions League: Sounders Win, Houston Draw In Good Night For MLS

The match got off to a terrible start for the Dynamo. Douglas Caetano got on the end of a corner kick and dove to nod it back across goal for the opening tally.

After a while, Houston found a rhythm. They weren’t outstanding, which was no surprise considering that they played a handful of reserves, but they were better and the match evened out.

Waylon Francis picked a good time to score his first goal for Herediano. The 21-year-old ripped a shot from 30 yards just after the break that struck the underside of the crossbar and found its way over the line for the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Tauro FC that pushes the Costa Ricans to the top spot in Group 2.

The match wasn’t aesthetically pleasing by any means that’s to a downpour before the match and then again at halftime that left the field waterlogged. While Herediano did have nine shots on goal, few were dangerous and Tauro rarely got forward despite having nearly half of the possession.

Montero’s goal was not necessarily the Sounders’ most important goal of the night, but it did relieve some significant pressure as it came just three minutes after Caledonia had cut their deficit to 2-1 on a Kareem Joseph penalty.

The Sounders remain atop their group with six points and a +4 goal-differential in two matches. Caledonia was effectively eliminated from the tournament, with just one point with just one match left to play. The Sounders’ final two matches are against Marathon, who can’t afford to lose either match.

Either upset with the CONCACAF Champions League after last week’s refereeing shenanigans or prioritizing MLS play very, very, very far ahead of the region’s championship club competition, Bruce Arena started zero first choice players on Wednesday night against the Puerto Rico Islanders. It didn’t matter either, as the LA Galaxy destroyed Puerto Rico 4-0 to move to the top of Group 5.

The Galaxy got going early when Tommy Meyer was able to sneak away from his marker on a Kenny Walker corner kick in the seventh minute. Free from his marker, he nodded home from six yards and LA was in front.

With the rain and soaked field causing many passes to stop well short of their intended targets, both teams took to shooting from distance. Some of the efforts were very good, but the goalkeepers were up to the task.

Municipal almost went in front after the break when Mario Rodriguez got free and had a good look at goal, but Orozco was there to make the save, albeit with his face. He stayed down for a bit after, but he did stay in the match.

All hail Marco Fabian. The Chivas Guadalajara star put on the best show of any player in this year’s CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night, scoring three and crating another as the Goats demolished W Connection 4-0 to grab their first points of the competition.

The first half wasn’t especially bright for Chivas. While they did dominate possession, they struggled to generate chances. Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres hit the bar, but there weren’t many other chances of note.

Alajuelense kept their hopes of edging out Tigres and advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over Real Esteli on Tuesday in Nicaragua. Allen Guevara scored in the 42nd minute to earn the visitors a 1-0 win that moves Alajuelense alongside Tigres atop Group 6.

There was no doubt who was the better side right from the beginning. Alajuelense poured the pressure on Esteli, controlling possession, having a goal disallowed and hitting the bar. For more than a half-hour, it appeared as if Esteli had sold its soul to the soccer gods.

Santos weren’t at their best in the first half and really struggled to create chances with all of the possession they had. Toronto was organized in defense and were happy to concede the ball and the wings to Santos, knowing that they could defend most crosses, which they did.

It took until the 49th minutes for Santos to breakthrough and it came from Carlos Darwin Quintero. The Colombian was able to get on the end of a chip from Marc Crosas and half-volley past Freddy Hall for the opening tally.

Just like matchday two, matchday three of the CONCACAF Champions League comes with the threat of elimination. It may not be mathematical elimination from the competition, but end this week without a single point and you might as well kiss the knockout stages goodbye. Such is the nature of the three-team groups of the Champions League.

Group 1