With a game and a half in the books in this CONCACAF Champions League tie, the teams are knotted up. Santos Laguna scored two early goals in the first half to take a quick lead on the visiting Seattle Sounders. But Seattle got one goal back towards the end of the half, and Santos currently lead 2-1 in Torreón. Combined with the 2-1 Seattle scoreline in the first match, that means the teams are tied 3-3 on aggregate (and away goals) with another 45 minutes to go.
Santos Laguna Vs. Seattle Sounders, 2012 CONCACAF Champions League: Santos Lead 2-1 at the Half
Just before Santos opened up the scoring, Seattle had two very good chances. Alvaro Fernandez and Brad Evans both had shots at close range in the eighth minute that were saved by Santos goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez. From there, Santos took the ball up the other end of the field and Christian Suarez made a terrific cut inwards with the ball on the left and created space away from Jeff Parke. He shot the ball from outside the box and put Santos on the board.
With Seattle a bit stunned, Santos kept its foot on the gas. Oribe Peralta got a great pass in the box just a minute later, then turned around and shot while Seattle defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado dragged him down. Peralta's goal gave Santos a quick 2-0 edge in the match and a 3-2 edge in the quarterfinal.
Although Santos still controlled most of the play in the half, the Sounders began to get their bearings around the 25-minute mark and slowly started to take possession for sustained stretches. They were able to get back into the match finally in the 37th minute when Fernandez scored on a snap header from a nice looping cross from the left by Fredy Montero.
With that, the Sounders gained some momentum back and will hope they can get another (and keep Santos from scoring more) in the second half. For Santos, they just need one more to advance (assuming they also keep Seattle from scoring again). It is certainly anybody’s match at this point.
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