CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals: Monterrey Dominate, Santos And Toronto Draw

Pumas UNAM aren’t prioritizing the CONCACAF Champions League, as evidenced by their less than full strength lineup in tonight’s semifinal first leg, but Monterrey couldn’t care less. They’re prioritizing the competition as they go in search of their second consecutive title and are more than happy with their 3-0 win over Pumas, full strength opposition or not.

Humberto Suazo was at the heart of all three Rayados goals, shining in the tournament that he dominated last year. He fed Miguel Morales for Monterrey’s first goal, playing a quick free kick that put Morales in on goal for the finish. Aldo De Nigris was the beneficiary of Suazo’s service for the second goal, taking Suazo’s cross at the back post and nodding home to double the Rayados’ lead. De Nigris also put home the third goal, again from Suazo, although this time he had to do some more of the work on his own, turning Marco Palacios around before a good strike made it 3-0.

The physical nature of the match reared its ugly head after the final whistle, as a scuffle broke out between both teams and Quintero got a red card. While it is great to see the passion and pride between both teams, it put a dent on an evenly-fought match on the night. Hopefully they can channel their anger into their performances in the return leg in Torreon in a week’s time, where a place in the CCL finals is on the line.

The breakthrough came in the 30th minute, when Quintero sent another long pass to Gomez, who took a long touch on it, but recovered enough to send an angled shot past Kocic’s outstretched arm. Considering Gomez’s form in the past month or so, the goal looked inevitable.

Although it seems like these teams are still trying to figure each other out, it looks like it will be another solid half ahead in this match.

Here are the lineups for the match: