CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals: Galaxy, Sporting both win 1-0 at home

The second half looked nothing like the first, with Xolos dominating right from the start and that’s when Penedo put his cape on. He made a sprawling save, only to see it didn’t matter because it was ruled offside. Not long after, the offside flag didn’t go up and Penedo’s terrific save on Hernan Pellerano was needed.

Penedo did make one mistake, mis-reading a cross and meekly punching it onto his own defender’s foot, but he made up for it. The deflection turned the ball towards goal and Penedo raced back to the goal line to swat it away just inches before it crossed, keeping LA ahead.

But Sporting KC will likely be finding themselves somewhere between breathing a sigh of relief and feeling as though they missed an opportunity to really give themselves a chance to become just the second MLS team in history to eliminate a Mexican opponent from CCL.

Ellis, who first signed with Sporting KC in 2011, had only made two MLS regular-season starts in his career.

Things got worse in the 67th minute when a terrible defensive play gave Raul Nava a half chance on a volley from 18 yards and he struck it perfectly, putting the ball in the top corner and Toluca up 1-0.

San Jose’s attack just ramped things up after going a goal behind and Lenhart almost got them level, but his header rattled the crossbar and Alan Gordon’s follow up was blocked. At that point, the Quakes looked cursed.

Alajuelense were supposed to get the best of Arabe Unido, but the result didn’t show it in the first leg. And to make matters worse, they were at home.

Arabe Unido went to Costa Rica and came away with a scoreless draw, putting them in a position where any home win will see them through to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals. The Panamanians are sitting pretty.

It’s been five months since the CONCACAF Champions League group stage wrapped up. In fact, by the time Alajuelense take the field on Monday in the first match of the knockout stages, it will have been 226 days since they qualified for the quarterfinals.

And despite the long break, the inconsistent scheduling and massive roster changes, you can bet on one thing -- Mexican clubs will dominate. Again.