TEGUCIGALPA – The third week of the 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup came to a close on Thursday night with a 1-0 victory for 10-man Motagua against fellow Honduran side Olancho in Group D at the Estadio Chelato Ucles in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Motagua now sit atop the group with a perfect nine points from three matches, while Olancho are still on the hunt for their first result after two matches.
It was a physical first half between the two teams, but no goals. Motagua had the majority of possession, while Olancho were keen to try to do damage in transition.
Chances were few and far between, with arguably the best effort at goal coming in the 21’ when Carlos Mejia launched a free kick that went wide of the goal of Olancho shot-stopper Harold Fonseca.
Things opened up in the second half and after an Angel Tejeda shot over the crossbar in the 48’ for Olancho, Motagua would break the deadlock in the 54’ through Yeison Mejia, whose clever, lowly-driven free kick around the wall crossed the line despite the best efforts of Fonseca, giving Motagua a 1-0 lead.
But minutes later there was a great turn of events when Motagua’s Carlos Mejia received a second yellow card and was sent off, reducing the hosts to just 10 men with more than a half-hour to play.
Olancho had a few looks at goal that tested Motagua GK Jonathan Rougier, including a Kemsie Abbott header in the 90’, but the home side withstood the pressure and got the job done to cement the three points.
