MIAMI, Florida – The teams from both Liga MX and Major League Soccer (MLS) that emerged from the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 were in action over the weekend in their respective leagues, hoping to carry the momentum from Concacaf play into domestic competition.
In Liga MX, fresh off of eliminating Guastatoya of Guatemala in the SCCL, Club Leon came away as 1-0 winners at Necaxa on a penalty conversion from Victor Davila.
It was all Necaxa in the first-half hour, but a handball shortly thereafter led to the penalty and Davila calmly converted the spot kick to hand Club Leon a 1-0 lead. The story of the second half was Club Leon GK Rodolfo Cota, who made a number of big saves to keep his side ahead to collect the three points.
Pumas also enjoyed a positive outing after their elimination of Costa Rican club Saprissa, as they earned a 0-0 draw with Club America.
It was a night in which the two GKs stood out, with Pumas backstop Alfredo Talavera and legendary Club America No.1 Guillermo Ochoa each recording a clean sheet.
Santos Laguna’s run in the SCCL came to an end midweek, but they defeated SCCL quarterfinalists Cruz Azul 2-1 in what was a thriller at the Estadio Azteca.
Harold Preciado struck from distance to give Santos a 1-0 lead in the 5’, but Cruz Azul looked set to pull level via the penalty spot midway through the half, only for Santos GK Carlos Acevedo to save the spot kick and then make back-to-back-to-back saves to deny La Maquina.
Cruz Azul would find the equalizer, however, in the 64’ when Ignacio Rivero spun in a header to beat Acevedo to make it 1-1.
It looked like things would end with a share of the spoils, but then in the 90+4’ a right-footed shot from Diego Medina took a slight deflection and rolled into the Cruz Azul goal for a 2-1 Santos win.
The 2022 MLS season kicked off over the weekend with SCCL quarterfinalists CF Montreal, New England Revolution, New York City FC and Seattle Sounders all in action.
The Revolution traded punches with the Portland Timbers in an exciting 2-2 draw in Portland. Brandon Bye gave the Revs a 1-0 lead in the 41’ with a header, only to see Portland draw level in the 60’ through Dairon Asprilla. A minute later Sebastian Lletget restored New England’s advantage, but a bicycle kick executed by Yimmi Chara in the 78’ resulted in the 2-2 final scoreline.
It was a frustrating day for the Seattle Sounders, who fell on Sunday 1-0 to Nashville SC. Seattle came in after eliminating Motagua of Honduras, but could not get their attack firing and were sunk by an Anibal Godoy goal in the 80’.
New York City FC were also on the short end of a late goal in their MLS opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy. NYCFC scored four goals midweek in Los Angeles in their 4-0 win over Santos de Guapiles of Costa Rica, but had difficulty against the Galaxy defense. A goal in the 90’ from Mexican star Javier Hernandez earned the three points for the Galaxy.
It was also a tough weekend for CF Montreal, who fell 2-0 to Orlando City SC in Orlando. Montreal kept things scoreless in the first half, but goals from Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato in the 49’ and Benji Michel in the 59’ seal the win for the home side.
