MIAMI, Florida – Costa Rican club and 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf League champions Liga Deportiva Alajuelense posted a commanding 3-0 victory versus Aguila of El Salvador in the second leg of their 2022 SCL Preliminary Round series on Tuesday night at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The win earned Alajuelense a 4-1 victory on aggregate and a coveted place in the tournament’s Round of 16, where they will take on Alianza of Panama.
It was a dream start for Alajuelense, who held a 1-0 lead before two minutes had even gone off the clock.
⚽ ¡GOOOL de @ldacr! 🦁
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) August 3, 2022
Aarón Suárez pone al frente al equipo de casa: 1-0 | #SCL22 pic.twitter.com/7e1jbEUQay
A break was started by all-time SCL top scorer Johan Venegas, who laid a pass off to Carlos Mora and the shot from Mora forcing a parry from Aguila GK Benji Villalobos right into the path of Aaron Suarez, who cleaned up the rebound with a strike into net.
Alajuelense remained on the front foot and sought to double their advantage as play drifted into the second half. That second score would arrive in the 67’ and it looked eerily similar to the first goal.
A deep cross from Alajuelense’s Yael Lopez forced a block from Villalobos, with the ball running off the foot of an Aguila defender and bouncing perfectly for Bernald Alfaro to hammer into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Up 2-0 in the match and 3-1 on aggregate, Alajuelense were keen to avoid last season’s late-game issues in their Round of 16 SCL series against Guastatoya of Guatemala when they conceded twice in the final 10 minutes to lose the series.
Aubrey David made sure there would be no repeat of history, as he turned in a volley off a cross from Alex Lopez to extend the lead to 3-0 in the 76’ and seal Alajuelense’s place in the Round of 16.
