TEGUCIGALPA – The League A quarterfinals of the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League continued on Friday with Honduras claiming a 2-0 first leg triumph over Mexico at the Estadio Nacional Chelato Ucles in Tegucigalpa.
The Catrachos will take that two-goal cushion into Tuesday night’s return leg in Mexico City where passage to the 2023-24 CNL Finals and qualification to the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 will be on the line.
Mexico suffered an early bad break when legendary GK Guillermo Ochoa was forced to leave with an injury and was replaced by Angel Malagon.
Still, much of the tempo was controlled by Mexico to start, but in the 30’ it was Honduras who scored the opening goal. Luis Palma floated in an inch-perfect pass into Antony Lozano, who controlled the ball with his chest and finished past Malagon for a 1-0 Honduras lead.
The Catrachos were flying with the roaring support of their fans and Lozano looked set to make it two in the 33’, but saw his effort stopped by Angel Malagon.
Mexico looked to respond in the second half, but much like in the first half, El Tricolor lacked the cutting edge in front of goal.
Honduras waited for their chances and struck again in the 72’ thanks to some playmaking from Jorge Alvarez, who found Bryan Rochez and a quick turn yielded a right-footed strike for a 2-0 Honduras lead.
Mexico made one last push to try to pull a goal back but were thwarted each time by a resolute and organized Honduran defense that saw things out until the final whistle.
