Vela, LAFC knock out Liga MX club León
Esmeraldas fail to protect first-leg advantage, leaving only three Liga MX clubs in the top regional tournament.
Carlos Vela led an LAFC revival, eliminating León in the Concacaf Champions League on the back of a dominating 3-0 win. The 3-2 aggregate result advanced the MLS club to a quarterfinals match against another Liga MX team, Cruz Azul.
León is the only Liga MX team that fell in the Round of 16 although Mexican clubs did not impress as giants América and Tigres struggled against Central American minnows. Both teams next face MLS opponents, setting up three huge MLS-Liga MX clashes in the quarterfinals.
América (a winner in a penalty kick shoot-out over Guatemala’s Comunicaciones) faces Atlanta United, the 2018 MLS champion, while the Tigres tangle with New York City FC.
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León entered Thursday night’s match in Los Angeles with a 2-0 advantage from the first leg at home. But coach Ignacio Ambriz did not have top scorer Angel Mena who was banged up in La Fiera’s league win over the weekend.
LAFC started a bit slow, but was able to establish control of the match after the first quarter-hour. Vela even had a goal erroneously disallowed for offside early on, but he flicked home a feed from Diego Palacios in minute 27 to narrow the deficit.
León played some solid offense early in the second half but never really threatened LAFC goalie Kenneth Vermeer (in fact, the Esmeraldas did not record a shot on goal all game). Winger Jean Meneses had been in fine form in league play, but he was ineffective throughout as was spot starter José de Jesús Godínez.
The home team started to swarm forward, getting quick turnovers to maintain pressure on León.
With only 13 minutes remaining, Vela cut past his marker and Tristan Blackmon found him with a perfect pass. The Team Mexico star one-times a left-footer past Rodolfo Cota and the score was tied 2-2. Two minutes later, Diego Rossi lofted a lovely chip shot over Cota and the ball skimmed off the underside of the crossbar then clanged off the right post and into the net.
León scrambled to find an answer, but was unable to find space in the offensive third and they went down to defeat.
Cota made 7 saves but was let down by his defense who too often were beaten by through passes and overlapping runs. Central defenders Stevin Barreiro and Ramiro González were also sloppy with outlet passes, which allowed LAFC to keep the pressure on.
Next. Tigres survive scare with late goal. dark
In Thursday’s other Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 match, Honduran club Olimpia snuck past Seattle Sounders in a penalty kick shoot-out and will face Montreal Impact in the quarterfinals.