The Seattle Sounders will face Liga MX giants Tigres UANL in the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals. Tigres earned their spot in dramatic fashion, not only overcoming a 3-0 Leg 1 deficit but then scoring one of the latest goals in the competition’s history to secure the 5-4 aggregate-goal victory over FC Cincinnati on Thursday.
Tigres, who are currently sixth in the Liga MX Clausura table, came out of the gates flying and had trimmed their aggregate-goal deficit to 3-2 inside the first 10 minutes. Cincinnati managed to get to halftime of Leg 2 still leading, but then Tigres scored two quick goals at the start of the second half to take a 4-3 lead.
Cincinnati weren’t ready to roll over, though, and grabbed the all-important road-goal and position themselves to advance when Kevin Denkey headed in an Evander free kick in the 65th minute.
That was looking like it might be enough until deep into second-half stoppage time when Fernando Gorriarán put his laces through a shot from the top of the box that beat Roman Celetano to the near post. At 90+8, it is the latest Concacaf Champions Cup goal since at least 2017.
That sets up a rematch of the 2012-13 Concacaf quarterfinals when the Sounders became the first MLS team to eliminate a Liga MX opponent in the competition. The Sounders dropped Leg 1 1-0 and fell behind 2-0 on aggregate before storming back to win the series 3-2 in a game that features DeAndre Yedlin’s first professional goal, an unbelievable strike by Djimi Traore and Eddie Johnson’s winner. The Sounders also beat Tigres 3-0 in the 2021 Leagues Cup quarterfinals.
Leg 1 will be held at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, Mexico with Leg 2 hosted by the Sounders. The dates and location of the Sounders’ home match have not yet been determined.
From the quarterfinals forward, hosting the second leg is determined by cumulative points from the Round of 16 forward. The Sounders and LA Galaxy are the only two teams with six points and are on opposite sides of the bracket. The Galaxy will play Toluca in the quarterfinals. The Sounders-Tigres winner will face the winner of Nashville-America in the semifinals. Nashville claimed two points in the Round of 16, while America had four.
