Time for Wednesday's matches in the Champions League:
Toronto FC 0-1 Puerto Rico Islanders F
San Francisco 2-0 San Juan Jabloteh F
Liberia 3-0 Real España F
Commentary after the jump.
And that's it for tonight's matches. Some newcomers to the Champions League had an easier time of it than others, and all of the winners have a strong advantage heading into the return legs next week. For MLS, it's all up to the Red Bulls tomorrow night...MLS is so screwed. We'll find out tomorrow.
That's an impressive victory by the debutants, who now have a very comfortable cushion heading into the return match in San Pedro Sula next week.
2106: FULL TIME Liberia 3-0 Real España
2105: GOAL Liberia 3-0 Real España (88')
That's Alejandro Alpízar's second, and that should be curtains for Real España. (The timing's not precise; the website I was using took a long time to update.
2051: RED CARD Real España (84')
José Carlos Díaz has received a straight red. Out for the second leg, too -- that's a big blow to the Honduran side.
2042: GOAL Liberia 2-0 Real España (75')
Alejandro Alpízar, the ex-Saprissa striker, scores his first goal for Liberia, and that goal should make the Costa Rican champions comfortable going into the second leg.
2033: I thought both evening matches were starting at the same time, but this report from Panama's RPC-TV says that the San Francisco-Jabloteh match is over.
2019: From what I'm reading, Real España have more of the ball but not able to create real scoring opportunities.
2012: And CONCACAF's Champions League website, despite having a very nice design, doesn't do live updates!! Whaaaa?!!??
2011: Second half has kicked off in Costa Rica. It should have resumed in Panama as well, but I can't find confirmation.
1958: I'm looking for updates from San Francisco-Jabloteh...as soon as I find it I'll revise the score. They should be at the half by now.
1958: HALFTIME Liberia 1-0 Real España
1957: Wide shot from Guío that really should have been Liberia's second. And that's halftime.
1952: The aurinegros nearly got an equalizer through Andino, but a good save and clearance kept the scoreline at 1-0.
1944: GOAL Liberia 1-0 Real España (32')
Penalty to Liberia Mía after Nery Medina handled in the area. Michael Umaña converted the spot-kick.
1927: The Central American websites that I'm using to follow the matches say that Estadio Morera Soto is almost empty. Ok, so Liberia weren't allowed to play home matches at their stadium?
1915: I was looking around to see if tonight's matches were on my satellite system. Appears not. Darn. I'm pretty sure both matches have kicked off.
Talk about letting an opportunity go to waste. Toronto FC had most of the possession and dead-ball opportunities but couldn't convert any of their chances. The Islanders, thanks to a fantastic strike by Kendall Jagdeosingh, will leave Canada with a huge advantage. The miserable run of MLS in the Champions League continues.
1900: FULL TIME Toronto FC 0-1 Puerto Rico Islanders
1858: Free kick to TFC, took a deflection off an Islander player and cleared away.
1858: Long ball by DeRo to Gerba...bumping around and falling in the box...that's not a penalty. No way.
1856: Free kick to Puerto Rico in midfield. Into the second minute of stoppage time. But why a long ball to no one in particular??
1855: Time for Gaudette to shine. DeRo puts in a ball on the right side, diving header by Dichio...GREAT HAND SAVE GAUDETTE!
1854: Puerto Rico are doing a better job of knocking the ball out of the final third...but possession goes right back to Toronto again.
1853: Big save by Gaudette on Brennan's hot shot from the left side!
1849: Finally, a free kick to TFC about 30 yards from goal. DeRo puts in a hard strike, but it flies just over the crossbar. And now it's time for Danny Dichio to enter the match with five minutes remaining.
1847: Puerto Rico look a lot more dangerous in their counterattacks than TFC do in their long buildups.
1846: Into the last ten minutes.
1843: Nice ball to DeRosario inside the area, and he's free for a moment onto goal. Gaudette gets to the ball first as DeRo crunches into him. Massive hysterics in the Toronto crowd as Gaudette rolls around hurt and asks for the equipment manager to bring him a new pair of gloves. The manager takes a long while to get there, but Gaudette gets his gloves and a yellow card from the referee.
1841: Controversial moment -- Gerba flagged for offside. It looked very close, but the replay showed that he was clearly behind the line of the final Islanders' defender.
1840: Toronto have had more of the ball after the goal. Shame that they don't know what to do with it when they get near the penalty area.
I had to run some errands after work, and my computer had an automatic update that required a restart (never fails!), so while I was waiting I saw the Puerto Rico goal. Fantastic goal - long ball to the endline outside the penalty area, a collision between Frei and Kendall Jagdeosingh, and Jagdeosingh finishes high into the top corner for a very acute angle. Absolutely fabulous.
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