2019 Concacaf Champions League match recap: Santos Laguna 4 (6), New York Red Bulls 2 (2)

The New York Red Bulls looked like they were going to force Santos Laguna into penalties, but a four goal outburst in a ten minute span ensured that Red Bulls would not knock off another Mexican team on Mexican soil as they did with Club Tijuana last year.

Red Bulls would however get off to a flying start when in the third minute Daniel Royer was played in by Kakú. He’d cross it to Omir Fernandez, who would hit it past Jonathan Orozco to put Red Bulls within one on aggregate.

Marlos Moreno almost drew one back in the fifth minute when he got on the end of a Brian Lozano cross, however his attempt sailed over the bar and out of play. Red Bulls would snatch another in the seventh minute when a ball played along the touchline did not go all the way out. 22 would play it to Bradley Wright-Phillips, who would turn and center it to Royer. Royer shot it off of defender Hugo Rodríguez and into the net to draw the visitors level.

Santos would keep coming though, waving off the high press that Red Bulls have become famous for. In the 19th minute, Moreno would hit a fantastic cross that missed the head of Javier Correa by inches. In the 20th minute, Julio Furch hit a rocket from 25 yards out that just missed the mark. Moreno would hit another cross in the 22nd minute that made its way to Furch, but the lanky Argentine couldn’t redirect his shot onto net.

Red Bulls would almost get another in the 23rd when Wright-Phillips found himself with the ball and a bit of space in the box, but his shot was saved well by Jona Orozco. In the 31st it would be Santos again, with Furch getting his head on a corner kick that glanced off the top of the bar. In the 40th minute, Santos would break again when Diego Valdés played it off wide to Correa, whose shot would be blocked high into the air by Robles. Furch would go up for a header but wound up elbowing Michael Murillo in the head, earning him a yellow card.

Santos would keep going for the equalizer after he half as well. In the 50th minute, Brian Lozano would rocket a shot into the side netting. A minute later, Furch would again hit a header that would just go over the bar.

Santos would finally regain the lead in the 71st minute when captain Javier Abella would rip a shot that went into the far corner of the net.

Five minutes later Santos would double their lead when Deinner Quiñones (who had assisted on the first goal) hit a pass to Jesús Angulo. Angulo’s pass nutmegged Michael Murillo on its way to Brian Lozano, who calmly tucked the ball into the back of the net.

Santos wasn’t done though. Diego Valdés would add one in the 79th when Quiñones would recover a ball, find himself with space and time, and allowed Valdés to make a run. Quiñones would hit Valdés in stride, easily beating Robles with his shot.

Lozano would get his brace in the 81st on a shot from beyond the halfway line that caught Luis Robles way out of position.

There would be two minutes of stoppage time, but the damage had been done by Santos. They will progress on to play the winner of the Houston Dynamo - Tigres UANL series.

Santos will host Necaxa on Sunday, while Red Bulls will host Matías Almeyda and the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

Santos Laguna: Jonathan Orozco; Javier Abella, Hugo Rodríguez, Hugo Nervo, Jesús Angulo; Marlos Moreno (Deinner Quiñones, 69’), Diego Valdés, José Juan Vázquez, Brian Lozano (Gerardo Arteaga, 86’); Javier Correa, Julio Furch (Ulíses Rivas, 86’)

New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles; Tim Parker, Aaron Long, Connor Lade, Michael Murillo; Kakú (Andreas Ivan, 82’), Sean Davis, Florian Valot (Derrick Etienne, Jr., 65’), Omir Fernandez (Mathias Jørgensen, 65’); Bradley Wright-Phillips, Daniel Royer

Scoring: Santos Laguna - José Abella (72’), Brian Lozano (76’, 81’), Diego Valdés, 79’); New York Red Bulls - Omir Fernandez (4’), Daniel Royer (7’)

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - Julio Furch (Yellow - 41’); New York Red Bulls - Connor Lade (Yellow - 48’)