2019 Concacaf Champions League match recap: Santos Laguna 3 (3), Tigres UANL 2 (5)

Santos staged a late comeback but were ultimately unable to overcome ceding two early goals to Tigres, winning the match 3-2 but losing 5-3 on aggregate.

Santos started the match out strong and with necessary urgency. They pressed forward often, not letting Tigres get set or comfortable on the ball. Tigres was able to break on occasion however. Enner Valencia came racing down the left flank in the ninth minute, but his cross was cleared out with a dramatic sliding clearance.

Valencia would get Tigres on the board moments later when hewas played through, beating the offside trap. This drew goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco off of his line, and Valencia deked around him and calmly slotted the ball home.

Santos would immediately come back and threaten. Julio Furch and Marlos Moreno both attempted a shot on the same ball, and it shot just wide of the net. Moments later Furch would be unmarked in the box and get a bouncing ball in, but his attempt was stopped by goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán. A minute later at the other end, Julián Quiñones would get a good ball in and hit a shot that rang off of the post and out.

In the 21st minute, Diego Valdés would hit a shot from distance that would whistle just wide of the net. Tigres would double their lead in the 34th when Julián Quiñones made a fantastic move down the left and shot past Jona Orozco.

Santos would pull one back in the 41st when Julio Furch was able to come up with a loose ball and hit it true.

Tigres would hit another post in the 55th minute on a Quiñones shot, but it too would deflect out wide. Julio Furch would get another in the 60th minute when he got a touch off of a header from a corner kick.

Santos’ hopes would be further bolstered in the 77th minute when Diego Valdés was able to capitalize on a rare mistake from Nahuel Guzmán to give Santos a third goal.

Santos would have an opportunity to grab a fourth in stoppage time when they were awarded a penalty, but Javier Correa’s shot smashed off of the crossbar and out, and the referee blew his whistle to end the match.

Tigres advances to play the winner of the Monterrey - Sporting Kansas City bracket (Monterrey has a 5-0 lead) at the end of April. They’ll head to Puebla to face Lobos BUAP in Liga MX play on Sunday, while Santos heads to Monterrey to play Rayados on Sunday as well.

Santos Laguna: Jonathan Orozco; Gerardo Arteaga; Hugo Nervo, Hugo Rodríguez (Carlos Orrantía, 73’), José Abella; Marlos Moreno (Jesús Angulo, 46’), José Juan Vázquez, Diego Valdés, Brian Lozano (Deinner Quiñones, 63’); Julio Furch, Javier Correa

Tigres UANL: Nahuel Guzmán; Jesús Dueñas, Carlos Salcedo, Hugo Ayala, Luis Rodríguez; Rafael Carioca (Jorge Torres Nilo, 73’), Guido Pizarro; Luis Quiñones (Javier Aquino, 65’), Eduardo Vargas (Francisco Meza, 78’), Julián Quiñones; Enner Valencia

Scoring: Santos Laguna - Julio Furch (41’, 60’), Diego Valdés (76’); Tigres UANL - Enner Valencia (11’), Julián Quiñones (34’)

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - Diego Valdés (Yellow - 6’), Brian Lozano (Yellow - 27’), Gerardo Arteaga (Yellow - 70’); Tigres UANL - Luis Quiñones (Yellow - 58’)