Uruguayan Rodrigo Aguirre scored twice to lead Tigres UANL’s attack as they defeated Canada’s Forge FC 4-1 to qualify for the round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
In his debut with Los Regios, Aguirre scored twice, while Argentine world champion Ángel Correa and Brazilian Joaquim scored once. Brian Wright scored for the Forge.
Aguirre breaks the balance
After a goalless draw in the first leg, the Forge went out to score as visitors, a decisive criterion in the event of a tie in the series.
They pressed, although without creating danger in the opponent’s area.
Tigres was patient and in the 22nd minute took the lead with a goal by Aguirre on a pass from his compatriot Fernando Gorriarán in a play initiated by Ozziel Herrera.
Forge came out in the second half looking for a goal that would have qualified them at that point.
In the 51st minute, Hoce Massunda reached the area and created danger.
Tigres stepped up a gear: in minute 63, Brazilian Joaquim shot wide from a corner kick.
He narrowly missed, but in the 71st minute, Aguirre made it 2-0 when he accepted a ball from Diego Laínez and shot a left-footed shot into the corner.
Tigres reacts to the penalty
When Tigres were doing better, Marcelo Flores committed a handball in the area, resulting in a penalty.
It was converted in the 80th minute by Brian Wright, who made it 2-1 and brought the Canadians back to within one goal of qualification.
A minute later, Flores made up for his mistake. He got hold of a ball and gave it to Correa, scorer of the 3-1.
Tigres went for more and, from a corner kick, Joaquím scored with a right-footed shot.
In the round of 16, the Tigers will face the best of the series between Cincinnati and Dominican O&M University.
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In his debut with Tigres, Aguirre scored twice
QuéOnnda.com
4. Tigres UANL: Nahuel Guzmán; Jesús Angulo, Joaquim, Vladimir Loroña (Osvaldo Rodríguez, minute 72), Jesús Garza; Ángel Correa, Juan Brunetta (César Araújo, minute 62), Fernando Gorriarán, Ozziel Herrera (Marcelo Flores, minute 62), Diego Lainez (Diego Sánchez, minute 87); Rodrigo Aguirre (André Pierre Gignac, minute 71).
Coach: Guido Pizarro.
Forge FC: Dimitry Bertaud; Daniel Nimick, Marko Jeremovic, Antoine Batisse, Kyle Bekker (Kevaughn Tavernier, m.86); Anthony Aromatario, Tristan Borges (Noah Jansen, m.66), Ben Paton (Maxime Filion, m.81), Rezart Rama; Hoce Massunda (Mo Babouli, m.64), Ismael Oketokoun (Brian Wright, m.64).
Coach: Bobby Smyrniotis.
Goals: 1-0, minute 22: Rodrigo Aguirre. 2-0, 71st minute: Rodrigo Aguirre. 2-1, 80th minute: Brian Wright. 3-1, minute 81: Ángel Correa. 4-1, 86th minute: Joaquim.
Referee: Juan Calderón, from Costa Rica. Yellow cards for Ismael Oketokoun; Ángel Correa and Fernando Gorriarán.
Incidents: Second leg of the first round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, held at Monterrey’s Estadio Universitario in front of nearly 23,000 fans.
With information from EFE
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