Nashville SC put themselves in prime position to advance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup after defeating Atletico Ottawa 2-0 in Tuesday’s first-leg matchup in Hamilton, Ontario. Goals from Woobens Pacius and Sam Surridge in the second half gave the MLS side a crucial away victory.
The return leg of this two-match series is scheduled for February 24th in Nashville. Whichever team progresses will meet defending MLS Cup champions Inter Miami in the tournament’s round of 16 stage next month.
Nashville broke through in the 66th minute when Pacius finished off a well-constructed attack along the left side. The play involved Josh Bauer, Warren Madrigal, and Alex Muyl before Matthew Corcoran delivered a pass into the box, where Pacius created space and fired a 14-yard right-footed strike into the lower left corner.
The visitors secured their advantage deep into stoppage time through a swift counterattack. When Ottawa’s keeper rushed forward but couldn’t reach the ball, Nashville’s Cristian Espinoza squared it across to Surridge, who had an easy finish into the empty goal.
Los Angeles FC 6, Real Espana 1
Denis Bouanga scored three goals to lead LAFC to a dominant 6-1 victory over Real Espana in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in their first-leg encounter.
The Black and Gold will welcome Real Espana for the return match on February 24th, virtually guaranteed a spot in the round of 16 where they would face Costa Rica’s Alajuelense.
Bouanga opened the scoring just three minutes in from the penalty spot. David Martinez extended the lead in the 11th minute, curling his shot into the upper left corner to cap off a counterattack initiated by Son Heung-Min.
Two more penalty conversions followed in quick succession, with Son finding the net in the 22nd minute and Bouanga scoring his second in the 24th minute for a 4-0 advantage. Timothy Tillman added a clever back-heel finish in the 39th minute to make it 5-0.
Real Espana managed to get on the scoreboard through Jack Jean-Baptiste in the 51st minute, but Bouanga wrapped up his hat trick with a close-range effort in the 71st minute to complete the rout.
