OneFootball
Adam Booker·9. April 2025
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Adam Booker·9. April 2025
A pair of Concacaf Champions Cup quarter-finals will be wrapped up this evening in Mexico.
Here is what went down in North America's continental competition.
Scorers: Sepúlveda 12', 85' ; Fidalgo 57'
Cruz Azul stunned América in the dying minutes to set up another all Mexican showdown with Tigres in the semi-final.
The tension was palpable as two Liga MX rivals squared off for the second-leg in Mexico City, and the pressure appeared to get to the América defenders early in the second half.
A pair of defensive mistakes allowed Cruz Azul in with a chance, and Ángel Sepúlveda took advantage with a cool finish to break the deadlock in the tie.
With the away goals advantage in their back pocket, América looked set to batten down the hatches and book their ticket to the next round, but Ángel Sepúlveda had other ideas.
The veteran striker carved out a bit of space in the box to rise above the América defense and head home a dramatic winner for Cruz Azul.
Scorers: Ibañez 9', Antuna 10', Zwarg 57' ; Paintsil 40', Garcés 60'
Despite a late comeback from the Galaxy, Tigres held on to book their ticket to the semi-final.
Tigres could not have dreamed of a better start on the night after stuttering in front of goal in the first-leg.
In a 60 seconds that LA Galaxy fans will want to forget quickly, Tigres nabbed two goals to blow the doors off the tie and take a commanding lead.
After conceding first inside 10 minutes, the Galaxy somehow allowed their Mexican hosts to steal in and double their lead straight from the kick-off.
But the cat was truly put amongst the pigeons when Joseph Paintsil nabbed a goal for the Galaxy thanks to a defensive howler, cutting the deficit in half and reigniting the tie.
Their comeback attempt sputtered after the break however, as Rômulo Zwarg popped up with a header from defense to extend Tigres' lead back to two, and potentially kill off the gutsy Galaxy.
But gutsy they were, responding superbly with a headed goal of their own, despite major protests from the home side for a foul on the goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán.
A miraculous turnaround was not to be for the visitors however, as Tigres held on, fending off the late comeback to book their ticket to last-four.
📸 Hector Vivas - 2025 Getty Images