Big week in the Champions League as 4 of 8 group winners were decided following the results of this week's matches. Pachuca, Montreal, DC United and Herediano all clinched berths to the quarterfinals while big clubs León and the New York Red Bulls were eliminated from the competition. Here's a rundown of all the week's matches.
TUESDAY
Sporting KC 3 Real Estelí 0
Claudio Bieler scored a pair of goals and Sal Zizzo scored one as Sporting turned in a dominant performance at home to defeat Real Estelí 3-0. Sporting dominated possession holding the ball for nearly 2/3 of the match while outshooting their opponents 17-7. Eric Kronberg made 3 saves to earn the shutout. With the win, Sporting pulls three points ahead of idle Saprissa with next month's showdown in Costa Rica all that remains on the schedule. Sporting defeated Saprissa 3-1 behind a pair of Toni Dovale goals last week.
Portland Timbers 6 Alpha United 0
The Timbers improved to 3-0-0 in the tournament with a decisive 6-0 win over Alpha United. Alpha United finish the tournament with 4 losses and were outscored in their group 17-1. Portland got goals from Jack Jewsbury, Gaston Fernandez, Michael Nanchoff, Fanendo Adi and a pair from defender Norberto Paparatto. Portland has a 3-point lead over Olimpia who they'll face in Honduras next month. When the two sides met in Portland last week, the Timbers upended them 4-2 behind a pair of Maximiliano Urruti goals. Ten different Timbers have accounted for Portland's fourteen goals through their first three matches.
WEDNESDAY
Pachuca 4 Municipal 1
Pachuca scored the match's first four goals and they cruised to a comfortable win over Municipal and clinched a berth in the quarterfinals. Diego De Buen opened the scoring with a penalty, followed by goals from Ariel Nahuelpan, Diego Buonanotte and Jürgen Damm. Osmar López provided a second half strike to get Municipal on the board, but Carlos Ruiz's club couldn't muster anything more as they were eliminated from the competition.
DC United 2 Tauro FC 0
Chris Pontius broke a scoreless tie shortly after halftime and Eddie Johnson added an insurance goal as Joe Willis and DC United shut out Tauro FC 2-0 to clinch first place in Group 4 and grab a berth to the quarterfinals. Pontius, who scored 12 goals in 2012, has appeared just twice for United in league play this year logging 53 minutes. Samuel Inkoom, who made his MLS debut for United last week, assisted on both goals.
New York Red Bulls 0 CD FAS 0
Saër Sène badly missed a penalty in the first half, and New York struggled to create any additional scoring chances as they gift-wrapped a quarterfinal berth to the Impact. Playing without Thierry Henry, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Tim Cahill, the Red Bulls made it clear their priority wasn't the Champion's League, and as a result, the Impact are going through. Ryan Meara made a pair of saves to earn the shutout.
Herediano 2 León 1
Herediano avoided blowing another late lead this time despite conceding a goal in the last five minutes as they held on to eliminate León from the competition with a 2-1 win. Gabriel Gomez, who has participated in 5 Gold Cup tournaments for Panama, scored early and Esteban Granados tacked on an insurance goal midway through the second half to propel the late addition to the tournament on through to the quarterfinals. Elias Hernandez scored a late goal for León, but it was too little too late and they became the first Mexican club eliminated from the competition.
THURSDAY
Comunicaciones 2 Bayamon FC
Bayamon turned in their best performance of the tournament, but still fell to Comunicaciones 2-0. "El Moyo" Contreras scored less than 20 minutes into the match and Comunicaciones forced an own goal late as the Guatemalan side set up a showdown with front runners América next month. The two clubs drew 1-1 when they met in August, but this time they'll be facing off in Mexico City.
Alajuelense 1 Chorrillo FC 1
Alajuelense moved into first place in Group 6 after playing Chorrillo FC to a 1-1 draw last night. They now get to host defending champions Cruz Azul needing only a draw to advance to the quarterfinals. Kenner Gutierrez scored Alajuelense's lone goal, while Sergio Moreno equalized for Chorrillo.
MATCH DAY 6 SLATE
10/21 - Group 4 - Tauro FC vs DC United - DC won first meeting 2-0
10/21 - Group 4 - Olimpia vs Portland Timbers - Portland won first meeting 4-2
10/21 - Group 6 - Alajuelense vs Cruz Azul - Team tied first meeting 1-1
10/21 - Group 8 - América vs Comunicaciones - Team tied first meeting 1-1
10/22 - Group 1 - Real España vs Pachuca - Pachuca won first meeting 4-1
10/22 - Group 3 - New York Red Bulls vs Montreal Impact - Montreal won first meeting 1-0
10/23 - Group 2 - Saprissa vs Sporting Kansas City - Sporting won first meeting 3-1
10/23 - Group 7 - León vs Isidro Metapán - León won first meeting 4-2
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