Raul Ruidíaz scored on a deflected shot late in the first half, added a second goal on a perfect counterattack in the 80th minute and the seattle probes hit cougars 3-0 on Wednesday night to win the CONCACAF Champions League title.
The Sounders became the first Major League Soccer team to claim the club team championship in North, Central America and the Caribbean since the current format was adopted in 2008. Seattle was the fifth MLS team to reach to the final and the first to finish the final. homework.
Raúl Ruidíaz drives the Sounders to victory in the CONCACAF Champions League
Seattle Sounders beat Pumas, 5-2 on aggregate, with the help of two goals from Raúl Ruidíaz in the 45th and 80th minutes on Wednesday night
Nicolás Lodeiro added a final point in the 88th minute with his third goal of the final after scoring both of Seattle’s goals on penalties in last week’s first leg in Mexico City as the teams tied 2-2. The title earned Seattle a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup and added to an already full trophy cabinet that includes US Open Cup titles, an MLS Fans’ Shield and two titles. of the MLS Cup.
Officially, Seattle won the two-game final, 5-2. But since away goals are not a tiebreaker in the final, whoever won the second leg in Seattle would be the champion.
Nicolás Lodeiro scores in the CONCACAF Champions League final
Nicolás Lodeiro hits the rebound into the back of the net in the 87th minute to give the Seattle Sounders a 3-0 lead over Pumas UNAM.
Ruidíaz gave Seattle the lead in the 45th minute. His shot inside the penalty area was deflected by Pumas striker Diogo and caught goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera moving in the wrong direction. He kicked off a celebration with most of the record crowd of 68,761 cheering wildly enough to rock Lumen Field.
The second goal was even better. Accurate passes from Jordan Morris to Lodeiro and then Ruidíaz put the striker in perfect position to beat Talavera.
Lodeiro’s goal just added to the party and the 3-0 win was the largest margin of victory in any CCL final.
The teams were tied 2-2 after a wild first leg. Pumas took a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of goals from Juan Dinenno, the tournament’s top scorer. Seattle came from behind after two Lodeiro penalty goals to tie and simplify the second leg. The second of Lodeiro’s two goals in Mexico City came in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
But Dinenno was mostly quiet in the second leg. His best chance was a free kick midway through the second half that missed the net. Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei made an excellent save on a free header from Diogo in the 65th minute.
Frei was named overall player of the tournament.
Seattle managed to finish where Real Salt Lake (2011), Montreal (2015), Toronto (2018) and LAFC (2020) all fell short in the past as MLS teams reaching the finals. Real Salt Lake and Montreal returned home after drawing ties along the way against LigaMX opponents, only to be beaten on home turf.
Seattle finished the tournament undefeated in all eight knockout phase matches and went 2-0-2 against LigaMX clubs after beating León in the quarterfinals.
Associated Press report.
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Soccer – CCL – Seattle Sounders FC vs. Cougars – 5/5/2022