América edge Philadelphia, Las Águilas into quarter-finals | OneFootball

América struggled more than expected, but secured a ticket to the Quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup.

This was América's lineup: Rodolfo Cota, Kevin Álvarez, Israel Reyes, Sebastián Cáceres, Cristian Borja, Rodrigo Dourado, Erick Sánchez, Raphael Veiga, Alejandro Zendejas, Brian Rodríguez, and Patricio Salas.

5′ GOAL FOR AMÉRICA – Header by Rodrigo Dourado assisted by Raphael Veiga.

21′ Goal disallowed for América – Tremendous assist by Patricio Salas to Alejandro Zendejas, who finished excellently against the opposing goalkeeper, but the referee disallowed it for a millimetric offside.

36′ Close for América! – Counterattack by América ended with ‘Pato’ Salas in front of the goal, but he decided to try to assist Zendejas instead of shooting, and the defense read the play well.

Very good first half by América, they absolutely dominated the match, did not allow the opponent a single shot on goal, and if not for the lack of finishing, the score should have been wider.

45′ Substitution – Out: Sebastián Cáceres – In: Ramón Juárez.

48′ Goal by Philadelphia Union – An error by Alejandro Zendejas in defense resulted in a penalty for the opponent, which they used to equalize the match.

A match that América had completely under control ended up becoming complicated due to that naive penalty; the opponent couldn't find a way to cause damage, but after equalizing the match, they began to create dangerous plays in the area defended by Cota.

70′ Substitutions – Out: Patricio Salas, Brian Rodríguez, and Alejandro Zendejas – In: Vinícius Lima, José Zúñiga, and Thiago Espinosa.

85′ Substitution – Out: Raphael Veiga – In: Jonathan dos Santos.

It's unbelievable how they complicated the second half; constantly defending, without a single shot on goal, and with the opponent very close to scoring the winning goal.

In the end, they managed to advance, but they suffered more than necessary against an opponent they had dominated in the first 45 minutes.

Their opponent in the quarterfinals will be Nashville SC, who comes from eliminating Inter Miami.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.