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Team-by-team Chicago
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CONCACAF Galaxy ties Motagua 2-2 in Champions Cup; San Jose, Columbus lose opening Round-of-16 legs.TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Sunday, March 16, 2003) -- Midfielder Amado Guevara scored five minutes from time, giving host Motagua a 2-2 draw with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy to open a two-game CONCACAF Champions Cup Round-of-16 series before an estimated 20,000 at Estadio Nacional tonight. Two other MLS teams dropped their openers on the road tonight. The San Jose Earthquakes fell 4-2 to CSD Municipal of Guatemala while the Columbus Crew lost 2-1 to Deportivo Arabe Unido of Panama. The New England Revolution does not open its series with LD Alajuelense in Costa Rica until next Sunday. Striker Carlos Ruiz and defender Alexi Lalas scored tonight for the Galaxy which will advance to the quarterfinals by defeating Motagua at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif. next Sunday. Should the teams tie, 30 minutes of sudden death will be played to decide the series with penalty kicks used as a tiebreaker should no one score. Ruiz put L.A. ahead 1-0In the 21st minute, finishing a cross from forward Chris Albright cross with a header into the top corner. Seven minutes later, Motagua's Panamanian striker Carlos de Leon converted a penalty kick to tie matter at 1-1 after Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall was whistled for a hand ball in the box. Los Angeles reclaimed a 2-1 lead in the 62nd minute on Lalas' opportunistic goal. South Korean defender Hong Myung Bo played a precise long ball for Ruiz who fired a low shot on goal. Goalkeeper Noel Valladares made a diving save, but Lalas quickly pounced on the loose ball and found net. In the 85th minute, Guevara put away a cross from the right wing by reserve forward Marlon Ivan Nolasco. Both sides had players sent off. Ruiz received his second yellow card, this one for dissent, in the 80th minute and was ejected. Soon after, Motagua defender Jorge Lozano was gone for a dangerous play against L.A. midfielder Simon Elliott. CSD Municipal 4, San Jose Earthquakes 2 GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala -- CSD Municipal scored three times in the final 15 minutes of the first half, the first two goals coming from midfielder Gonzalo Romero, and defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 in the Champions Cup Round of 16 at Estadio Mateo Flores.
San Jose, which trailed 4-0 after 53 minutes, will host the return leg March 23 at Spartan Stadium. "We are very disappointed with the result and it was a very frustrating day for the players and staff. It was hard to go through 90 minutes like that," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "We gave ourselves a chance (to win the series)with those two second-half goals. . . . We know what we have to do at home and we are going to come out to get the result we need." After an evenly matched first 30 minutes, Municiapal struck with Romero beating goalkeeper Pat Onstad, making his Earthquakes debut, with a well-placed free kick into a top corner in the 30th minute. Seven minutes later, Onstad knocked down a cross from Denis Chen, but Romero was there to put away the rebound In the 40th minute, Carlos Figueroa slipped behind the San Jose defense and chipped the ball over Onstad to make it 3-0. Just before halftime, San Jose midfielder Brian Mullan created two chances. On the first, he carried by two defenders before hitting a shot with the outside of his right foot that was saved by Municipal keeper Josue Ortiz. Moments later, Mullan half-volleyed a cross from midfielder Manny Lagos, but the shot skidded wide. Mullan had another good chance shortly after intermission. He took a pass from Lagos and beat his defender before driving a low shot that saves, coming off his line. In the 53rd minute, the Quakes were called for a penalty kick that they protested after Romero again got behind the defense. Romero beat Onstad to his right and as the goalkeeper reached out for the ball, Romero went down while Craig Waibel cleared the ball away. Selvyn Ponciano made the ensuing penalty kick, but the referee ordered a re-kick after a Municipal player entered the penalty area early. Ponciano buried his second chance for a 4-0 advantage. Lagos started the Quakes comeback with a strong finish in the 61st minute. Forward Landon Donovan found defender Richard Mulrooney outside the box and Mulrooney chipped a ball over the defense for Lagos, who slotted his shot into a corner to narrow the deficit to 4-1. Eleven minutes later, Lagos struck again with Donovan providing the assist. Ramiro Corrales slid a pass to Donovan who flicked a ball over the defense and Lagos used his first touch to beat Ortiz and make it 4-2. "We came to a hostile environment and we didn't react very well," Lagos said. "We missed some chances and we had some lapses that cost us. We have to learn from games like these and get better. "I thought we were going to score again and we created some great chances, but we weren't able to get it any closer. However, I think that we have the ability to overcome this loss in the next leg and win this series." Two red cards in the final minutes dimmed any San Jose comeback hopes, turning a one-man advantage into a 10-to-nine disadvantage. Defender Troy Dayak was sent off in the 79th minute, receiving his second yellow card for dissent. Mulrooney's ejection came soon after for a second yellow card. Municipal's Figueroa was sent off in the 59th minute for a hard tackle on defender Jeff Agoos. "We had some tough calls go against us, like the penalty and the red cards, but Municipal played a good game and they played very well in the first half," Yallop said. "We didn't defend well all afternoon, but they didn't defend us very well either. Both sides had a lot of great opportunities." Deportivo Arabe Unido 2, Columbus Crew 1 COLON, Panama - Julio Medina scored in the 65th minute to send Deportivo Arabe Unido to a 2-1 decision over the visiting Columbus Crew in the first leg of the Champions Cup Round-of-16 series. The two teams will meet at Columbus Crew Stadium next Sunday to complete the series. Medina collected a rebound off a shot by Manuel Torres in the 62nd minute to take the lead for good at 2-1. In the seventh minute, Blas Perez beat the Crew defense and was awarded a penalty kick in the seventh minute after a collision in the box with Crew goalkeeper Jon Busch. Agustin Salinas converted to put Unido up 1-0. The Crew was dealt a blow when striker Jeff Cunningham was shown a red card for throwing an elbow at an opposing defender in the 55th minute. Yet, four minutes later, Columbus forward Edson Buddle put away a serve from midfielder Kyle Martino to even things at 1-1. |
