Mikael Uhre knocked in a goal off a corner kick in the 94th minute, lifting the 10-man Philadelphia Union past Costa Rica’s Saprissa on Tuesday in the conclusion of a CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round series at Chester, Pa.
Saprissa leveled the two-match, total-goals series at 5-5 by outscoring Philadelphia 3-2 in regulation on Tuesday.
Heading into extra time, the Union went down to 10 men when Jack Elliott was issued a straight red card for a tackle on Javon East that broke up a Saprissa counterattack.
Uhre got the winner off a Jack McGlynn corner kick that bounced through the goalmouth. Uhre was alone at the back post to tap in a shot.
Saprissa’s Luis Paradela opened the scoring on a 14th-minute penalty kick. Goals from Julian Carranza (17th minute) and Quinn Sullivan (26th minute) put the Union up 5-3 on aggregate before the visitors rallied.
Warren Madrigal halved the deficit in the 28th minute. In the 62nd minute, Saprissa’s Mariano Torres curled in a free kick to the far post from just outside the penalty area, leveling the aggregate score at 5-5.
The Union advance to oppose Pachuca, with matches on March 5 in Chester and March 12 in Mexico.
Orlando City 3, Cavalry FC 1
Three second-half goals allowed the Lions to wrap up a 6-1 aggregate victory over the Calgary-based visitors in a first-round CONCACAF Champions Cup series.
Nicolas Lodeiro opened the scoring for Orlando City in the 48th minute before Myer Bevan gave Cavalry its first tally of the series 16 minutes later.
Goals from Ramiro Enrique (71st minute) and Kyle Smith (88th minute) sealed the outcome.
Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja said, “We achieved a lot today with rotating different players, trying to time our week that is, as you know, difficult with the game coming and we just played last Saturday here. So, I’m happy with the group.”
The Lions advance to face Tigres UANL in the round of 16. The first leg will be played in Orlando next week, and the second leg will be played in San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico, the following week.
In later action Tuesday night, the host Houston Dynamo were due to complete their series against St. Louis City.
Dynamo 1, St. Louis City 0
Halftime substitute Erik Sviatchenko scored the only goal in the 60th minute, and host Houston advanced thanks to the away-goals tiebreaker.
St. Louis City prevailed 2-1 at home last week in the opening leg, so the series wound up level at 2-2.
On the decisive play, Sviatchenko nodded down a long cross in the box and played a quick 1-2 with Daniel Steres. Taking the return pass, Sviatchenko drove in a left-footed shot from 12 yards out.
The Dynamo advance to meet the reigning MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew in the round of 16. The first leg will be played in Houston on March 5, with the second leg set for Columbus on March 12.
–Field Level Media
