Seattle, WA- Following a 5-2 Aggregate win over Santa Tecla FC in the 2018 Scotia Bank CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16, Sounders FC headed back to the Champions League Wednesday in the first leg of the quarterfinals against Mexican giant Chivas Guadalajara. Wednesday’s quarterfinals match marked the fourth appearance in five total Champions League appearances for the Sounders.
The first forty-five minutes of Wednesday’s match saw both clubs come out very physical with tons of aggression. Seattle had four shots on target but couldn’t connect. While Chivas had two shots on target that couldn’t connect. Both clubs had five fouls in the first half of an excellent first forty-five minutes. Seventeen minutes into the match Sounders defender Román Torres received a yellow card. In the forty-second minute goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota received a yellow card, after exchanging words with the referee after he felt that a foul should have been called on a Sounders corner kick.
Entering the second half, we saw the same physical play from both clubs, in the sixty-eighth minute of the match, Chivas received its first yellow card of the game and another one coming in the seventy-first minute. The Sounders would pick up another yellow card just before the end of regulation. Midfielder Clint Dempsey provided the lone goal for the Sounders as they will head to Guadalajara for Leg 2 with a 1-0 lead. Chivas had five shots that were on target in the second half but just couldn’t connect, while the Sounders had six goals on target with the lone goal scored in the seventy-eighth minute of the match.
The Sounders head to Guadalajara for the second leg of the quarterfinals next Wednesday, March 14th. Seattle then returns to MLS regular-season action against FC Dallas on Sunday, March 19th.
