Following a torrential downpour, Tigres UANL beat Nashville SC 1-0 in the first leg of the their Concacaf Champions Cup semi-final.
Scorers: Correa 33′
Hany Mukhtar thought he had given Nashville an early lead, but his header was quickly ruled out for offside.
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Later in the half, Cristian Espinoza watched as his powerful strike was tipped over the crossbar by Nahuel Guzmán. On the other end, Brian Schwake extended his leg to deny Juan Brunetta from point-blank range.
But moments later, Ángel Correa popped the ball up on the edge of the box and fired a sublime volley off Schwake’s outstretched arm and into the top corner.
The former Atlético de Madrid man bursted away in celebration as the visitors took a crucial lead, with the away goals in rule in play.
Both sides continued to create chances in the second-half, but neither goalkeeper was seriously threatened.
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Ultimately, while there wasn’t much it, Tigres will head back to Mexico with a 1-0 lead on aggregate. The Liga MX side have still yet to lose a semi-final first-leg in this competition (six matches unbeaten), going back to 2008.
Meanwhile, in the absence of Sam Surridge, Nashville will need to find goals if they want to turn this tie around.
The winner of next week’s second-leg will face either LAFC or Toluca in the Concacaf Champions Cup final.
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