2022 CONCACAF Champions League Final: when and where will the second game be played?
There is still everything to play for in the second leg of the CCL final after Pumas and the Sounders played out a 2-2 draw in Mexico City.
Nicolas Lodeiro scored two late penalties as the Seattle Sounders snatched a 2-2 draw against Pumas in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final.
Trailing to a double from Juan Dinenno, Seattle battled back in Mexico City to make it honours even ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg at Lumen Field. Lodeiro’s leveller came in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
This opener at Estadio Olímpico Universitario saw Dinenno take the lead with a twice-taken penalty in the 38th minute. His first attempt was saved by Stefan Frei, but the goalkeeper was ruled to have stepped off his line.
Dinenno headed in powerfully for Pumas’ second goal in the 48th minute, but the comeback began when Seattle were awarded a penalty for a handball by Sebastian Saucedo, and Lodeiro drove home in the 77th minute. Lodeiro fired into the right corner on that occasion and was handed another spot-kick deep into stoppage time.
Cristian Roldan was judged to have been fouled on the right side of the penalty area by veteran defender Efrain Velarde, and Lodeiro chose to go the same way, again beating goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera with a powerful strike.
Return leg
Despite the evolution of soccer in the US, no MLS team has ever won this regional version of the Champions League since the competition was restructured and rebranded as the CONCACAF Champions League in 2008 with the first leg result presenting the Seattle side an excellent opportunity to buck this trend.
The second leg gets underway at Lumen Field (formerly Century Link field) next Wednesday with the 72,000 capacity arena being shared by NFL franchise Seattle Seahawks and the MLS side Sounders. The action gets underway at 7:00 (PT) with the MLS team hoping to fill the stadium for a historic night in the club’s history. A big “f’ing deal” is how the club from Washington State are selling the game to fans !