MEXICO CITY (AP) — Sebastián Córdova and Colombian Luis Quiñones scored goals within three minutes of the first half and Tigres came from behind to defeat León 2-1 on Tuesday night in the first leg of the the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Chilean Víctor Dávila put the visitors in front after five minutes, but Córdova leveled at 45. Quiñones completed the somersault three minutes after stoppage time.
Tigres, who are looking for their second title of this tournament, could advance to the final with a draw in the second leg that will take place next week in León.
La Fiera is not liquidated and thanks to the away goal it scored, it would have access to the first final in its history in the championship with a 1-0 victory.
The winner of this series will face the winner of the other semifinal between Mexican Carlos Vela’s LAFC and the Philadelphia Union, which starts on Wednesday.
Tigres, led by the Uruguayan Robert Dante Siboldi, is in its fifth semifinal of the regional tournament and has won the last four, although it only won one title in 2020 to play the Club World Cup.
Of those semifinals, the university students left out Mexican teams in the 2015-16 edition (Querétaro) and Santos (2019).
Siboldi replaced Marco Antonio Ruiz, fired after the team lost four consecutive games in Liga MX.
This was the first of three duels in a week between the two teams, which, in addition to the two for the semifinals, have a match on the weekend for the last date of the Clausura tournament.
León took the lead when Dávila took a rebound outside the area and finished with a left foot so that the ball entered the left post of the goal defended by the Argentine Nahuel Guzmán.
As the first half expired, Córdova received a pass from Quiñones and fired a left-footed volley to overcome Rodolfo Cota’s throw.
In the first half overtime, Quiñones converted with a left-footed shot inside the area that left Cota without a chance.