USA wins; USL loses; Champions League™ quarterfinal contenders winnowed

October 12, 2008

A team from USA’s Major League Soccer finally won. A team from the United Soccer Leagues finally lost. And the Montreal Impact moved to the brink of the quarterfinals.

The fourth round of the CONCACAF Champions League™ group phase began to show some separation between the teams, most notably the Impact, which won on the road for a second straight week and moved within a draw of the final eight.

The other three groups all had three teams within two points of the lead with two rounds of games remaining.

The Houston Dynamo closed within a point of Group B leader Pumas UNAM, getting an 88th-minute strike from distance by second-half substitute Dwayne DeRosario to beat San Francisco FC 2:1 on Tuesday and end MLS’ 10-game winless streak in the competition.

Pumas and Firpo drew 1:1 in San Salvador on Thursday, leaving the Salvadoran side two points back. San Francisco lost its second straight away from home and remained last with two points.

Club Santos Laguna ended the Puerto Rico Islanders five-game unbeaten streak in the Champions League™, 3:0, the second consecutive victory for the Mexican side and pulling it within a point of the Group D lead.

Besides ruining the Islanders’ unblemished record, it also halted the 10-game unbeaten run of teams from the USL, the second-division of North American soccer. Montreal and the Islanders had not lost, going back to the Preliminary Round.

The result left the Islanders tied atop Group D with seven points with Tauro FC of Panama, which would have had the lead all to itself but allowed an injury time header by Mario Acevedo and settled for a 2:2 draw with CD Municipal on Wednesday.

It was the second straight week that Municipal needed a late goal to get a draw at home. It remained at the bottom of Group D with two points and now must travel to play the Islanders in Puerto Rico.

But the biggest surprise continues to be the Impact, which used a pair of goals by Tony Donatelli to power past Joe Public FC in Trinidad 4:1 on Wednesday. It has allowed a tournament-low two goals in the group phase (tied with Atlante FC) and climbed to 10 points atop Group C.

With Atlante five points back in second place and CD Olimpia in third with four points, Montreal needs only a draw at home against Olimpia when the Champions League™ resumes in two weeks to assure itself of a place in the quarterfinals.

Despite scoring two goals in each of its last three league games in the Mexican Apertura, Atlante continues to struggle with its scoring in the Champions League™. Federico Villar scored in the 38th minute to earn Atlante a 1:1 draw at CD Olimpia, but it was only the club’s second goal in four games. It also allowed an 83rd-minute equalizer and had to settle for the point. While Joe Public is last with three points, still within two of the last quarterfinal berth, Wednesday’s result was its second straight lopsided loss at home by a combined score of 7:2

. Its final home game is against Atlante in two weeks and then finishes at Olimpia.

Group A is the closest of all with CD Marathon, Cruz Azul and Deportivo Saprissa all tied with seven points. D.C. United ended a three-game losing streak in the Champions League™ and needed an injury time goal by Rod Dyachenko to get a 2:2 draw at Saprissa on Thursday. It was the first time a team from the USA has earned a point in Costa Rica since the New England Revolution beat Alajuelense 3:1 in the 2003 Champions Cup.

Marathon, which won its first two games at home, needed an 87th-minute equalizer from Erick Norales to earn a 1:1 draw at Cruz Azul on Tuesday, after it had be reduced to 10 men.

Cruz Azul, which hasn’t won any of its last four in the Mexican Apertura, led on Javier Orozco’s tournament-leading sixth goal, his first in the Group Stage.

The Champions League™ takes a week’s break to make way for World Cup qualifying, but resumes 21 October with three games.

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