Seattle Sounders Stun Tigres

The Seattle Sounders came from behind to secure a memorable 3-1 victory over Tigres in CONCACAF Champions League action at CenturyLink Field on Tuesday evening.

The comeback win gave the Sounders a 3-2 aggregate triumph and the club will now advance to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time its history.

Seattle came into the match down 1-0 after the first leg in Mexico and things went from bad to worse when Elias Hernandez took advantage of some lax defending by the home side in the 23rd minute to put Tigres up 1-0 on the night, and more crucially 2-0 on aggregate.

The Sounders now had a mountain to climb, but received some good fortune when Manuel Viniegra was given his marching orders after picking up his second yellow card on the cusp of half-time.

Seattle took full advantage of its numerical superiority, as DeAndre Yedlin’s fantastic volley put the hosts on the board in the 53rd minute.

The Seattle Sounders were back in the match and stunned their Mexican counterparts on the hour mark when Djimi Traore scored one of the goals of the season with a screamer from 35 yards out.

Seattle was up 2-0 on the night and tied 2-2 on aggregate but needed another strike to go through due to the away goals rule. Eddie Johnson then came to the MLS club’s rescue with a goal in the 75th minute to secure an unforgettable 3-0 victory.

Seattle coach Sigi Schmid was delighted with the incredible fightback and revealed that he told his players to give it their all at the half-time interval.

“You can’t be brilliant if you don’t try it,” he said. “The red card helped us go into a more offensive set and you obviously can’t say nothing but outstanding things about the goals.”

The Seattle Sounders will lock horns with either Santos Laguna or the Houston Dynamo in the CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals.