ALAJUELA – Goals from Andres Pereira and Robert Morales paved the way for a 2-1 win for Liga MX side Toluca against Herediano of Costa Rica in the first leg of their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round One series on Wednesday night at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.
After an early chance spoiled by the hosts, things took a turn early when just barely 10 minutes in Herediano were reduced to 10 men when, after a VAR review, John Jairo Ruiz was sent off.
Toluca gladly took advantage and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 16’ on a sensational Right-footed rocket from Andres Pereira, whose shot went blazing past Herediano GK Aaron Cruz and into net.
Herediano looked to regroup, and a set piece almost got them back on level terms near the half-hour mark when a free kick played in was headed goalward by Getsel Montes, with the ball hitting the post and the follow-up shot saved by Toluca GK Tiago Volpi.
Taking control of things was Toluca’s objective to start the second stanza and they got a big lift in the 59’ when Robert Morales latched onto a flicked header and guided home a header for a 2-0 lead.
But Herediano never stopped trying to get forward to pull a goal back, and they managed to score a goal late on to give them hope going into next week’s second leg in Mexico.
A ball was played over the top to Deyver Vega, who made a nice cutback to give himself the time and space to fire in past Volpi in the 88’ to make it a 2-1 final scoreline.
