SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica soared into the Final of the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf League with a 5-0 semifinal victory over Arcahaie of Haiti on Friday evening at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The 2019 SCL winners will look to repeat as champions when they meet long-time domestic rivals Alajuelense in the Final on February 3.
Saprissa came storming out of the gates and in the 12’ they left the Arcahaie goal shaking when a thunderous left-footed shot from Michael Barrantes thumped the crossbar.
Four minutes later, Saprissa broke through for their first goal of the day with Esteban Espindola smacking in a header past Arcahaie GK Guerry Romondt for a 1-0 lead.
Arcahaie bounced back nicely from the goal and was on the verge of equalizing through Kervens Jolicoeur in the 25’, but Saprissa GK Aaron Cruz came up with a big save to maintain the Saprissa advantage.
The Haitians were left to rue that missed opportunity, as Ariel Rodriguez struck in the 31’ to double the Saprissa lead to 2-0 when he turned in a volleyed cross from Christian Bolanos from the right.
Saprissa carried the momentum into the second half and extended the lead to 3-0 in the 48’ with Bolanos serving up a cross that Jimmy Marin headed into net.
After collecting a pair of two assists, Bolanos then added his name to the scoresheet in the 56’ with a strong finish past Romondt to make it a 4-0 affair.
Mariano Torres stretched the Saprissa advantage to 5-0 in the 66’ by one-timing in a shot off a cross from Daniel Colindres.
From there, the Saprissa defense handled the rest to nail down the victory and punch their ticket to a second SCL Final.