Quinones powers Tigres to first leg victory over Club Leon
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Quinones powers Tigres to first leg victory over Club Leon

Quinones powers Tigres to first leg victory over Club Leon

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MONTERREY – Luis Quinones scored a goal and collected an assist to power Tigres to a 2-1 victory over Club Leon in the first leg of the 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League semifinals on Tuesday night at the Estadio Universitario in San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico.

Quinones now has three goals and four assists in his last three SCCL matches and 10 career SCCL assists.

Club Leon came storming out of the gates and struck early for the game’s first goal in the 6’ when a Tigres defensive miscue allowed Victor Davila to curl in a left-footed shot for a lead.

Tigres went right to work on finding an equalizer and Andre-Pierre Gignac came within a whisker of getting the job done with a chip that floated just wide in the 14’. 

There was also an exquisite bit of skill displayed by Elias Hernandez in the 23’ with an overhead kick that provoked a stretch save from Tigres GK Nahuel Guzman.

The chances kept coming for both sides. Just minutes after Jaine Barreiro’s hammer shot from distance in the 28’ was saved by Guzman, Gignac failed to connect cleanly on an open header in front of goal.

Perhaps Guzman’s best save of the half came in the 35’ when he denied Angel Mena from close-range, and it proved important, as Tigres pulled level 1-1 in the 45’. Quinones lofted in a cross that Sebastian Cordova was able to steer into net.

Quinones then got in on the scoring act to give Tigres a lead before the break, as a header popped back up into the air met the swinging foot of Quinones, who volleyed home to make it 2-1 to the home side.

There was no letting up in the second half, as the pace remained high and scoring chances came thick and fast, including a Gignac effort saved by Club Leon GK Rodolfo Cota in the 49’ and Club Leon’s Ivan Moreno swinging a shot just wide in the 62’.

As the second half wore on, Club Leon took control in terms of possession, but the Tigres defense did well to clamp down on any scoring opportunities for the visitors and clinically saw things out until the final whistle to collect the 2-1 victory.