Tigres attacking quality proves too much for Orlando City

NUEVO LEON – Liga MX side Tigres got a goal and an assist from star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac to defeat Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer (MLS) 4-2 in the second leg of their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series on Tuesday night at the Estadio Universitario in San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico.

With the result, Tigres win the series 4-2 on aggregate to book their place in the quarterfinals, where they will face the Columbus Crew of MLS.

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Tigres UANL would score the first goal of the series in the 13’ through Marcelo Flores, who launched a right-footed shot that went bouncing through a sea of players and past Orlando City GK Pedro Gallese for a 1-0 Tigres lead.

Tigres kept coming forward and minutes later in the 18’ they earned a penalty when Flores was fouled in the area by Robin Jansson. Gignac confidently stepped to the spot and left no doubt, sweeping in the penalty for a 2-0 Tigres advantage in the 20’. It was Gignac’s 18th career Champions Cup goal.

Orlando City desperately needed something to go their way. It came just a few minutes later when Gignac pushed Jansson down in the area, resulting in a penalty. Facundo Torres was tasked with taking it and fired into net to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 24’.

The Tigres attack kept coming in waves and they got a coveted third in the 68’ when Gignac served up an inch-perfect pass for Fernando Gorriaran, whose header barely got over the line past Gallese for a 3-1 Tigres lead.

Similar to the first half, Orlando City would get a break right after a Tigres goal when Rafael Carioca was sent off for a straight red card in the 72’, giving the visitors a man advantages the rest of the way.

But the next goal would again come from Tigres, as a counterattack ended with Sebastian Cordova blasting a shot from outside the area in the 81’ that rippled the net for a 4-1 scoreline.

Orlando City would pull a late goal back in the final minutes on a penalty conversion from Martin Ojeda to make it 4-2, but the night belonged to Tigres, who are once again quarterfinal-bound.