The LA Galaxy rallied but bowed out of the Concacaf Champions Cup Tuesday night following a 3-2 (3-2 aggregate) quarterfinal Leg 2 loss at LIGA MX's Tigres UANL.
LA fell into a two-goal deficit inside the opening 10 minutes at the Estadio Universitario, following strikes in consecutive minutes from Nicolás Ibáñez and former Galaxy player Uriel Antuna.
Joseph Paintsil cut into the lead just before halftime, beating goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán to a back pass and firing home from close range.
Rômulo Zwarg restored Tigres' two-goal advantage early in the second half, only for Emiro Garcés to pull another one back for the Galaxy three minutes later.
An equalizer would've sent LA into the semifinals thanks to the away goals rule, but the third goal never came and Tigres moved on to the next round.
Goals
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: The miracle fell just short for the Galaxy, who nearly turned a nightmare start into a historic night in Mexico. Despite their CCC elimination, LA leave with their heads held high after putting up a valiant fight. Now, the defending MLS Cup champions will set their focus on the 2025 league campaign.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Rômulo Zwarg's 57th-minute header ended up being the series decider.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Paintsil sparked the Galaxy's attempted comeback, got several looks at goal and was a livewire in attack. The Ghanaian international looked solid in his first 90-minute outing of the season.
Next Up
- TIG: Saturday, April 12 vs. Monterrey | 9 pm ET | LIGA MX Clausura
- LA: Saturday, April 12 vs. Houston Dynamo FC | 10:30 pm ET (MLS Season Pass) | MLS Regular Season
