Tigres saved from CCL upset with last-gasp goal from goalkeeper Guzman

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:16 am
Tigres UANL goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman sent his team into the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League with a last-minute headed goal.
Tigres UANL goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman sent his team into the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League with a last-minute headed goal.
(Photo by JULIO CESAR AGUILAR/AFP via Getty Images

Goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman scored in the 94th minute to help Liga MX big-spenders Tigres UANL to a 4-2 win over El Salvador's Alianza and a spot in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

It was about to be one of the biggest upsets in CCL history with Tigres up 3-2 in their second-leg round-of-16 match against Alianza and in need of one more goal to advance on aggregate. But Tigres won a free kick from just outside the penalty area, deep into stoppage time, and Guzman came up the field to take part in the set piece.

Argentine Guzman latched onto the cross with a superb header, scoring to put his team in the next round and to send the Estadio Universitario crowd wild.

Guzman was visibly emotional and had tears in his eyes as he left the field, with Tigres desperate to lift the CONCACAF Champions League and win the club's first international trophy after becoming Mexico's dominant team over the last decade.

"Guzman's goal came as our last resort," Tigres coach Ricardo Ferretti said after the match. "I'm happy that we advanced but also worried because I have to work a lot on the defensive aspect of the team.

"If we continue to complicate ourselves as we did in the two games of this series, I have all the reasons to be concerned."

Tigres will now meet New York City FC in the next round. The MLS team had little trouble holding up its first-leg lead over San Carlos.