SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Alianza of El Salvador and Honduran club Motagua battled to a spirited 1-1 draw in the first leg of the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League semifinals on Thursday at the Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador.

Motagua could not have asked for a better start as an early corner kick swung in by Emilio Izaguirre was met by the charging Juan Pablo Montes, who headed in to hand Motagua a 1-0 lead in the 4’.

Alianza were able to regroup and started creating chances toward the end of the first half and got the equalizer right on the brink of halftime when Raul Penaranda pounced on a loose ball and scored to make it 1-1.

The first big chance of the second half went Motagua’s way with a header that looked goalbound, only for the ball to strike the crossbar.

Alianza had two late chances come their way with just minutes left on the clock, but Penaranda was unable to get a shot on target, bringing to end a hard-fought first 90 minutes between the two teams.