PANAMA CITY, Panama – Alianza of El Salvador held off a charge from Panama’s Tauro to advance to the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League quarterfinals following a 1-0 defeat in the 2019 SCL Round of 16 second leg on Thursday night at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, Panama.

Despite the defeat, Alianza earned a 2-1 aggregate victory to nail down a spot in the next round.

Tauro was in dreamland after just four minutes, as Freddy Gondola pounced on a deflection off a corner kick and hammered a shot into net for an early 1-0 Tauro lead.

The Panamanians almost found a second goal just minutes later in the 14’ after a well-played corner kick from Enrico Small, but Alianza would eventually clear its lines to avoid danger.

Alianza would start to carve out chances of its own and it was in great position to pick up a big away goal just after the hour mark, only to see Carlos Portillo hit the post with a shot. The follow-up effort from Raul Penaranda was denied by Tauro GK Humberto Acevedo, who produced arguably the save of the tournament.

Acevedo’s big stop was a lift for Tauro, who pushed hard for a second goal to even the tie, but the Alianza defense held on to record the result.