PANAMA CITY, Panama – A brace from Edwin Aguilar helped Tauro of Panama to a 2-1 victory over Honduran side Motagua in the first leg of the 2018 Scotiabank Concacaf League semifinals on Thursday night at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City.
Tauro enjoyed a dream start in the 11’ when Aguilar was able to pounce on a rebound of a blocked Jesus Gonzalez shot and fired in to power the Panamanians to a 1-0 lead.
Motagua looked to answer early in the second half, but a fantastic individual move from Enrico Small drew a foul in the Motagua area and earned a penalty for the hosts.
Aguilar stepped up and calmly stroked home the spot kick in the 55’ to make it 2-0 to Tauro.
But the Hondurans never threw in the towel, and in the 84’ Juan Pablo Montes smacked in a header to earn Motagua a precious away goal, setting the stage for a dramatic second leg next week in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.