By: Moises Medina
For Rayos de Necaxa, all they needed to do was win to advance in the Leagues Cup, and on Sunday night they did not fail, beating Seattle Sounders FC 3-1 to advance to the next phase.
Necaxa came onto the pitch at Lumen Field Stadium with no concentration, while the MLS team surprised in the first minutes, already leading on the scoreboard by the 8th minute. Cristian Roldan on the right wing escapes to make a filtered pass into space for midfielder Obed Vargas to arrive at the edge of the penalty area, anticipating the mark and before goalkeeper Ezequiel Unsain came out, he crosses his shot and runs to celebrate the goal.
Two minutes later, a shot from outside the area surprised the Necaxa goalkeeper, but the referee, after reviewing the VAR, disallowed the goal. Seattle offside.
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After the goal was disallowed, Necaxa woke up and Agustín Palavecino tied the score. In the 24th minute, the Rayos went ahead by playing, passing from one side to the other, until the Argentine controlled it with his right foot and shot to beat the MLS goalkeeper.
In the final stretch of the first half of the game, after a dangerous play in their own goal, Necaxa recovered the ball and in a lethal counterattack Diber Cambindo scored the second goal for the Liga MX team.
In the second half, Necaxa retreated, waiting in their own half for Seattle to take the initiative to counterattack when they had the ball.
In extra time, a mistake in the defense led to the third goal of the night, a goal that ended the MLS team’s aspirations. Kevin Duvan Ante Rosero did not forgive with a cannon shot to end the match.
