Nicolas Lodeiro scored two second-half penalties, one in the ninth minute of stoppage time, to lift the Seattle Sounders to a 2-2 draw against Pumas UNAM on Wednesday in Mexico City in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final.
Juan Ignacio Denino scored on both sides in the first half to give Pumas a 2-0 lead.
The overall goal series will conclude in Seattle on May 4.
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In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Pumas player Evren Villarde knocked out Christian Roldan in the penalty area. No call was made initially, but a penalty was awarded after a video review, and Lodeiro took the penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
Lodeiro’s penalty kick came in the 77th minute after a handball against Pumas’ Sebastian Sociedo in the 18 yards.
Denino converted a penalty kick in the 38th minute after a foul in the penalty area. He came down when he got caught between two Seattle defenders when he received a pass near the top of the penalty area.
In the 48th minute, Pumas’s Jesus Rivas sent a perfect cross from the right, and Dineno headed the ball from 12 yards to double the advantage. Rivas entered the match as a substitute shortly before the end of the first half when Alan Muzo was taken off due to an injury.
Pumas, playing in the CONCACAF Champions League final for the first time, are trying to become the 17th consecutive Mexican club to win the Confederation Cup. Pumas won the CONCACAF Champions League, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, in 1980, 1982 and 1989 and finished second in 2005.
The Sounders are playing their first CONCACAF District Final. The last American team to win the Confederate Championship was the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2000.
