I am going to be quick with this post, and I will have more thoughts on Wednesday. With some questionable calls in the second half, RSL were unable to hold on to the draw or even get a lead but the reality is that once Jamison "Olaf" Olave put the ball into the back of the net in the 61st minute to get the all important away goal. It actually tied the match at 1-1 after Saprissa got a goal in the first minute of the second half on a blistering shot from halftime sub Luis Cordero.
As I said this official who had such a reputation about calling tight matches had to be surprised that he was simply awful but for the first 45 minutes he was awful both ways, but in the second half there were a couple of very unusual calls including a PK call that has me a bit baffled, but in the end it was RSL losing the match but winning the series by the 3-2 aggregate.
It wasn't pretty for RSL, but it was tactically sound for a match protecting a lead in a very hostile away situation, against a very good team. Wednesday night we will find out who RSL will face in the finals, it will either be Monterrey who hold a 2-1 advantage after the first leg or Cruz Azul.
The 1st leg of the finals will be in Mexico on Wednesday, April 20th, it will be a 6pm MT start if it is Cruz Azul, and a 8pm start if it is Monterrey. The second leg will be at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday, April 27th at 8pm MT, I expect we will find out ticket details tomorrow morning.
I would like to thank all the RSL fans, the MLS fans, the soccer fans, and sports fans in general who showed their support via #MLS4RSL today, now we get to keep that alive for a few more weeks.
OFF MY SOAPBOX