LAFC advances at home, Vancouver Whitecaps move on despite loss and Orlando narrowly falls to Tigres

Los Angeles FC survived a somewhat nervy loss to Costa Rican side Alajuelense to advance in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night, with a 2-1 home loss good enough to give them a 4-2 win on aggregate.

Alajuelense took a 2-0 lead in the second half, and with away goals used as a tiebreaker, was just one goal away from levelling the tie at BMO Field.

However, captain Carlos Vela eased nerves with a cool finish in the 83rd minute to give LAFC a two-goal aggregate advantage and effectively kill off the tie.

Meanwhile, things were calmer for the Vancouver Whitecaps despite a similar result to LAFC.

After a 5-0 home win in the first leg vs. Honduran outfit Real España, it would have taken a calamity for Vancouver not to advance to the quarterfinals.

Carlos Vela celebrates his vital goal with Giorgio Chiellini and Jesus Murillo vs. Alajuelense

That didn’t happen, as the Whitecaps battled to a 3-2 away loss and comfortably moved on to the next stage.

Orlando City will not be joining them, though, after a 1-1 draw (and away goals loss) at home to Tigres.

The visitors struck first through Sebastian Cordova, and a bicycle kick from Ercan Kara in the 89th minute gave the hosts some hope before seven minutes of stoppage time.

From there, it was a hectic end to the game as Tigres did their best to drain the clock, with defender Samir being sent off and Orlando unable to find a breakthrough.

Orlando coach Oscar Pareja was also issued a red card after the match, and the teams had to be separated as emotions boiled over.

LAFC and Vancouver will be joined by the Philadelphia Union in the quarterfinals, while Austin FC were shockingly eliminated by Haitian side Violette. 

Ercan Kara tied it up with an outrageous bicycle kick but Orlando ultimately lost on away goals