3-1. Olimpia eliminates Diriangén and will face Motagua in the semifinal

Olimpia, from Honduras, eliminated Diriangén, from Nicaragua, on Thursday by beating them 3-1 in the Concacaf League, and sealed their pass to the semifinal, in which they will face Motagua, their eternal and neighboring rival from Tegucigalpa.

The first half was given to both teams, with a Diriangén reaching the rival area and shots from long and medium distance, but without major problems for Olimpia, who also looked for him on the counterattack.

With a slightly greater control of the ball, Olimpia shot five times at the goal of the Nicaraguan club, which did so four times, one of them accurate, with short passes and a lot of speed, beating Olimpia's defense and get ahead.

Diriangén began to dream of a comeback in the 31st minute, when Leonel Torres finished off a ball that came from the left one meter from the Olimpia goal.

Olimpia, who won the first leg by a 4-0 drubbing, arrived at the rival area with Jerry Bengtson and Brayan Moya leading the way, and José Pinto and Michael Chirinos promoted the game from midfield.

In the second half, Olimpia had more of the ball again and kept trying to at least equalize, but Diriangén's defense didn't give them much freedom.

It wasn't until the 61st minute that Jerry Bengtson tied the game 1-1 with a headed goal, beating a Diriangén defender in an early jump.

Despite the fact that they were once again at a wide disadvantage, Diriangén did not give up their offensive game and put Olimpia's defense and goalkeeper, Eduardo Menjívar, in trouble in a game that became alternate domain.

Olimpia also continued to grind and in the 80th minute they took the lead with a goal, also a header, from Jorge Benguché, who had just come on to replace Jerry Bengtson, their captain.

At 90+3, Michael Chirinos, from a penalty, put the final score 3-1 in favor of Olimpia.

The tombstone became heavier for Diriangén, who said goodbye to the Concacaf League in the quarterfinals giving the fight, at least in the second game.

On Wednesday, Motagua eliminated Tauro, from Panama, while today, Real España, also from Honduras, did the same with Herediano, from Costa Rica.

Real Spain will have a rival in the semifinal against Alajuelense, from Costa Rica.

Data sheet:

3. Olympia: Eduardo Menjivar; Maylor Núñez, José García, Juan Pablo Montes, Germán Mejía; Gabriel Araújo, José Pinto (Josman Figueroa m.67), Michael Chirinos, Óscar Bonieck García (Jorge Álvarez m.66); Jerry Bengtson (Jorge Benguché m.66) and Brayan Moya.

Coach: Pedro Troglio (Argentina).

1. Diriangén: Miguel Rodríguez; Luis Copete, Erick Téllez, Francisco Flores, Mario Dávila; Júnior Arteaga, Taufic Guarch (Tulio López m.86), Jason Coronel, Luis Coronel (Ramiro Peters m.76); Robinson Da Silva (Alexander Zúñiga m.76) and Leonel Torres.

Coach: Roberto Chanampe (Argentina).

Goals: 0-1, m.31: Leonel Torres. 1-1, m.61: Jerry Bengtson. 1-2, m.80: Jorge Benguche. 1-3, m:90+3: Michael Chirinos.

Referee: Daneon Parchment (Jamaica). He showed yellow card to Jason Coronel, Leonel Torres and Miguel Rodríguez, from Diriangén, and Josman Figueroa, from Olimpia.

Incidents; Second leg of the Concacaf League quarterfinals, played at the Francisco Morazán Stadium, in San Pedro Sula, in northern Honduras.

Live