For the first time, the full potential of five participants from Major League Soccer found themselves advancing to the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League as FC Dallas, Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC all won their Preliminary Round series. They joined previously seeded Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy in the 16-team phase of the tournament.
Nutrilite Canadian Championship 2011 winners Toronto FC advanced with a pair of 2-1 victories over Real Esteli (Nicaragua) and the 2010 US Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders rallied from a 1-0 road loss in Panama to defeat San Francisco in series overtime. US Open Cup hero Nate Jaqua scoring the series winner in the 98th minute of the 2-0 second leg result.
Current Open Cup semifinalist FC Dallas made history as the second non-Mexican club to post two shutouts in any two-leg CCL series (Preliminary or knockout stages), blanking Alianza (El Salvador) in a pair of one-goal decisions. The only other non-Mexican side to accomplish the feat previously was future MLS side Montreal Impact, which posted a 1-0 home win and scoreless draw against Real Esteli in the 2008 Preliminary Round.
The Dallas defense marked the beginning of a historic month in the tournament for MLS. All five teams would open the group phase with victories as Dallas sent waves throughout CONCACAF with its result. The Texan side became the first club in MLS history to record a victory in Mexico, defeating Pumas 1-0. Pumas entered the match with its only loss at home in 11 previous CCL contests coming at the hands of a league rival. They also were dominant at home in their last appearance in 2009-10 with a 5-0-0 record and only one goal allowed (a semifinal loss to Cruz Azul).
The 1-0 result by Dallas placed the club in further rarified air, becoming only the sixth club to post three consecutive shutouts in the competition. They are only the second non-Mexican club to accomplish the feat, again joining Montreal, which registered four straight shutouts to open the inaugural edition of the tournament. Cruz Azul had posted three consecutive clean sheets in the 2010-11 and 2009-10 editions of the event while reigning champion Monterrey accomplished the feat twice last year. Pachuca holds the record with five in a row during its 2009-10 championship performance.
Dallas’ streak would be extended earlier this week with a 1-0 victory at Toronto in a match postponed to Thursday morning after a lightning postponement the night before wiped out a 1-0 halftime lead. They joined Montreal and Pachuca as the only clubs to run off a series of four shutouts. No current MLS club has registered more than two consecutive shutouts in the tournament.
The fourth shutout also lifted Dallas into a new level for shutouts in a single tournament, becoming only the third non-Mexican club and 10th overall to reach four (3 shutouts have been posted an additional 11 times). In addition to Montreal, the 2010-11 Columbus Crew is the other non-Mexican side to post four clean sheets in a tournament. Toluca (4), Atlante (6), Monterrey (7) and Pachuca (8) have each reached the four shutout plateau along with Cruz Azul, which accomplished the feat in all three of its appearances the last three years with five last year after achieving the high of eight the two previous campaigns.
Earlier in the week the 2010 US Open Cup representative Sounders continued the upset trend, handing defending champion Monterrey its first-ever Champions League defeat with a 1-0 victory in Mexico. It was a nice dose of vengeance for the Sounders after suffering 2-0 and 3-2 losses in the group phase to Monterrey a year ago as the Mexican club went on to win the title with a 9-3-0 record (W-D-L). The defeat in Mexico was even more heartbreaking a year ago as the MLS side held a 2-0 lead heading into the late stages of the match. The unbeaten streak for Monterrey was at 13 following a big 5-0 win in Costa Rica against Herediano in the first group match.
Going into Dallas’ match at Pumas, MLS held an overall CCL record of 3-6-14 (W-D-L) against Mexican teams with all three victories coming at home in the tournament a year ago in the group phase. The Columbus Crew defeated Santos Laguna 1-0 and Cruz Azul fell to both Real Salt Lake, 3-1, and Toronto FC, 2-1. The Columbus win and a 0-0 draw at Cruz Azul by Toronto were the only two times an MLS club had recorded shutouts against Mexican opposition in CCL play prior to the Dallas and Seattle wins the past two weeks.
Also this week, Los Angeles posted a second consecutive 2-0 shutout by blanking visiting Alajuelense (Costa Rica) after another home win the week before against Motagua (Honduras). The Colorado Rapids played to a 1-1 draw on the road in Honduras against Real Espana after registering a 3-2 home victory the week before against Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) in which MLS Cup hero Mac Kandji made a triumphant return in his first start with two goals.
The results give MLS sides a total record of 12-1-1 against non-league opposition in the Champions League. After two games all four groups are surprisingly led by MLS clubs, who are in sole possession of first in each.
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