CCL: Alvarado's America closes in on title defense

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Apr 21, 2016

Defending champion Club America beat Tigres, 2-0, in Monterrey to close in on its second straight Concacaf Champions League title.

It got goals from Dario Benedetto and Osvaldo Martinez to take a two-goal lead into next Wednesday's home leg at Azteca Stadium.

Benedetto, the hero of America's run to the 2015 title with five goals in the last four games, opened the scoring in the 49th minute on a pass from Martinez, who added the second goal in stoppage time.

Tigres had a 15-9 edge in shots and 71 percent of the possession, but America did a good job of containing Tigres' French star Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Americans started for both teams: Ventura Alvarado for America and Jose Francisco Torres for Tigres.

April 20 in Monterrey
Tigres 2 Club America 0. Goals: Benedetto 49, Martinez 90+.
Tigres -- Guzman, Jimenez, Juninho, Ayala, Rivas, Torres (Mancilla, 70), Pizarro, Aquino, Damm (Alvarez, 61); Sobis (Zelarayan, 76), Gignac.
Club America -- Gonzalez, Samudio, Goltz, Pablo Aguilar, Alvarado, Martinez, Guerrero, Andrade, Sambueza, Benedetto (Pimentel, 70), Peralta (Diaz, 91).