The New York Red Bulls‘ comeback attempt was buried in a late flurry goals by Santos Laguna, who won 4-2 on Tuesday at Torreon, Mexico, to book a place in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.
Santos won the aggregate-goals series 6-2 after posting a 2-0 win in the first leg on March 5 in Harrison, New Jersey.
The Red Bulls quickly erased their deficit Tuesday on goals by Omir Fernandez in the fourth minute and Daniel Royer in the ninth minute. The aggregate score was still level until Jose Abella scored for Santos in the 72nd minute.
The Mexican hosts then got two goals from Brian Lozano, in the 76th and 81st minutes, around a tally from Diego Valdes in the 79th minute.
Santos moves on to face on Mexico’s Tigres, which advanced with a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo. Carlos Salcedo scored the lone goal as the hosts topped Houston at San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico, to complete a 3-0 quarterfinal series win.
Tigres captured the first leg 2-0 on March 5 in Houston. The rematch was scoreless until Salcedo tallied in the 68th minute. The Dynamo put just one of their 10 shots on target.
The semifinals are scheduled for April 3 and April 10.