PANAMA CITY – Alexander Lopez scored in second half stoppage time to deliver a 1-0 victory for Alajuelense of Costa Rica over Panama’s Sporting San Miguelito in Group D play of the 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup on Thursday night at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City, Panama.
With the victory, Alajuelense have secured their place in the quarterfinals and currently sit second in the group with nine points after three games, just behind leaders Motagua. Sporting San Miguelito, with three points after three games, are eliminated from advancing.
After an even first half-hour with few chances, Alajuelense’s Carlos Mora had the first big scoring opportunity of the night in the 34’ when he got behind the Sporting San Miguelito defense but could not land the finishing touch past home GK Jose Guerra.
There was also a header from Giancarlo Gonzalez at the far post off a corner kick in the 42’ that appeared goalward, yet Guerra was ready to punch it away.
Sporting San Miguelito were having difficulty mustering anything in the way of chances against a pretty firm Alajuelense defense, but it was a similar story at the other end, as the deadlock stayed in place.
As time ticked away, Alajuelense started to peg Sporting San Miguelito back deep in their own half and nearly got a goal in the 80’ through Joshua Navarro, whose shot from inside the area missed over the crossbar.
Everything pointed toward a late Alajuelense winner, but instead it was Sporting San Miguelito making a surge in the final minutes and Emmanuel Gomez looked set to win it for the home side in the 89’, but Esteban Alvarado made the game-saving stop.
The Alvarado save inspired his attacking teammates and after moving the ball effectively around the Sporting San Miguelito area, Lopez received a pass just outside the box and fired home a right-footed shot to win it 1-0.
