Sebastian Perez (Wiki Commons)
Puerto Rico beat Metapan 3-0 to eliminate the Salvadorans and send the LA Galaxy to the quarterfinals
Metapan needed at least a draw and preferably a win to stay alive in the CONCACAF Champions League, but they didn't get it. The already-eliminated Puerto Rico Islanders rose a hot Hector Ramos to a 3-0 win to knock Metapan out of the competition and clinch a spot in the quarterfinals for the idle LA Galaxy.
Heading into the night, Metapan trailed the Galaxy by four points with the two teams scheduled to play each other in El Salvador next month on the final match day. Now, that match is irrelevant.
Metapan came out blazing and hit the bar just 10 minutes in, then forcing Cody Laurendi into a handful of good saves. But no matter how well Metapan played, they couldn't break through, which Ramos was able to do for the Islanders.
Ramos got Puerto Rico off the mark in the 40th minute thanks to a bad Metapan giveaway. They put the ball on his foot inside their own third so Ramos just had to get inside the box and finish to give Puerto Rico the lead.
His next goal was just as easy, collecting the ball inside the penalty area in the 80th minute. Once again, it was just an easy finish for Ramos from there and the Islanders were well on their way to victory.
Deep into stoppage time, the Islanders were really able to put the match to bed. Gregory Richardson scored and despite playing without several of their better players who were off playing internationally in the Caribbean Cup, Puerto Rico had a win to celebrate.
And while the Islanders celebrated, so too did the Galaxy. This marks the second consecutive season that LA had advanced to the quarterfinals.
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