De Nigris goal leads Monterrey over Galaxy, into CCL final
Monterrey's Severo Meza serves a ball past the L.A. Galaxy's Michael Stephens on Wednesday night.
Victor Straffon/Getty Images
MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) - Aldo De Nigris scored in the 81st minute and two-time defending champion Monterrey beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 on Wednesday night, sending the Mexican team to the CONCACAF Champions League final with a 3-1 aggregate score in the two-game semifinal.
Monterrey will face fellow Mexican club Santos Laguna in a rematch of last year's final. Santos Laguna advanced Tuesday night, tying the Seattle Sounders 1-1 for a 2-1 aggregate victory.
De Nigris has four goals in the tournament to help put Monterrey in position to become the first team to win the regional tournament three straight times since Mexico's Cruz Azul in 1969-1971.
The Galaxy, the 2000 CONCACAF champions, were trying to become MLS's first finalist since Real Salt Lake advanced to the final two years ago.
In the first half, the Mexicans had two scoring chances. De Nigris failed to score in the 11th minute, and goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini stopped Walter Ayovi's shot in the 43rd.
The Galaxy missed an opportunity off a corner kick in the 30th minute when Omar Gonzalez's shot went wide of Monterrey goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco.
In the second half, Monterrey's Neri Cardozo missed a chance in the 64th minute, and Cesar Delgado missed another in the 72nd with a shot that went over the box. Delgado made up for his error by sending a delayed diagonal for De Nigris, who had no trouble scoring with a cross shot.
