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GK Nahuel Guzman Scores at the Death to Send Tigres Through in CCL

Nahuel Guzman is used to saving Tigres UANL. Just not like this.

The veteran goalkeeper scored the decisive goal at the death of his club's Concacaf Champions League opening-round series vs. Salvadoran upstart Alianza, sending the Mexican power through on a 5-4 aggregate.

Alianza was primed to spring the upset after the sides went to the final seconds level 4-4 on aggregate, courtesy of its away-goal edge. That is, until Guzman raced to join the attack on a free kick. The 34-year-old Argentine connected for a perfect header, sparking wild celebrations at the Estadio Universitario.

Tigres surprisingly dropped the first leg, 2-1, and appeared to be coasting to the quarterfinals after racing out to a 3-0 lead 23 minutes into the second leg thanks to a goal from Enner Valencia and two from Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Alianza stunned the Liga MX giant, which has been the CCL runner-up in three of the last four seasons, with Juan Carlos Portillo scoring twice before halftime to tilt the scales back in the underdog's favor.

It was lining up to be one of the bigger shocks in recent CCL memory until the most unlikely of goal-scoring heroes stepped up to head his side through.

Tigres will move on to face NYCFC–a 6-3 aggregate winner over Costa Rica's San Carlos–in one quarterfinal.

Atlanta United, which routed Honduras's Motagua 3-0 in the second leg to advance 4-1 on aggregate, will face Club America, which surprisingly needed penalty kicks to outlast Guatemala's Comunicaciones to advance to another quarterfinal.

A third MLS team, the Montreal Impact, has also advanced after ousting Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa and could face a fourth, with the Seattle Sounders ahead of Honduras's Olimpia on away goals heading into their second leg.

LAFC has a big hill to climb, trailing Liga MX's Leon 2-0 after their first leg. The winner of their series will meet Cruz Azul.