Galaxy ties Sporting San Miguelito in CONCACAF Champions Cup opener

LLANO MARÍN, Panama — Joseph Paintsil’s 68th-minute goal allowed the Galaxy to salvage a 1-1 draw against Sporting San Miguelito on Thursday night in the opening leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round series.

The finale of the two-game, total-goals series is scheduled for next Wednesday night in Carson with the Galaxy holding an away-goal advantage. The team that advances will oppose Jamaica’s Mount Pleasant in the Round of 16.

For the tying goal, the Galaxy worked the ball down the right flank. Joao Klauss’ layoff set up Paintsil, who took a touch before firing in a right-footed shot from near the penalty spot.

Rodrigo Tello gave San Miguelito the lead in the 37th minute. Angel Valencia’s cross from the right wing found Tello unmarked in the left side of the penalty area, and Tello’s header from 8 yards looped over Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and into the far side of the net.

“They battled hard. They have some very good individual players out there that in the duels were fantastic,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of San Miguelito. “We knew that was going to be the situation going in. They certainly made the night very difficult [with] their setup and then their speed in transition and things like that. So, a lot of credit to them as well for the battle tonight. They’ve got a good group, and we’ve got our work cut out for us at home.”

Vanney saw plenty of room for improvement from his group.

“We didn’t take advantage of the situations we created, and they started to obviously throw numbers a little lower and try to clog some more things up,” he said. “And then I felt like we became stagnant and we stopped moving and stopped interchanging and doing any actions that would create collaborative movements, third-man actions, things like that. For us, our game needs to be faster. The buildup needs to be faster, our movements need to be better.”

Marcinkowski and San Miguelito goalie Jose Calderon were each credited with two saves.