Joao Paulo opened his scoring account for Seattle Sounders FC less than six minutes into his debut Thursday night, but his new club coughed up a two-goal lead and settled for a 2-2 tie with C.D. Olimpia in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League round of 16.
The Brazilian midfielder — who the Sounders acquired less than three weeks ago from Botafogo — emerged unmarked to head Jordan Morris’ perfectly-weighted cross from the left edge of the penalty area past goalkeeper Edrick Menjivar to give Seattle the lead.
Morris doubled the lead against the run of play in the 54th minute, though the raucous crowd at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras came to life after the hosts cut the deficit in half off Yustin Arboleda’s 63rd minute tally.