Going into the second leg of the Concacaf Champions League in New Jersey with 3-1 lead, the Seattle Sounders were always favored to get the job done and advance to their first continental final. And with the Sounders mostly a full strength and NYCFC coming into the match particularly shorthanded — Maxi Moralez and Maxime Chanot were ruled out pregame — the task might have seemed much easier.
Still, MLS matches — no matter the completion format — are well known for not going to plan, least of all when Concacaf is involved. Concacaf’d is a phrase for a reason after all, and 10 seconds into the match things nearly went off the rails when Valentín Castellanos launched himself into Xavier Arreaga, earning one of the quickest yellow cards on record.