Tigres UANL have one foot in the CONCACAF Champions League final after drawing first blood against Vancouver Whitecaps on Tuesday.
An own goal from Kendall Waston and Eduardo Vargas' late strike gave Mexican heavyweights Tigres a 2-0 win in the first leg of their semi-final clash.
Tigres advanced to the final four after easing past fellow Mexican outfit Pumas UNAM, while the Whitecaps were too good for New York Red Bulls in the all-MLS affair.
Vancouver were happy to sit back and absorb pressure away from home and it worked well against Ricardo Ferretti's men until the second half at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey.
66' OG by Waston and Tigres go up 1-0 March 15, 2017
The Whitecaps' resistance was broken when centre-back Waston turned the ball into his own net in the 66th minute.
In complete control of proceedings, Tigres made their possession count with three minutes remaining thanks to Chile international Vargas, whose volley from outside the penalty area was too hot for Whitecaps goalkeeper Davis Ousted to handle.
86' Vargas precision strike makes it 2-0 for Tigres March 15, 2017
The return leg is in Vancouver on April 5.
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