🏆 Champions Cup: Messi leads Miami past SKC; Sounders, Cincinnati win away | OneFootball

A number of MLS teams were in Concacaf Champions Cup first-leg action Wednesday evening, including Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders.

Here is what went down.

Motagua 1-4 FC Cincinnati

Scorers: Auzmendi 41' ; Bucha 28', 78', Denkey 49', Evander 88'

FC Cincinnati will bring healthy first-leg lead back to Ohio next week after bagging three goals away to Motagua.

Cincinnati, like Seattle before them will be glad to be avoiding the cold stateside. They took advantage of the warmer climate by scoring the opening goal of the tie when Pavel Bucha lashed his shot home from the edge of the box.

The hosts responded well however, reclaiming parity through Rodrigo Auzmendi before the break.

But the resource gap was on full display after the break when Cincinnati debutant Kévin Denkey showed why the club spent a record $16m on him during the offseason, turning and finishing with sublime style to give the visitors the lead once again.

The tie was perhaps put to bed in the final 15 minutes when Pavel Bucha and Evander nabbed two more goals to give Cincinnati a three-goal cushion heading into the second-leg.

Sporting Kansas City 0-1 Inter Miami

Scorers: Messi 54'

Inter Miami took a first-leg away win against Sporting Kansas City in freezing tempuratures.

While the opening 45 minutes reflected the mood in the frozen stadium, the match came to life after the break.

It took Inter Miami just 10 minutes in the second interval to open the scoring, and who else would do it but Lionel Messi?

The Argentine showed off his magical touch to take the ball down, turn, and fire home the opener in the tie.

The second-half strike sees Messi extend his tally to 66 goals in 81 career knockout matches in continental club competitions.

Antigua 1-3 Seattle Sounders

Scorers: Santis 24' ; Arriola 3', De la Vega 61', Rusnak 90+4'

The Sounders will take a lead back to Seattle after picking up a first-leg victory in Guatemala.

It was a rapid start from the Sounders as former USMNT wide-man Paul Arriola opened up his Seattle account just three minutes into his full debut for the club.

But the Guatemalan hosts were a handful for the Cascadia club in the minutes that followed, and they pulled level on the night through Oscar Santis before the half-hour mark.

After the break the deadlock was broken once more, as Pedro de la Vega saw his long-range effort take a healthy deflection into the back of the net.

The icing on the cake came when Albert Rusnak bagged a stoppage-time goal to extend Seattle's lead on aggregate ahead of next week's second-leg.

Herediano 0-0 Real Salt Lake

Current Costa Rican league leaders Herediano failed to take a first-leg advantage at home, and the tie will now head to Utah next week.

RSL should feel in confident in coming through the tie after the second-leg on their own patch.

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