51ºÚÁÏ

One goal was enough to do in 51ºÚÁÏ City SC on Tuesday as its 1-0 loss to Houston Dynamo FC knocked it out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The teams finished their two-game total goal series even at 2-2, but the first tiebreaker in the tournament is away goals: Houston scored one in 51ºÚÁÏ last week while City SC couldn’t score on Tuesday in Houston.

Houston moves on to the round of 16 to face Columbus next week.

A goal in the box in the 60th minute by Houston’s Erik Sviatchenko, after he headed a free kick and then got it back from a teammate, swung the game in Houston’s favor. A goal by City SC over the final 30 minutes would have advanced them by giving them the edge on aggregate.

City SC’s best chance in the first half came on a shot by Samuel Adeniran in the box that goalkeeper Steve Clark got in front of. Then Tomas Ostrak got the ball in the box and tried to feed it into the middle, but his pass never got there.

Roman Burki made two strong saves in the 33rd minute, first stopping a shot from the top of the box from Jan Gregus with a diving save and then getting up to block a shot with the rebound from Sebastian Kowalczyk from close range.

One of City SC’s worst fears came to pass in the 44th minute, when center back Joakim Nilsson went down in his own box, with trainers looking at his knee. City SC came into the game short on bodies at that position after Tim Parker left the Real Salt Lake game early with a tight leg muscle and then Josh Yaro twice was struck in the head and needed on-field treatment. Kyle Hiebert, who saw plenty of action at center back last season, hurt his knee in practice on Wednesday and wasn't available.

Yaro didn’t suit up on Tuesday, and Parker started on the bench as Michael Wentzel, on short-term loan from City2, made his first appearance with the first team, starting alongside Nilsson. Hosei Kijima, the hero of Game 1 with his late goal, also got a start.

When Nilsson went out, left back Anthony Markanich came in, and when the second half began, Jake Nerwinski was at center back alongside Wentzel.