Canadian Premier League champion Forge FC opened its Scotiabank CONCACAF League campaign Thursday with a comfortable 3-1 victory over El Salvador’s CD FAS.
Play was suspended in the 85th minute after lights went out in the empty Estadio Cuscatlan.
The players went to the sidelines for a water break then started running, stretching or kicking a ball about to kill time while waiting for the lights to come back on.
Play resumed after some 20 minutes with the remaining five minutes plus another five minutes of stoppage time.
The 22-team competition is a feeder tournament that sends six clubs to the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, the flagship club competition in the region that covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
GOAL 🔨🔨🔨<br><br>David Choinière makes it THREE for <a href=”https://twitter.com/ForgeFCHamilton?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ForgeFCHamilton</a> vs. C.D. FAS as Kwame Awuah and Tristan Borges combine once again before supplying an easy tap-in!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CanPL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CanPL</a> | <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#SCL21</a> | 🔴 <a href=”https://t.co/hishXepRT3″>https://t.co/hishXepRT3</a> <a href=”https://t.co/hxixhZLy3W”>pic.twitter.com/hxixhZLy3W</a>
—@onesoccer
The second leg is next Tuesday, at the same stadium, due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Hamilton-based Forge was designated the home team Thursday.
Forge was without head coach Bobby Smyrniotis and captain Kyle Bekker, both suspended after being red-carded in December’s CONCACAF Champions League play-in loss to Honduras’ CD Marathon.
In Canadian Premier League action, FC Edmonton and Valour FC were held to a 0-0 draw.
