HEREDIA, Costa Rica -- The Los Angeles Galaxy and Herediano played a scoreless draw in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal on Thursday night.
Herediano's Ismael Gomez drew a penalty kick late in the game, but knocked it off the crossbar. Gomez tumbled to the turf after minimal contact from Galaxy defender Sean Franklin, leading to the whistle.
"I know I've got to be a little bit smarter," Franklin said. "It's late in the game. The referee is looking to maybe make a call, and I maybe pulled him a little bit, but he kind of dove a lot."
The Galaxy were relieved when Gomez fired high.
"We know that would have been extremely unjust had they won that game, 1-0," Galaxy forward Mike Magee said. "They definitely had a good amount of possession, but if they had won that game, it would have been disappointing."
The second half of the home-and-home series is Wednesday night in Carson, Calif., with the winner facing Mexico's Monterrey or Xelaju of El Salvador. Monterrey won 3-1 in the first leg on Wednesday.
"If you want to put a pencil to paper, you have to win the game," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "I don't mind going home having to win the game. That's the way it's supposed to be."
Yedrick Ruiz of Herediano and Magee also hit the crossbar. Ruiz missed in the 43rd minute, and Magee nearly put the Galaxy in front nine minutes later.
