New York City FC took a 5-3 advantage over San Carlos in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal on Thursday at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Costa Rica.
Heber converted a second-half penalty to complete a hat trick for Ronny Deila’s side -- that’s gonna take some getting used to -- with Alexander Callens and Alexandru Mitrita scoring NYCFC’s fourth and fifth goals.
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Jorman Aguilar, Marcos Mena,and Omar Browne scored for the Costa Rican hosts with two assists arriving via Randy Chirino.
San Carlos visits Red Bull Arena for the second leg on Wednesday.
The hosts pulled within a goal with 11 minutes to play, but Mitrita buried a rebound of a saved Maxi Moralez penalty kick.
The 28-year-old Heber scored 15 goals and three assists in just 22 appearances last season after arriving from HNK Rijeka in Croatia’s top tier.
🔥 Héber. Again. 🔥@NYCFC leads @adsancarlos, 2-0. #SCCL2020pic.twitter.com/h4B1hAm2gU
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 21, 2020
