2017–18 Primera División de Fútbol Profesional season

Primera División de Fútbol Profesional de El Salvador
Season	2017–18
Champions	Alianza F.C. (Apertura) ; Alianza F.C. (Clausura)
Relegated	Dragón
Champions League	Alianza F.C.
CONCACAF League	Santa Tecla F.C.; C.D. FAS
Matches played	35
Goals scored	86 (2.46 per match)
Biggest home win	Isidro Metapán 3-0 Pasaquina (29 July 2017); Limeño 3-0 Dragón (20 August 2017); FAS 3-0 Limeño (31 August 2017)
Biggest away win	Firpo 2–5 Alianza (27 August 2017)
Highest scoring	Alianza 5–3 Isidro Metapán (20 August 2017)
	← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 20 August 2017.

The 2017–18 Primera División de Fútbol Profesional season (also known as the Liga Pepsi) is the 19th season and 37th and 38th tournament of El Salvador's Primera División since its establishment of an Apertura and Clausura format. Santa Tecla F.C. the defending champions of the Apertura and Clausuray. The league will consist of 12 teams. There will be two seasons conducted under identical rules, with each team playing a home and away game against the other clubs for a total of 22 games per tournament. At the end of each half-season tournament, the top eight teams in that tournament's regular season standings will take part in the playoffs.

The champions of Apertura or Clausura with the better aggregate record will qualify for the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League. The other champion, and the runner-up with the better aggregate record will qualify for the 2018 CONCACAF League. Should the same team win both tournaments, both runners-up will qualify for CONCACAF League. Should the final of both tournaments features the same two teams, the semifinalist with the better aggregate record will qualify for CONCACAF League.

Team information

A total of 12 teams will contest the league, including 11 sides from the 2016–17 Primera División and 1 promoted from the 2016–17 Segunda División.

UES were relegated to 2017–18 Segunda División the previous season.

The relegated team was replaced by the 2016–17 Segunda División playoffs promotion winner. Independiente won the Apertura 2016, while Audaz won the Clausura 2017 title. C.D. Audaz won the playoffs by the score of 1-0.

C.D. Chalatenango were stripped of their license after suffering financial trouble (failing to primera division license, their players and staff).

A.D. Chalatenango were formed by business leaders and by the local government, they purchased the license and debts of CD Chalatenango [1].

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June, 2017.

Champions: C.D. Audaz

Relegated to Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño as of June, 2017.

Last Place: UES

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Chairman	Head Coach	Captain	Kitmaker	Shirt sponsor
Águila	Pedro Arieta	Jorge Daniel Casanova	Deris Umanzor	Joma	Tigo, Canal 4, Pollo Campesto
Alianza	Adolfo Salume	Jorge Rodríguez	Rodolfo Zelaya	Lotto	Canal 4, Mister Donut, Tigo, Gatorade, Veca airlines, Brahva
Audaz	Juan Pablo Herrera	German Pérez	Levi Martinez	Maca	Canal 4, Vitasym, Acodjar de R.L.
Chalatenango	Rigoberto Mejia	Ricardo Serrano	Héctor Cruz	Nil	Canal 4, Eurofarm, Grupo de MC
Dragón	Abelio Diaz	Henry Vanegas	Manuel González	Rush Atletic Wear	Canal 4, GRS, Lemus
FAS	Guillermo Morán	Cristian Álvarez	Néstor Raúl Renderos	Milán	Pilsener, Tigo, Canal 4
Firpo	Modesto Torres	Ramón Sánchez	Jhonny Ríos	Kelme	Dial Fm, Pilsener, Tienors Galo, Lemus
Isidro Metapán	Rafael Morataya	Edwin Portillo	Milton Molina	Milan	Canal 4
Limeño	Martín Herrera	Hugo Ovelar	Francisco Jovel Álvarez	Nil	UNAB (Universidad Dr. Andres Berello), Chilos Seafood Restaurant, TuriTravel, Disturbidora Torres
Pasaquina	Óscar Ramírez	Omar Sevilla	Carlos Arévalo	Nil	Canal 4, Innova sport
Sonsonate	Pedro Contreras	Garabet Avedissian	Carlos Carrillo	Rush Atletic wear	ProACES, Aldasa, Alcadia Municipal Sonsonate, Canal 4, Leche salud, Ferreteria Santa Sofia, Coop-1
Santa Tecla	José Vidal Hernández	Ernesto Corti	Diego Chavarria	Kelme	Powerade, DLC, Canal 21, Pilsener,Claro, Plaza Merliot, Pollo Indio, Petrox, Dizucar, Bolívar, Toledo, The Moustache

Notable events

Point deduction

Pasaquina was docked 6 points for failing to pay over players' wages. However, this was later changed to a fine and Pasaquina were able to keep their points.

Sale of Luis Angel Firpo

In August 2017, Familia Galo, owners of Luis Angel Firpo, announced that they were putting the team up for sale. The Modesto Torres group was one of three known groups to have submitted a preliminary bid for the club. The other two groups were Julio Sosa group, former president of Aguila, and an unnamed Mexican group. [2] The sale was completed on September 16, to the Modesto Torres group for an unknown amount. [3]

Change of Ownership of Aguila

After weeks of protest from fans and criticism from players and the media for Aguila late payment for players, poor recruitment and lack of success. The Arieta group announced on 30 December 2017 that they were selling their operating rights for Aguila and would announce the names of the new owners in the new year. [4]

Primera division boycott

In October 2017, eleven clubs voted to boycott FESFUT and leave the primera division (Aguila were the only team to vote against leaving), causing round 12 to be suspended. [5] A few days later Limeno, Pasaquina, Audaz and Chalatenango voted to return to the Primera division. Following negotiations held by The El Salvador government between FESFUT and the other Primera division clubs, they returned to the primera division. As a protest of the decision to return to the primera division, Lisandrohl Pohl and Vidal Hernandez resigned as president and vice president [6]

Sale of Luis Angel Firpo for the second time

Owing to financial problem and complaints from fan bases, the Modesto Torres group put Luis Angel Firpo up for sale, the second time for the year.

Notable death from Apertura 2017 season and 2018 Clausura season

The following people associated with the Primera Division have died in end of 2017 and mid 2018.

Elmer Acevedo
Raúl Antonio García
Juan Ramón Pacheco
Carlos Eduardo Pineda
Fabio de Azevdo
Lino Medina
Axel Hochkoeppler

Managerial changes

Before the start of the season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Sonsonate	Eraldo Correia	Sacked	May 2017	Garabet Avedissian	May 2017	th (Clausura 2017)
FAS	Emiliano Pedrozo	Moved to become assistant coach	May 2017	Cristian Álvarez	May 2017	th (Clausura 2017)
Metapan	Alvaro Misael Alfaro	Moved to become assistant coach	May 2017	Edwin Portillo	May 2017	th (Clausura 2017)
Chalatenango	N/A	New team formed	2017	Ricardo Serrano	May 2017	N/A

During the Apertura season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Águila	Jorge Daniel Casanova	Sacked	August 2017	Osvaldo Escudero	August 2017	10th (Apertura 2017)
Sonsonate	Garabet Avedissian	Resigned	August 2017	Ruben Alonso	August 2017	10th (Apertura 2017)
Dragon	Henry Vanegas	Sacked	September 2017	Efrain Burgos	September 2017	11th (Apertura 2017)
Pasaquina	Omar Sevilla	Resigned	September 2017	Manuel Carranza Murillo	October 2017	th (Apertura 2017)
Chalatenango	Ricardo Serrano	Sacked	September 2017	William Renderos Iraheta	September 2017	th (Apertura 2017)
Firpo	Juan Ramón Sánchez	Sacked	October 2017	Eraldo Correia	October 2017	th (Apertura 2017)
Dragon	Efrain Burgos	Sacked	November 2017	Abel Blanco	November 2017	12th (Apertura 2017)

Between Apertura and Clausura seasons

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
C.D. Dragon	Abel Blanco/ Santos Rivera	Moved back to Assistant coach	November 2017	Diego Pizarro	November 2017	12th (Apertura 2017)
Audaz	German Pérez	Sacked	November 2017	Misael Alfaro	December 2017	Th (Apertura 2017)
Limeno	Hugo Ovelar	Contract finished	December 2017	Emiliano Barrera	December 2017	Th (Apertura 2017)
Santa Tecla	Ernesto Corti	Contract finished	December 2017	Rubén da Silva	December 2017	Th (Apertura 2017)

During the Clausura season

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Pasaquina	Manuel Carranza Murillo	Sacked	February 2018	Francisco Robles 'Interim'	February 2018	10th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Audaz	Alvaro Misael Alfaro	Resigned	February 2018	Rafael Tobar and Emerson Umaña (Interim)	2018	12th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Aguila	Osvaldo Escudero	Sacked	February 2018	Marvin Benitez (Interim)	2018	4th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Sonsonate	Ruben Alonso	Resigned	February 2018	Juan Ramon Sanchez	2018	12th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Luis Angel Firpo	Eraldo Correia	Sacked	February 2018	Victor Giron and Francisco Jovel (Interim)	2018	12th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Chalatenango	William Renderos Iraheta	Sacked	February 2018	Geovany Portillo (Interim)	2018	12th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Audaz	Rafael Tobar and Emerson Umaña (Interim)	Moved to become assistant coaches	February 2018	Carlos Romero	March 2018	12th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Aguila	Marvin Benitez (Interim)	Interim finished, moved to be assistant	March 2018	Miguel Aguilar Obando	March 2018	4th (Clausura 2018)
A.D. Isidro Metapan	Edwin Portillo	Resigned	March 2018	Agustin Castillo	March 2018	10th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Luis Angel Firpo	Victor Giron and Francisco Jovel (Interim)	Interimship finished	March 2018	Giovanni Trigueros	March 2018	th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Municipal Limeno	Emiliano Barrera	Sacked	March 2018	Wilfredo Molina Interim	March 2018	th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Municipal Limeno	Wilfredo Molina Interim	Back to assistant coach	March 2018	Víctor Coreas	March 2018	th (Clausura 2018)
C.D. Dragon	Diego Pizarro	Sacked	April 2018	Santos Rivera Interim	April 2018	th (Clausura 2018)

Apertura 2017

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alianza	22	14	8	0	50	19	+31	50	Quarterfinals
2	Santa Tecla	22	10	9	3	41	23	+18	39
3	Isidro Metapán	22	11	4	7	36	30	+6	37
4	FAS	22	8	10	4	30	21	+9	34
5	Águila	22	6	9	7	32	38	−6	27
6	Chalatenango	22	6	8	8	21	23	−2	26
7	Municipal Limeño	22	7	5	10	24	30	−6	26
8	Pasaquina^[a]	22	5	10	7	29	36	−7	25
9	C.D. Audaz	22	6	5	11	28	40	−12	23
10	Dragón	22	5	7	10	23	35	−12	22
11	Sonsonate	22	3	10	9	27	34	−7	19
12	Firpo	22	2	13	7	24	36	−12	19

Updated to match(es) played on 15 November 2017. Source: [7]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ Pasaquina was docked 6 points for failing to pay over players' wages. However later changed to a fine and Pasaquina were able to keep their points^[1]

Results

Home \ Away	ÁGU	ALI	AUD	CHA	DRA	FAS	FIR	MET	LIM	PAS	STE	SON
Águila		1–3	1–0	4–3	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–1	2–2	1–0	1–1
Alianza	5–0		4–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	5–3	4–0	5–2	1–1	2–1
Audaz	2–2	2–3		1–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	4–3	0–2	2–2	2–1	3–2
Chalatenango	3–2	0–2	0–0		4–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–1
Dragón	4–3	0–2	1–2	2–0		3–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	2–2
C.D. FAS	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1		2–3	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–2	0–0
Firpo	1–1	2–5	1–1	0–2	3–0	0–1		2–2	0–2	0–0	2–2	1–1
Isidro Metapán	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	4–2		2–1	3–0	1–0	3–1
Limeño	1–3	0–1	4–0	0–0	3–0	0–3	1–1	1–3		2–0	0–0	3–0
Pasaquina	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	2–0	1–1		3–3	4–3
Santa Tecla	3–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	2–2	2–2	5–0	2–0	4–0	3–1		2–1
Sonsonate	0–0	0–0	3–2	0–0	2–0	1–2	4–4	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Scoring

First goal of the season: Lorenzo Frutos for Santa Tecla F.C. against C.D. FAS, 33 minutes (July 29, 2017)
First goal by a foreign player: Lorenzo Frutos for Santa Tecla F.C. against C.D. FAS, 33 minutes (July 29, 2017)
Fastest goal in a match: 6 minutes
- Mckauly Tulloch for A.D. Isidro Metapan against C.D. Pasaquina (July, 2017)
Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+2 minutes
- Javier Lezcano own goal for A.D. Chalatenango against C.D. Aguila (August, 2017)
First penalty Kick of the season: Herbert Sosa for Alianza F.C. against C.D. Dragon, minutes (July 30, 2017)
Widest winning margin: 3 goals
- A.D. Isidro Metapan 3–0 C.D. Pasaquina (July 29, 2017)
First hat-trick of the season: Gustavo Guerreño for Alianza F.C. against Firpo (August 27, 2017)
First own goal of the season: Javier Lezcano (C.D. Aguila) for Chalatenango (August, 2017)
Most goals in a match: 8 goals
- Alianza 5–3 A.D. Isidro Metapan (August, 2017)
Most goals by one team in a match: 3 goals
- A.D. Isidro Metapan 3–0 C.D. Pasaquina (July 29, 2017)
  A.D. Isidro Metapan 3-5 Alianza F.C. (August 2017)
Most goals in one half by one team: 4 goals
- TBD 5–2(1–2) TBD (2nd half, September 30, 2016)
Most goals scored by losing team: 3 goals
- A.D. Isidro Metapan 3–5 Alianza F.C. (August, 2017)
Most goals by one player in a single match: 3 goals
- Gustavo Guerreño for Alianza F.C. against Firpo (August 27, 2017)
- Gustavo Guerreño for Limeno against Firpo (September, 2017)
- Armando Polo for Sonsonate against Firpo (October, 2017)
- Gustavo Guerreño for Alianza F.C. against Aguila (November, 2017)

Top goalscorers

Source :^[2]

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Gustavo Guerreño	Alianza	12
1	Armando Polo	Sonsonate	12
3	Lorenzo Frutos	Santa Tecla	9
3	José Gutierréz	Pasaquina	9
5	James Cabezas	Águila	8
	Daley Mena	Audaz	8
	Christian Sánchez	Isidro Metapán	8
8	Nicolás Muñoz	Firpo	7
8	Jimmy Tulloch	Isidro Metapán	7
10	Gilberto Baires	Santa Tecla	6
	Zé Paulo	Sonsonate	6
	Luis Hinestroza	Alianza	6
	Javier Lezcano	Águila	6
	Luis Palacios	Pasaquina	6

Individual awards

Hombre GOL	Best Coach Award	Best Goalkeeper Award	Fair Player Award	Rookie Player Award
Gustavo Guerreño Alianza	TBD Sonsonate	Matías Coloca FAS	TBD Alianza	TBD FAS

Playoffs

Quarterfinals					Semifinals				Finals

6	Chalatenango	0	3	3

3	Isidro Metapán (s)	1	2	3
					Isidro Metapán	1	1	2

					Santa Tecla (s)	0	2	2
7	Limeno	0	0	0

2	Santa Tecla (s)	0	0	0
									Santa Tecla	1

									Alianza F.C.	4
5	Águila	0	1	1

4	FAS (s)	0	1	1
					FAS	1	1	2

					Alianza F.C. (s)	1	1	2
8	Pasaquina	0	0	0

1	Alianza F.C.	0	4	4

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Metapan	3–3 (s)	Chalatenango	0–1	2–3
FAS	1–1 (s)	C.D. Aguila	1–1	2–0
Santa Tecla	0–0 (s)	Limeno	0–0	0–0
Alianza	4–0	Pasaquina	0–0	4–0

^† Order of legs reversed.

First leg

November 30, 2017

15:00 UTC−6

Chalatenango	0–1	Isidro Metapan
		Mckauly Tulloch 82'

Estadio José Gregorio Martínez,
Chalatenango, El Salvador

Referee: Elmer Martínez

November 30, 2017

19:00 UTC−6

Aguila	0-0	FAS

Juan Francisco Barraza,
San Miguel, El Salvador

Referee: Joel Aguilar Chicas

December 1, 2017

15:00 UTC−6

Pasaquina	0-0	Alianza

Estadio Cuscatlan
San Salvador

December 1, 2017

19:00 UTC−6

Limeno	0-0	Santa Tecla

Estadio Jose Ramon Flores, Santa Rosa de Lima

Second leg

December 2, 2017

15:00 UTC−6

Isidro Metapan	2-3	Chalatenango
Paolo Suarez 3' Mckauly Tulloch 43'		Carlos Angulo 68' Bladimir Diaz 86' 87'

Estadio Jorge Calero Suárez, Metapán

3-3. Isidro Metapan advanced as the higher seeded team.

December 3, 2016

19:00 UTC−6

FAS	1-1	Aguila
William Maldonaldo 13'		Victor Garcia 50'

Estadio Óscar Quiteño, Santa Ana

1-1. FAS advanced as the higher seeded team.

December 3, 2017

15:00 UTC−6

Alianza	4-0	Pasaquina
Marvin Monterrosa 31' Herbert Sosa 41' Rodolfo Zelaya 73' Gustavo Guerreno 79'		'

Estadio Cuscatlan
San Salvador

Alianza won 4-0 on aggregate.

December 1, 2017

19:00 UTC−6

Santa Tecla	0–0	Limeno

Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla, El Salvador

0-0. Santa Tecla advanced as the higher seeded team.

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Metapan	2-2 (s)	Santa Tecla	1-0	2-1
FAS	2-2 (s)	Alianza	1-1	1-1

First leg

December 7, 2017

19:00 UTC−6

Metapan	1-0	Santa Tecla
José Ángel Peña 29'

Estadio Jorge "Calero" Suáre

Referee: Iván Barton

December 7, 2017

19:30 UTC−6

FAS	1-1	Alianza
Teobaldo Torres 59'		Henry Romero 44'

Estadio Óscar Quiteño

Attendance: 8802

Second leg

December 10, 2017

18:00 UTC−6

Santa Tecla	2-1	Metapan
Lorenzo Frutos 59' Kevin Reyes 59'		Mckauly Tulloch 59'

Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla

2-2. Santa Tecla advanced as the higher seeded team.

December 10, 2017

19:30 UTC−6

Alianza	1-1	FAS
Rodolfo Zelaya 72'		Xavi García 19'

2-2. Alianza advanced as the higher seeded team.

Final

December 18, 2017

15:00 UTC−6

Alianza	4-1	Santa Tecla
Marvin Monterrosa 12' Rodolfo Zelaya 16' 65' Gustavo Guerreno 29'		Ricardinho 44'

Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador

Attendance: 23,965

Referee: Joel Antonio Aguilar Chicas


Alianza F.C.
GK	1	Víctor García
DF	3	Ivan Mancía	40'
DF	20	Darío Ferreira
DF	15	Jonathan Jiménez
DF	28	Rudy Clavel	5'	59'
MF	6	Narciso Orellana
MF	27	Issac Portillo	83'
MF	21	Marvin Monterrosa		73'
MF	17	Alexander Larín		51'
MF	18	Gustavo Guerreño	95'
FW	22	Rodolfo Zelaya	79'
Substitutes:
FW	9	Óscar Cerén		51'
FW	10	Rubén Marroquín		59'
FW	10	Juan Carlos Portillo		73'
Manager:
Jorge Humberto Rodriguez


Santa Tecla F.C.
GK	1	Joel Almeida
DF	6	Bryan Tamacas
DF	5	Alexander Mendoza	84'
DF	4	Juan Barahona
DF	17	Kevin Ayala		38'
MF	15	Diego Chavarría
MF	22	Ricardinho	76'
MF	23	Wanderson Silvera		25'
MF	31	Kevin Reyes	5'
FW	19	William Canales		50'
FW	8	Lorenzo Frutos
Substitutes:
FW	7	Harold Alas		25'
MF	25	Jacobo Moreno		38'
MF	11	Gilberto Baires		50'
Manager:
Ernesto Corti

Apertura 2017 champions
Alianza 12th title

Clausura 2018

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alianza	22	16	3	3	37	15	+22	51	Quarterfinals
2	Santa Tecla	22	14	5	3	40	12	+28	47
3	FAS	22	14	3	5	39	23	+16	45
4	Águila	22	9	6	7	23	21	+2	33
5	Firpo	22	7	6	9	26	29	−3	27
6	C.D. Audaz	22	7	5	10	25	39	−14	26
7	Municipal Limeño	22	6	6	10	31	31	0	24
8	Sonsonate^[a]	22	6	6	10	23	32	−9	24
9	Pasaquina	22	6	6	10	20	30	−10	24
10	Chalatenango	22	6	4	12	21	29	−8	22
11	Dragón	22	4	9	9	16	25	−9	21
12	Isidro Metapán	22	4	7	11	26	41	−15	19

Updated to match(es) played on 15 November 2017. Source: [8]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ Sonsonate finished in eighth place, however due to having to play a relegation game to stay in the primera division, they were forced to forfeit their finals spot to Pasaquina, Later were given the right to play in the quarter final^[3]

Results

Home \ Away	ÁGU	ALI	AUD	CHA	DRA	FAS	FIR	MET	LIM	PAS	STE	SON
Águila		0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–1
Alianza	3–0		2–0	4–1	2–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–0
Audaz	3–1	2–1		0–0	1–1	2–3	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–3	1–2
Chalatenango	0–1	1–1	3–0		0–1	1–2	1–0	2–3	0–2	1–3	1–0	2–1
Dragón	0–2	0–0	1–2	1–1		0–1	1–2	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–3	3–0
C.D. FAS	0–1	1–2	4–1	2–0	2–0		4–2	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	4–1
Firpo	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–0		4–1	2–2	1–1	3–2	1–0
Isidro Metapán	2–2	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–1		3–2	2–2	0–3	1–1
Limeño	2–0	1–2	2–0	3–2	1–1	2–3	0–0	4–2		1–1	1–2	3–1
Pasaquina	0–3	0–3	3–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	2–1		1–1	1–0
Santa Tecla	1–0	1–0	4–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	2–0	2–0		4–1
Sonsonate	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	3–1	1–0	3–0	0–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Records

Best home records: Santa Tecla F.C. (31 points out of 33 points)
Worst home records: C.D. Dragon (9 points out of 33 points)
best away records : Alianza F.C. (23 points out of 33 points)
worst away records : Sonsonate (5 points out of 33 points)
Most goals scored: Santa Tecla F.C. (40 goals)
Fewest goals: C.D. Dragon (16 goals)
Fewest goals conceded : Santa Tecla F.C. (12 goals)
Most goals conceded : A.D. Isidro Metapan (41 goals)

Scoring

First goal of the season: Daniel Luna for Pasaquina against Audaz, 9 minutes (January 13, 2018)
First goal by a foreign player: Javier Lescano for Aguila against Chalatenango, 35 minutes (January 13, 2018)
Fastest goal in a match: 4 minutes
- Gustavo Guerreño for Alianza F.C. against FAS (February 9, 2018)
Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+3 minutes
- Elias Dandi goal for Isidro Metapan against Firpo (January 28, 2018)
First penalty Kick of the season: Javier Lescano for Aguila against Chalatenango, 35 minutes (January 13, 2018)
Widest winning margin: 4 goals
- Santa Tecla F.C. 4–0 C.D. Audaz (2018)
First hat-trick of the season: Rodolfo Zelaya for Alianza against C.D. Chalatenango (April 15, 2018)
First own goal of the season: Nelson Moreno (Firp) for C.D. Aguila (February 19, 2018)
Most goals in a match: 6 goals
- TBD 4–2 TBD (August, 2017)
Most goals by one team in a match: 4 goals
- C.D. FAS 4–2 Firp (2018)
  Santa Tecla F.C. 4-0 C.D. Audaz (2018)
  Limeno 4–2 A.D. Isidro Metapan (2018)
Most goals in one half by one team: 4 goals
- TBD 5–2(1–2) TBD (2nd half, September 30, 2016)
Most goals scored by losing team: 2 goals
- Firpo 2–4 C.D. FAS (March 12, 2018)
  C.D. Audaz 2-3 C.D. FAS (March 8, 2018)
  C.D. Chalatenango 2-3 A.D. Isidro Metapan (February 25, 2018)
  C.D. Chalatenango 2-3 Limeno (February 22, 2018)
Most goals by one player in a single match: 3 goals
- Rodolfo Zelaya for Alianza against C.D. Chalatenango (April 15, 2018)

Top goalscorers

No.	Player	Club	Goals
1	Luis Perea	FAS	14
2	Diego Coca	Limeno	12
3	Javier Lezcano	Aguila	12
4	Ricardinho	Santa Tecla	11
5	Rodolfo Zelaya	Alianza	10
6	Nicolas Munoz	Pasaquina	9
7	Christopher Ramirez	Firpo	9
8	Gustavo Guerreno	Alianza	8
9	Irvin Herrera	FAS	7
9	Fredrick Ogangan	Limeno	7

Individual awards

Hombre GOL	Best Coach Award	Best Goalkeeper Award	Fair Player Award	Rookie Player Award
Luis Perea FAS	Jorge Humberto Rodriguez Alianza	Joel Almeida Santa Tecla F.C.	Rafael Garcia Alianza	TBD FAS

Playoffs

Quarterfinals					Semifinals				Finals

6	Audaz	1	3	4

3	C.D. FAS	1	2	3
					Audaz	1	0	1

					Santa Tecla	2	4	6
7	Limeno	1	0	1

2	Santa Tecla (s)	1	0	1
									Santa Tecla	0

									Alianza F.C.	1
5	Firpo	0	0	0

4	Águila	1	0	1
					Águila	2	0	2

					Alianza F.C.	3	2	5
8	Sonsonate	0	0	0

1	Alianza F.C.	1	4	5

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
FAS	3–4	Audaz	1–1	2-3
C.D. Aguila	1–0	Firpo	0–1	0–0
Santa Tecla	1-1 (s)	Limeno	1–1	0–0
Alianza	5–0	Sonsonate	0–1	4–0

^† Order of legs reversed.

First leg

May 1, 2018

15:00 UTC−6

Audaz	1-1	FAS
Santos Guzman 62'	[9]	Romeo Monteagudo (o.g.)

Estadio Jiboa

Referee: Ivan Barton

May 3, 2017

19:00 UTC−6

Firpo	0-1	Aguila
None	[10]	Tony Rugamas 75'

Estadio Cuscatlan

Referee: Ismael Cornejo Melendez

May 3, 2018

15:00 UTC−6

Sonsonate	0-1	Alianza
None	[11]	Óscar Cerén 77'

Estadio Ana Mercedo
Sonsonate

Referee: Jaime Herrera Bonilla

May 1, 2018

15:30 UTC−6

Limeno	1-1	Santa Tecla
Fredrick Ogangan 34'	[12]	Gilberto Baires 20'

Estadio Jose Ramon Flores, Santa Rosa de Lima

Referee: Edgar Ramirez

Second leg

May 6, 2018

15:00 UTC−6

FAS	2-3	Audaz
Irvin Herrera 39' Luis Perea 62'	[13]	Carlos Anzora 53' Daley Mena 67' 90'

Estadio Óscar Quiteño, Santa Ana

Referee: German Martinez

Audaz won 4-3 on aggregate.

May 6, 2018

19:00 UTC−6

Aguila	0-0	Firpo
None	[14]	None

Juan Francisco Barraza,
San Miguel, El Salvador

Referee: Joel Aguilar Chicas

Aguila won 1-0 on aggregate.

May 6, 2018

15:00 UTC−6

Alianza	0-0	Sonsonate
Portillo 8' Narciso Orellana 38' Rudy Valencia 77' Ivan Mancia 80'	[15]	None

Estadio Cuscatlan
San Salvador

Alianza won 5-0 on aggregate.

May 5, 2018

19:00 UTC−6

Santa Tecla	0–0	Limeno
None	[16]	None

Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla, El Salvador

Referee: Hector Salazar

1-1. Santa Tecla advanced as the higher seeded team.

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Audaz	1-6	Santa Tecla	1-2	4-0
Aguila	2-5	Alianza	2-3	2-0

First leg

May 10, 2018

15:30 UTC−6

Audaz	1-2	Santa Tecla
Santos Guzman 84'	[17]	Wilma Torres 18' Harold Alas 51'

Estadio Jiboa, San Vicente

Referee: Ismael Cornejo

May 10, 2018

15:30 UTC−6

Aguila	2-3	Alianza
Javier Lezcano 54' 75'	[18]	Herbert Sosa 65' Henry Romero 78' Rodolfo Zelaya 92'

Estadio Juan francisco Barraza, San Miguel

Referee: German Martinez

Second leg

May 13, 2018

17:30 UTC−6

Santa Tecla	4-0	Audaz
Ricardinho 9' pen.' (34) Wilam Torres 20' Kevin Reyes 65'		None

Estadio Las Delicias, Santa Tecla

Santa Tecla won 5-2 on aggregate.

May 13, 2018

15:00 UTC−6

Alianza	2-0	Aguila
Oscar Ceren 4' 45'		None

Estadio Cuscatlan

Alianza won 5-2 on aggregate.

Final

May 20, 2018

15:00 UTC−6

Alianza	1-0	Santa Tecla
Marvin Monterrosa 40'	[19]	None

Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador

Attendance: TBD

Referee: Joel Aguilar Chicas


Alianza F.C.
GK	1	Víctor García
DF	28	Rudy Clavel	17'	59'
DF	20	Darío Ferreira
DF	2	Ivan Mancía
DF	15	Jonathan Jiménez
MF	21	Marvin Monterrosa		82' 40'
MF	6	Narciso Orellana	49'
MF	27	Issac Portillo	51'
MF	9	Óscar Cerén	86'
FW	10	Herbert Sosa	23'
ST	18	Gustavo Guerreño		60'
Substitutes:
FW	22	Rodolfo Zelaya		60'
MF	17	Alexander Larín		59'
FW	10	Juan Carlos Portillo		82'
Manager:
Jorge Humberto Rodriguez


Santa Tecla F.C.
GK	1	Joel Almeida
DF	5	Alexander Mendoza
DF	23	Elieser Quinones	23'
DF	19	William Canales
MF	20	Andres Jaco Flores
MF	31	Kevin Reyes		73'
MF	43	Fernando Quintanilla
MF	21	Wilma Torres	72'
MF	11	Gilberto Baires	22'
FW	22	Ricardinho		65' 51'
FW	7	Harold Alas		55'
Substitutes:
MF	10	Gerson Mayen		55'
FW	14	Liber Quinones		65'
MF	33	Jacobo Moreno		73'
Manager:
Ruben Da Silva

Clausura 2018 champions
Alianza 13th title

List of foreign players in the league

This is a list of foreign players in the 2017–18 season. The following players:

Have played at least one game for the respective club.
Have not been capped for the El Salvador national football team on any level, independently from the birthplace

A new rule was introduced this season, that clubs can have four foreign players per club and can only add a new player if there is an injury or a player is released and it's before the close of the season transfer window.

Águila

James Cabezas
Yair Ibargüen
Javier Lezcano
Richard Dixon
José Ramírez
Jaime Sierra
Damián Óscar Luna

Alianza

Luis Hinestroza
Gustavo Guerreño
Darío Ferreira
Víctor Rafael García

Audaz

Jerson Steven Aguilar
Eduard Steven Rodríguez
Alonso Umaña Popo
Daley Mena
Tardelis Peña González
Cristian Sánchez Prette
Milton Geovanny Palacios

Chalatenango

Bladimir Diaz
Carlos Fernando Angulo
Yohalin Palacios
Wílmar Hernández

Dragón

Josielson Moraes
Harold Contreras
Carlos Urrego
Jefferson Viveros
Cristian Pinzón
Jhonny Riascos
Yuberney Franco

FAS

Guillermo Stradella
Matías Coloca
Allan Muraldo
Teobaldo Quezada
Juan Aimar
Luis Alberto Perea

Firpo

Jhony Rios
César Iván González
Pierre Alexandre Pluchino Galuppo
François Swaby
Mahecha Bermúdez
Rodrigo de Brito
Ricardo John

Isidro Metapán

Ayukokata Ndip
Matthias Bonvehi
German Ramírez Urenda
Mckauly Tulloch
Jefferson Viveros
Ricardo Velazco
Ameth Ramírez
Elias Dandi

Limeño

Jeremías Pereira
Jorge Cáceres
Andrés Britez
Counsellor Fredrick Ogangan
Wilfredo Cienfuegos
Clayvin Zuniga
Fernando Gutierrez

Pasaquina

Jackson de Oliveira
Luis Palacios
Leston Paul
Dwane James Ronaldo
Devaughn Elliott
Jeison Quiñones

Sonsonate

Zé Paulo
Franklin Eduardo García
David Leonardo Alcaraz
Armando Polo
Mckauly Tulloch
Nicolás Fagúndez
José Manuel Rivera
Luis Fernando Copete

Santa Tecla

Ricardinho
Joel Almeida
Lorenzo Rodrigo Frutos
Wanderson Silveiro Echeverría
Liber Quiñones
Yosimar Quiñónez

(player released during the Apertura season) (player released between the Apertura and Clausura seasons) (player released during the Clausura season)

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Alianza	44	30	11	3	83	48	+35	101	2019 CONCACAF Champions League^[a]
2	Santa Tecla	44	24	14	6	67	54	+13	86	2018 CONCACAF League^[b]
3	FAS	44	22	13	9	48	49	−1	79	2018 CONCACAF League^[c]
4	Águila	44	15	15	14	50	28	+22	60
5	Isidro Metapán	44	15	11	18	60	47	+13	56
6	Municipal Limeno	44	13	11	20	57	61	−4	50
7	Pasaquina	44	11	16	17	52	58	−6	49
8	Audaz	44	13	10	21	54	80	−26	49
9	Chalatenango	44	12	12	20	53	75	−22	48
10	Firpo	44	9	19	16	60	66	−6	46
11	Sonsonate	44	9	16	19	59	57	+2	43	Segunda División
12	Dragón	44	9	16	19	43	63	−20	43	Segunda División

Source: [20]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ As Apertura champion and team with the best accumulation of points
^ As Apertura and Clausura runners-up
^ As non-finalists with best aggregate

Relegation playoff

1 May 2018

19:00

C.D. Sonsonate	3-2	C.D. Dragon
José Manuel Rivera 58' Nicolás Fagúndez pen.' (64) McKauly Tulloch 84'		Mártir Contreras pen.' (85) Isaí Aguilar 95'

Estadio Cuscatlan

Attendance: 1,334

Referee: Joel Aguilar Chicas

References

^ "Última hora: le quitan seis puntos al Pasaquina" (in Spanish). El Grafico. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
^ "Summary - Primera Division - El Salvador - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
^ "dragon-se-jugara-con-sonsonate-el-puesto-de-liga-mayora" (in Spanish). EDH Deportes. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

[table_note_PAS0.55287415420305-2] Pasaquina was docked 6 points for failing to pay over players' wages. However later changed to a fine and Pasaquina were able to keep their points^[1]

[cnote_†_grp_1] † Order of legs reversed.

[table_note_SON0.12558163102976-5] Sonsonate finished in eighth place, however due to having to play a relegation game to stay in the primera division, they were forced to forfeit their finals spot to Pasaquina, Later were given the right to play in the quarter final^[3]

[cnote_†_grp_1] † Order of legs reversed.

[table_note_res_QA0.05418674510633-6] As Apertura champion and team with the best accumulation of points

[table_note_res_QB0.05418674510633-7] As Apertura and Clausura runners-up

[table_note_res_QC0.05418674510633-8] As non-finalists with best aggregate

[1] "Última hora: le quitan seis puntos al Pasaquina" (in Spanish). El Grafico. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.

[3] "Summary - Primera Division - El Salvador - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2017-11-16.

[4] "dragon-se-jugara-con-sonsonate-el-puesto-de-liga-mayora" (in Spanish). EDH Deportes. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

[a]

[1]

[2]

[a]

[3]

[a]

[b]

[c]

v t e 2017–18 in North and Central America and Caribbean association football (CONCACAF)
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Domestic leagues	Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Bahamas Barbados '17 '18 Belize Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands '18 Cayman Islands Costa Rica Cuba '17 '18 Curaçao '17 '17–'18 Dominica Dominican Republic '17 '18 El Salvador French Guiana Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guyana Haiti '17 '18 Honduras Jamaica Martinique Mexico Nicaragua Panama Puerto Rico '17 '18 Saint-Barthelemy Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia '17 '18 Saint-Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon '17 '18 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines '17 Suriname Trinidad and Tobago '17 '18 Turks and Caicos Islands '17 '18 United States '17 '18
Domestic cups	Aruba Barbados '17 '18 Bermuda British Virgin Islands Canada Cayman Islands El Salvador French Guiana Guadeloupe '17 '18 Martinique '17 '18 Mexico '17 A (Final) '18 C (Final) Panama Puerto Rico '17 '18 Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia '17 '18 Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States '17 (Final) '18 (Final)
Supercups	Honduras Mexico Campeón de Campeones Supercopa MX Suriname
CONCACAF club competitions	CONCACAF League Finals Champions League Finals U13 Champions League Caribbean Club Championship Caribbean Club Shield