After a tumultuous championship drought and a humiliating exit from the CONCACAF Champions League, Costa Rica’s most celebrated football club returned to glory by winning the 2015 First Division Winter Tournament.

Against all odds, Deportivo Saprissa beat rival club Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA) at the Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium near downtown Alajuela before a sold-out crowd on Wednesday night. Although Saprissa had already won the home match at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibas by a score of 2 – 0, LDA came out very offensively and cornered the visitors.

Just when it seemed as if LDA would easily score a couple of goals to even the finals, Argentinian defender Andres Imperiale opened the scoreboard with a very unlikely goal at the 21-minute mark. With Saprissa leading by three goals in the series, it seemed unlikely that LDA could catch up.

Striker Jonathan McDonald fired many shots on goal throughout the match, and he finally scored for LDA at the 64-minute mark; alas, Daniel Colindres would score six minutes later to eliminate LDA hopes of being crowned First Division Champions in Costa Rica.

LDA was the favorite club throughout the tournament; such was not the case for Saprissa, a club with a stellar lineup that inexplicably suffered an embarrassing season and was barely able to make it to the semifinals. Once Saprissa was within reach of the championship, however, the players performed as they should have.

Saprissa now has 32 trophies to its name, making it one of the most successful CONCACAF clubs. LDA is an older club with less titles at 29. A match between these two clubs is the oldest and most celebrated football rivalry in Costa Rica, and thus fans were treated to an early Christmas derby final this year.