What an amazing second-leg Semi-Final the Columbus Crew had at the house of horrors that the Estadio BBVA has been for visiting sides against Monterrey, heading to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final with three goals to one victory and taking the aggregate five goals to two. They had a great start to the match until a chip shot by Maximiliano Mexa hit the front of the crossbar but sadly was bunted in by Yevhen Cheberko for the own goal in the 11th minute.
Monterrey scored that away goal in Columbus at the moment they had the advantage on away goals till Aidan Morris pulled off a magical moment inside first-half stoppage time. Esteban Andrada was a bit unsure of himself trying to distribute the ball, and when he did, Morris was able to pounce on the lackadaisical moment by stripping his man, cutting across the pitch, and then slotting it home inside the net to level the match at one, the away goals were even, but the Crew took the lead on aggregate three goals to two.
But in the entire second half, the Crew frustrated and dominated the closing half, by scoring two big goals and doing something no MLS side, not many sides in Liga MX, or any other club has done. Get a win at the dreaded Estadio BBVA. When Alexandru Matan was subbed in at Halftime, he made magic in the 50th minute, by slotting a strong pass to Diego Rossi and converted the big second goal to take the lead in the second half. Then in the final two minutes of regulation substitute Jacen Russell-Rowe was along the near side, curled in a big shot into an open goal to punch the tickets to the championship final.
I will admit that their own goal Cheberko was the death kneel to the Crew's chances heading toward the final, but Wilfred Nancy never lost faith and never lost his cool. He stayed with his tactics, made his adjustments when needed, and got the victory to send the Columbus Crew to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. For Monterrey, this was a devastating result at their home ground with poor concentration and quickly getting frustrated. Patrick Schulte once again has been strong in the net for the Crew and never waivered a single minute.
Nancy is proving again why he is becoming a strong head coach in MLS, and the possibility of one day being a National Team head coach somewhere in World Football or taking over for his home nation in France one day. What he has done in Columbus right now is unbelievable. He won the MLS Cup last year, and now he has a chance to get them international silverware.
The other Semi-Final was between Pachuca and Club America. All the goals were scored in the first half, as Pachuca converted twice within three minutes. Emilio Rodriguez in the 12th minute and Nelson Deossa Suarez in the 14th minute gave the home side the three goals-to-one aggregate advantage until Henry Martin of Club America pulled one back nine minutes later and leveled the away goals.,
But Club America couldn't convert that big second goal to level the aggregate and take advantage of the away goals rule, as Pachuca's goalkeeper Carlos Moreno made a few strong saves to hold off the mighty yellow shirts of Club America to take the series and now hosting it. We saw two excellent series in the Semi-Finals and now we will have fireworks in the Championship final as Pachuca will host the Columbus Crew to see who will be the best club in the region of CONCACAF.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP SEMI-FINALS 2ND LEG RESULTS
PACHUCA 2:1 CLUB AMERICA
PACHUCA WINS ON AGGREGATE 3-2
MONTERREY 1:3 COLUMBUS CREW
CREW WINS ON AGGREGATE 5-2 AND LED AWAY GOALS 3-1
That a great win, in a tough environment.
No offense, but no one on this site wants MLS content. You can get that in another place.