PACHUCA, Mexico – Without an answer for CF Pachuca striker Salomon Rondon, there was little the Crew could do in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, falling 3-0.
Rondon entered the match with a tournament-leading seven goals, two fewer than Columbus has had overall in CONCACAF play, and put two more on the board Saturday.
About 12 minutes into the match, Rondon scored for the first time in the final and would score once again in the second half.
Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte attempted to keep Columbus from digging too deep of a hole, recording five saves on Pachuca’s eight shots on goal. The effort would be moot with three conceded goals and Crew’s offense being unable to capitalize on any scoring opportunities.
The loss ends the Crew’s quest for a first Champions Cup trophy, as the final is only one match, making Pachuca the Champions Cup champions for a sixth time in club history.
(85′) Columbus Crew put Christian Ramirez and Marino Hinestroza into match
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy made another set of substitutions near the end of the match:
- Christian Ramirez for Cucho Hernandez
- Marino Hinestroza for Mo Farsi
Additionally, Pachua has made two substitutions since the Crew’s first batch:
- Owen Gonzalez for Emilio Rodriguez
- Alan Bautista for Erick Sanchez
(68′) Columbus Crew make first substitutions of the match
Columbus Crew made three substitutions following Rondon’s goal:
- Malte Amundsen for Yevhen Cheberko
- Jacen Russell-Rowe for Alex Matan
- Sean Zawadzki for Yaw Yeboah
(67′) Pachuca extends its lead to 3-0 with goal from Salomon Rondon
The Crew have given up their third goal of the night, their second to Salomon Rondon. Crew defender Rudy Camacho was down in the box when Rondon got the ball in front of him and Columbus’ goal. Rodon sent a shot past the right of goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
(51′) Patrick Schulte makes diving save
Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte had a rough first half but was able to start the second with a diving save off a shot from Pachuca defender Emilio Rodriguez. Schulte made a mid-air leap and hit the ball away from Columbus’ goal for his third save of the match.
(45′) Columbus Crew go into halftime down 2-0
The Crew are down 2-0 going into halftime, though it was almost 3-0, but one of Pachuca’s goals was called back due to being offsides. During the half, Pachuca recorded nine shot attempts, three on goal while Columbus had five attempts, two on goal.
A physical match from both clubs, Pachuca ended the half with nine fouls and the Crew three.
In the final minutes of stoppage time, the officials went to VAR to review a collision that took down Mo Farsi and Steven Moreira, along with Pachuca’s Emilio Rodriguez. The review resulted in Moreira being the one who suffered a foul from Nelson Deossa, earning a free kick near Columbus’ goal.
(45′) Oussama Idrissi receives yellow card
Oussama Idrissi of Pachuca was handing a yellow card after an exchange with both Crew defender Steven Moreira and the official over the placement of a free kick.
(32′) Pachuca takes 2-0 lead once again, Emilio Rodriguez scores off pass from Erick Sanchez
Forward Erick Sanchez had the ball at the top of Columbus’ box, when he sent a pass to Emilio Rodriguez, who was behind him. Rodriguez took a high shot that went over goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and into the high corner of the Crew’s goal.
(19′) Idrissi’s goal is called back due to offsides, Pachuca leads 1-0
After a lengthy VAR review, it was determined that Salomon Rondon was offsides prior to Idrissi receiving the ball. The goal was called back, and Pachuca’s lead is back to 1-0.
(14′) Oussama Idrissi follows up Rondon’s goal, CF Pachuca takes 2-0 lead
Pachuca gave goalkeeper Patrick Schulte little time to recompose himself before getting on the board a second time. Salomon Rondon was sent a pass while running ahead and once he took the ball to the right of Columbus’ box, he found Oussama Idrissi to the right of Schulte.
Once Idrissi received the ball, he was quick to tap the ball into Columbus’ goal, giving Pachuca a 2-0 advantage.
(12′) Pachuca’s Salomon Rondon scores, Crew fall behind 1-0
Forward Salomon Rondon was in control of the ball and making a run towards Columbus’ goal when goalkeeper Patrick Schulte stepped up to content. From that point, Rondon was able to easily able to skip the ball past Schulte to score the first goal of the night, giving Pachuca a 1-0 lead.
(7′) Patrick Schulte makes save on Pachuca corner kick play
Pachuca was awarded its first corner kick less than seven minutes into the match. After the kick was executed and sent to forward Erick Sanchez outside the Crew’s box, Sanchez took his shot from the right side. Schulte was able to hit the ball out of the air and the Crew cleared it out of the box.
Who are the referees for Columbus Crew vs CF Pachuca?
Here are the officials for the Crew vs Pachuca on Saturday night:
- Referee: Ivan Barton
- Assistant Referee 1: David Moran
- Assistant Referee 2: Henri Pupiro
- Fourth Official: Ismael Cornejo
- Fifth Official: Raymundo Feliz
- Referee Assessor: Joe Audi
- VAR: Daneon Parchment
- AVAR1: Sai Martinez
CF Pachuca starting lineup vs Columbus Crew:
Here is the starting 11 for Pachuca vs Columbus:
- GK: Carlos Moreno
- DF: Gustavo Cabral
- DF: Andres Micolta
- DF: Emilio Rodriguez
- DF: Luis Rodrigues
- MF: Nelson Deossa
- MF: Bryan Gonzalez
- MF: Pedro Pedraza
- FW: Oussama Idrissi
- MF: Salomon Rondon
- FW: Erick Sanchez
Columbus Crew starting lineup vs CF Pachuca
Here is the starting 11 for Columbus vs Pachuca:
- GK: Patrick Schulte
- DF: Rudy Camacho
- DF: Yevhen Cheberko
- DF: Steven Moreira
- MF: Mo Faris
- MF: Aidan Morris
- MF: Darlington Nagbe
- MF: Yaw Yeboah
- FW: Cucho Hernandez
- FW: Alex Matan
- FW: Diego Rossi
What time does Columbus Crew play CF Pachuca?
Kickoff is set for 9:15 p.m. ET at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico.
How did Columbus Crew make it to the finals?
After receiving a bye into the Round of 16 due to being MLS Cup champions, the Crew started their CONCACAF Champions Cup journey against Houston Dynamo.
With the first leg taking place on the road March 6, Columbus took a 1-0 aggregate-goal advantage when forward Alex Matan scored in the 96th minute. Matan has been sidelined with a thigh injury since that game.
Columbus Crew:Aidan Morris playing through injuries
The Crew returned to Lower.com Field on March 12 for the second leg and took an early 1-0 lead over Houston off a Cucho Hernandez goal. Holding onto the lead for most of the match, Columbus would allow the Dynamo to score a penalty kick goal to tie things up 1-1, but the Crew still advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win on aggregate.
In the first leg of the semifinal, the Crew faced off against Tigres at Lower.com Field on April 3. Before the match could kick off, the teams had to wait out a two-hour rain delay. Without Hernandez for the second match in a row, the Crew relied on attacker Diego Rossi to lead Columbus to a 1-1 tie with his first goal of 2024.
At Estadio Universitario in Mexico for the second leg on April 9, the Crew had to get at least one goal to avoid elimination, as road goals are tie breakers in Champions Cup play. It was Rossi once again who scored for Columbus, but with striker Andre-Pierre Gignac netting one for Tigres with his second goal of the series, the teams finished regulation tied 1-1.
The teams played two 15-minute extra-time periods. After 120 overall minutes of play and the series still tied 2-2 on aggregate, Columbus and Tigres went to a penalty shootout.
Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte saved Tigres’ first two penalty kicks, and with every player besides Hernandez hitting their attempts for Columbus, the club advanced to its first Champions Cup semifinals. The Crew also made tournament history by becoming the first MLS team to defeat a Liga MX team after failing to win its home leg.
In the semifinals against CF Monterrey, the Crew took a 2-1 lead in the first leg behind goals from Hernandez and Jacen Russell-Rowe.
Despite an early goal from Pachuca in the second leg to tie the series, Aidan Morris put the first of Columbus’ three goals in that match on the board, and the Crew secured a spot in the final on May 1 with a 5-2 aggregate score.
How did CF Pachuca make it to the semifinals?
Similar to the Crew, CF Pachuca had a bye into the round of 16. Pachuca started its tournament against the Philadelphia Union. After a scoreless draw in the first half, Pachuca advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating the Union 6-0 in the second leg.
Pachuca’s next opponent was Costa Rica’s CS Herediano, who the club handled easily, winning both matches in the series with a 7-1 aggregate score.
Before advancing to the final, Pachuca had to face Club America in the semifinals, a team that the Crew under coach Wilfried Nancy is familiar with after meeting in Leagues Cup last year. In Pachuca’s closest series of the tournament, the club overcame Club America 3-2 aggregate.
CF Pachuca past CONCACAF Champion Cup final appearances
- 2017: Defeated Tigres 2-1 aggregate
- 2010: Tied Cruz Azul 2-2 aggregate, won series on away goals
- 2008: Defeated Deportivo Saprissa 3-2 aggregate
- 2007: Tied CD Guadalajara 2-2 aggregate, won series 7-6 in penalty kicks
- 2002: Defeated Atletico Morelia 1-0 one-game final
Columbus Crew in past CONCACAF Champions Cup tournaments
- 2003: Lost to Atletico Morelia 6-2 aggregate in the quarterfinals
- 2010: Lost to Toluca Futbol Club 5-4 aggregate in the quarterfinals
- 2011: Lost to Real Salt Lake 4-1 aggregate in the quarterfinals
- 2021: Lost to CF Monterrey 5-2 aggregate in the quarterfinals
What is CONCACAF Champions Cup?
The Champions Cup is an annual competition run by CONCACAF, the regional governing body in soccer for North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament includes 27 teams from 10 countries.
Each round, up until the final, will include two legs (two games) and the winner will be determined by the aggregate score (the combined number of goals scored by the two teams).
The final will consist of one match, with the winner qualifying for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
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First appeared on www.dispatch.com