Match Reports

DC United Falls To Pachuca

United did everything right except keep it to a one goal margin in Estadio Hidalgo Mexico. They took the game to the Mexicans for large stretches of the match, and hung tough for the most part when the Mexicans got the upper hand. But, sadly gave up a couple of crucial goals at the worst possible times and now face a gargantuan task to advance in to the finals of the Concacaf Champions Cup.

DC United had a couple of glorious opportunities to take control of the match early on, but Emilio was a step too slow to convert a possible breakaway in the 7th minute, and Niell was also a bit too slow on the uptake when Emilio slipped him in for a possible breakaway ten minutes later.

DC clearly had more than a few chances to break the game early on, but they were so focused on not giving anything up, that they flubbed their chances to take control of the entire series by scoring themselves when the Mexican side was flat and out of sorts.

Sure enough, DC allowed Pachuca to hang around long enough that they began to turn the match and get some serious chances of their own.

A Rodriguez cross to Cacho unmarked in the box was barely saved as he fortunately chose to shoot right at Zach Wells in the 32nd minute. Then it was Andres Chitiva who slipped it in to Caballero, only to see his snap shot barely miss past the post barely two minutes later.

Still, 0-0 at the half had to be a huge moral victory for the MLS side. Unfortunately, Pachuca’s ineffectiveness led to the introduction of Luis Montez to the left side of their midfield and he changed the game with the deciding goals of this match, both of which allowed him to tie McTavish for the tournament scoring lead.

His first was a cracker in the 63rd minute as he got on the end of a deep ball by Pinto down the left wing and saw Wells off his line. Full of piss and vinegar, he bulleted a startling shot from a ridiculous angle into the near post catching Wells cheating towards a cross in order to give Los Tuzos the one goal lead.

He then allowed Pachuca to stretch the lead to two in the 81st minute when Mctavish was called for a foul just outside the box in the 80th minute. It could easily have been a penalty kick, but regardless Christian Gimenez struck a lovely ball that fooled Gonzalo Martinez into allowing Montez to ghost into the back post for his second goal of the match, and third of the tournament, tying him with McTavish for the scoring lead in this Concacaf Cup.

With the 2-0 loss, DC United needs to win by two goals in RFK next week in order to force a 30 minute overtime, and then penalty kicks would decide the match. Should United win by 3, they would advance to the Concacaf final versus either the Houston Dynamo or Saprissa of Costa Rica who play tomorrow night.

Pachuca is the last Mexican team left in the tournament. Only twice in the past twelve years has a Concacaf final not featured a Mexican side.

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