As much praise as Pachuca and its conveyor belt of youth talent has garnered recently in Mexico, the naivety shown in closing out the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) quarterfinal second leg against the Montreal Impact was its downfall on Tuesday.
At 1-0 up and sailing into the semifinals with just one minute left, 19-year-old winger Hirving Lozano had the ball in the opposition penalty area, but decided to go for a second goal instead of keeping it and winding down the clock. When the Montreal Impact won the ball back, Pachuca was stretched, allowing Montreal's defender Calum Mallace to play a pinpoint long ball to rookie forward Cameron Porter, who controlled, brushed past Tuzos winger Jurgen Damm and finished with aplomb.
The Impact advanced on away goals (after a 3-3 aggregate score) and fans went wild at the Olympic Stadium, while Pachuca was wondering how a ball, that just over 10 seconds ago was near the far byline, had just been put beyond 'keeper Oscar "Conejo" Perez and into the net.
A desolate looking Pachuca coach Diego Alonso lamented his side's "innocence" after "dominating most of the game." It was the second time in four days that his team's soft underbelly had been exposed, with Club Tijuana coming from 2-0 behind at halftime to win 3-2 in the Liga MX matchup last Friday.
That's not taking anything away from Montreal Impact, who did have the advantage of the artificial turf on Tuesday, but had earned the series win thanks to a superb 2-2 tie last week in tough conditions in Pachuca.
Against Mexico's oldest club, Montreal, founded as a NASL club in 1992 before joining MLS in 2012, fought hard, used their players' superior physicality and defended deep, reducing the space for Pachuca's wingers to operate in. Crucially, the Impact also offered a regular threat going forward, with winger Dilly Duka particularly effective in the first leg and forward Justin Mapp over both legs.
The MLS outfit also resisted the urge to go on the offensive in front of 38,104 fans inside the Olympic Stadium in the second leg, which could've opened the game to Pachuca's advantage. As it played out, Tuzos enjoyed 64 percent possession in the second leg, but had fewer shots on goal than Montreal.
The Canadian team's coach Frank Klopas had a plan for the two legs and the players stuck to it, playing without fear against Mexican opponents and even frustrating some of Pachuca's younger players on occasion. Klopas also managed to turn the fact his team was coming into the series without any competitive matches on its head by preparing in Mexico for over two weeks for the first leg in Estadio Hidalgo. It was a smart move.
On the field, the game-plan to frustrate a Liga MX side wasn't too dissimilar to San Jose Earthquakes', when they came close to knocking out Toluca in last year's edition of the CCL. On that occasion, the unfancied Earthquakes took Toluca to penalties and the Mexican team's coach Jose Cardozo lamented the MLS side's style of play. In other words, he'd been riled up.
The gameplan proved effective and Montreal fans won't care one bit about the aesthetics and who dominated the match with the victory secure. It also offered a template for others moving forward.
Mexico's record in the CONCACAF Champions League remains strong as both games between Montreal and Pachuca were ties and Club America has to be considered the favorite to lift the title. However,Tuesday was another reminder that the levels of soccer in the region is closing at both club and national team level.
The other truth is that the CCL needed this result. It's good for the rivalry between MLS and Liga MX, gets people talking and next time Pachuca comes up against a MLS side, there'll be an element of revenge. It also means that one of the finalists this year won't be Mexican, something that hasn't happened since Real Salt Lake finished runner-up in 2011.