He Columbus Crew American, current MLS champion, broke all the predictions this Wednesday and defeated the United States 1-3 at home. Rayados de Monterrey and qualified for the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Aidan Morris, the Uruguayan Diego Rossi and the Canadian Jacen Russell-Rowe scored for Crew, who won 2-1 in the first leg of the semi-final away from home and this Wednesday they entered the Monterrey stadium to seal the series by one score total of 2-5, in the return duel. The Ukrainian Yevhen Cheberko, with an own goal, put the Rayados ahead.
In the 11th minute, Argentine Jorge Rodríguez sent a deep cross into the area that his compatriot Maximiliano Meza captured to hit the crossbar and in an attempt to clear it, Cheberko sent it into his goal to make it 1-0.
When it seemed that Monterrey had the game and the series in the bag, in first-half stoppage time, an attempt by the Argentine Esteban Andrada, Monterrey’s goalkeeper, led to the Crew’s comeback with a goal from Morris’s crescent, for 1-1.
Sergio Canales is left without the Champions Cup final
In the second half, the Americans sealed their place in the final with a filtered pass from Romanian Alexandru Matan that Rossi converted with his left foot into the 1-2 scoreline that left the Rayados on the canvas. Monterrey tried to get into the series, but Patrick Schulte, Columbus’ goal, rejected shots from Sergio Canales, in the 68th, and Brandon Vázquez, in the 72nd, to sign his team’s place in the duel for the title.
Matru added his second assist of the game in the 89th, now on a counterattack, which allowed Jacen Russell-Rowe to score 1-3; The Crew still allowed themselves to miss a penalty in stoppage time. The MLS champion will face each other in the final, in which Concacaf’s last ticket to the Club World Cup will be at stake, Tuzos del Pachuca, who last Tuesday dispatched the Águilas del América, champions of Mexican soccer.
DATA SHEET
1 – Monterrey: Esteban Andrada; Víctor Guzmán, Sebastián Vegas (Héctor Moreno m.43), Stefan Medina, Gerardo Arteaga; Luis Romo (Brandon Vázquez m.54), Jesús Gallardo (Jordi Cortizo m.54), Jorge Rodríguez; Germán Berterame, Sergio Canales, Maximiliano Meza (Rodrigo Aguirre m.69)
3 – Columbus Crew: Patrick Schulte; Sean Zawadzki, Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho, Yevhen Cheberko, Yaw Yeboah (Malte Amundsen m.74); Diego Rossi, Darlington Nagbe, Aidan Morris (Derrick Amaniampong m.73); Marino Hineztroza (Alexandru Matan m.45; Christian Ramírez m.90+1) and Juan Camilo Hernández (Jacen Russell-Rowe m.85)
Goals: 1-0, Yevhen Cheberko (own goal, m. 11); 1-1, Aidan Morris (m. 45+4); 1-2, Diego Rossi (m. 49); 1-3, Jacen Russell-Rowe (d. 89)
Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón, from Costa Rica. He booked Darlington Nagbe and Sebastián Vegas
Incidents: Second leg of the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, held at the BBVA stadium, in northern Mexico.
