Houston Dynamo and CF Pachuca of Mexico added another chapter to their brief but rich history, the Mexican side advancing to the inaugural SuperLiga final in a penalty kick shootout after the teams battled to a 2-2 tie over 120 minutes.
Within the opening quarter-hour, Dynamo had scored a goal -- and gone a man down. Pachuca scored a goal in each half to seemingly put the game away, until Houston battled back from their manpower disadvantage to tie the game in the 83rd minute.
Each team had a player sent off over the final 35 minutes, but after neither team scored, the semifinal was decided in a shootout. The two teams each converted their first three kicks, but Dynamo missed their last two and Rafael Marquez Lugo converted the final one to give Pachuca the 4-3 victory.
Pachuca, the current Mexican Primera Division champion and holder of both the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and Copa Sudamericana, will face either D.C. United or the LA Galaxy in the Aug. 29 championship.
The teams met earlier this year in a remarkable semifinal series in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Dynamo won the first leg 2-0, but Pachuca took the return match 5-2 in Mexico to advance to the final.
On Tuesday at Robertson Stadium, the stage was set for another classic match as Dynamo took the lead after just four minutes. Brian Mullan rounded a defender on the right side before pulling a pass back to Dwayne De Rosario at the edge of the six-yard box. De Rosario mis-hit his first-time shot, but it flew straight up and off his head, looping over Pachuca goalkeeper Miguel Calero to give the Orange the early lead.
But in the 13th minute, Dynamo went a man down when referee Roberto Moreno showed a red card to Dynamo defender Patrick Ianni for pulling Christian Gimenez down just outside the box.
Pachuca took advantage of being up a man in the 28th minute when Carlos Rodriguez slipped past Mullan in the left side of the area and found Juan Carlos Cacho with a perfectly timed pass in the middle of the goal area. Cacho strolled in behind Dynamo 'keeper Pat Onstad and touched home the easiest of finishes into the empty goal.
While a man down, the Orange were creating some good chances in the Pachuca end. They nearly re-took the lead two minutes before the half when a corner kick flew over the packed goalmouth and landed at Craig Waibel's feet at the far post. His first-time shot back across the goal had Calero frozen, but it just skimmed the outside of the post.
The visitors took the lead in the 61st minute. Joseph Ngwenya's clearing header from inside the area didn't go far, and Andres Chitiva, on the edge of the box, turned around and fired a low shot that beat Onstad inside the near post.
Chitiva was booked in the 83rd minute -- to that point the fourth caution of the match, in addition to the red card -- and it would have serious implications. From the resulting free kick, Richard Mulrooney lofted a free kick into the goalmouth where Eddie Robinson headed it into the lower left corner, tying the game at 2-2.
Then just two minutes later, Chitiva took the ball at the top of the Dynamo area and tried to dribble to his right toward the center of the goal. He seemed to lose the ball and tried to draw a foul in the process, and referee Moreno agreed, showing Chitiva a yellow card for simulation, and then the red for his second caution on the night, leaving both teams with 10 players.
Pachuca had a couple of half-chances in the first extra-time period, but just before the midway point, things got crazy again. Substitute Corey Ashe was tackled hard by Jaime Correa, and when Correa went to help Ashe up, Ashe gave Correa an elbow to the face. Correa was given a yellow card for the tackle, and Ashe was given a red card for the elbow, sending Houston down a man again. On the night, the teams combined for eight yellow cards (four for each team) and the three red cards.
Dynamo had one of their best chances of the game in the second overtime period when Chris Wondolowski received a pass from Ching, but his shot from inside the area on the right was blocked by a diving Calero, who managed to get control of the ball before it went out of bounds.
After 120 minutes, the game was to be decided by penalty kicks, and each team hit their first three. Barrett, Wondolowski and Mulrooney all converted for Houston, while Fernando Salazar, Gabriel Caballero and Luis Gabriel Rey all answered for Pachuca.
Ching, however, missed a chance to give Houston back the lead as his penalty hit off the left post and came straight back out. But, Pachuca couldn't capitalize as Damian Alvarez's shot was saved by Onstad, who made a diving grab to his right.
But Ngwenya couldn't give Dynamo the advantage as his soft shot right down the middle was easily saved by Calero. Rafeal Marquez Lugo's attempt went over Onstad's dive to his right, giving Pachuca the victory and a berth in the first SuperLiga final.
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
