Pachuca 3, FC Dallas 1 | 2016-17 CCL Semifinal Recap

Charles Boehm

Hirving "Chucky" Lozano and Pachuca added another painful chapter to the long history of MLS heartbreak on Mexican soil on Tuesday night, edging past FC Dallas with an injury-time goal to win Leg 2 of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal 3-1 and take the series 3-2 on aggregate.

Protecting a 2-1 aggregate lead from their Leg 1 victory at home, Dallas started brightly and spurned a bevy of inviting scoring chances in the early going, with Cristian Colman particularly wasteful. They were duly punished by Franco Jara's header before halftime, and it looked bleak for FCD when Lozano beat Chris Seitz at his near post in the 80th minute for a 2-0 lead.

But Colman headed a timely finish past Tuzos 'keeper Alfonso Blanco four minutes later to level the series 2-2 on aggregate and one apiece on away goals, setting the stage for a 30-minute extra time to decide who would advance.

That hope was crushed in stunning fashion deep in injury time, however, when Lozano's cross/shot dipped across the run of Victor Guzman, beat Seitz and won the tie, to the delight of a lively crowd at Estadio Hidalgo. Pachuca will meet the winner of the Vancouver Whitecaps-Tigres UANL series in the CCL final later this month.

Goals

38' – PAC – Franco Jara
80' – PAC – Hirving Lozano
86' – DAL – Cristian Colman
90'+2' – PAC – Lozano

Three Things

WOULDA, COULDA, SHOULDA
: On paper this game fits into the history of Liga MX's CCL dominance over MLS. But on the field, FCD had every chance imaginable to get the job done despite long odds. They carved out clear looks at goal over the 90 minutes, held their own in midfield and were literally seconds away from taking it to extra time. One less mistake here or there, and they're in the final.

24'- Colman with the momentum. So close! #PACvFCD pic.twitter.com/GQe6PE128O
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) April 5, 2017

ENORMOUS IN THE ENGINE ROOM: Despite Pachuca's buzzing press and Hidalgo's lung-burning altitude, Kellyn Acosta and Carlos Gruezo were relentless and decisive in the center of the park for Dallas, combining to make 17 recoveries, 5 tackles and 2 interceptions. Acosta also served up probably the best scoring chance of the night for FCD, surging clear into the Pachuca box in the 61st minute and laying an inviting center across the face of goal that went begging despite Colman's run.

CHUCKY TERRORIZES
: Besides the location, the most prominent difference between Legs 1 and 2 was Lozano, the twinkle-toed Mexican international who missed out on last month's game in Texas due to injury. "Chucky" was unstoppable at times, scoring twice and (as with many Liga MX defenders) forcing FCD to foul him 8 times.