One of the most successful teams in CONCACAF Champions League history bowed out of the competition in shocking fashion on Wednesday, when three-time CCL winners Monterrey were eliminated from the competition after they lost 2-1 to Árabe Unido.
Árabe Unido sealed the group with the win, getting goals from Joseph Cox in the 43rd-minute and Jose Gonzalez in the 47th to move to 3-0-0 and book their spot in the quarterfinals. Monterrey, who needed at least a draw to have any hope of advancing, pulled one goal back in the 56th-minute, but couldn’t find the equalizer they needed to extend their run in the tournament.
The match moved Monterrey to 1-2-0 in the CCL. The club lost both of their matches against Árabe Unido, falling 3-2 to the Panamanian club at home in August before losing Wednesday’s match in Panama City. Both Árabe Unido and Monterrey will close out their Group D slates with a final match against Haitian club Don Bosco.
The loss was the latest in a tough run of form for Los Rayados, who are winless in their last five matches in all competitions and currently sit in eighth-place at the midway point of the Liga MX Apertura season.
Arabe Unido are the second team to clinch their spot in the CCL quarterfinals after the Vancouver Whitecaps became the first team to secure a berth in the knockout rounds by clinching Group C with a win at Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday night.
