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Pachuca stuns FC Dallas with stoppage time winner to book spot in CCL final

Photo by Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports

For years, MLS teams have struggled to find much success on Mexican soil. On Tuesday, that trend continued as FC Dallas became the latest to fall to Liga MX opposition, and they did so in one of the most painful ways possible.

FC Dallas was eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday night via a 3-1 win for Liga MX side Pachuca at the Estadio Hidalgo. The win saw Pachuca finish the two-legged series with a 4-3 aggregate win over their MLS counterparts.

Just moments after a late equalizer from Cristian Colman, Pachuca stunned FC Dallas with a goal from Hirving Lozano, knocking the MLS side out of the competition with a stoppage time finish.

With the match dwindling and FC Dallas in need of a goal, Colman appeared to push the MLS side into extra time, lofting a headed shot into the back of the net on a Carlos Gruezo cross. Free in the center of the box, Colman, who missed several shots throughout the match, flicked a header backwards and past Alfonso Blanco to push the scoreline to 2-1 and 3-3 on aggregate. Still, it wasn’t to be, as Lozano fired past Chris Seitz moments later to seal the win.

Pachuca originally broke through in the 39th minute as a cross from Urreta opened up the FC Dallas defense. The ball in from the right side bounced dangerously in front of Seitz, who was left helpless as Franco Jara headed home to give the hosts the advantage.

From there, FC Dallas squandered chance after chance. Colman missed one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper, while Michael Barrios couldn’t touch a wonderful Kellyn Acosta cross into the back of the net with what proved to be one of the game’s best chances.

In the 80th minute, Lozano fired his first of the day, beating Seitz from range with what looked to be the winning goal. Following Colman’s equalizer, Lozano struck again, sealing the win.

With the win, Pachuca now awaits the winner of Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League semifinal, which pits the Vancouver Whitecaps against Tigres.

MAN OF THE MATCH

When he wasn’t being physically wrangled by the FC Dallas defense, Hirving Lozano was an absolute terror. The Mexican winger was outstanding even without his two goals, showing exactly why he’ll attract major European offers this summer

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Lozano’s late goal is the obvious choice. Destined for extra time, Lozano broke the deadlock with just moments remaining, sending his side to the CCL final.

MATCH TO FORGET

Chris Seitz wasn’t the only FC Dallas player to struggle on Tuesday, but he will receive a bit of blame for his part in the loss. Miscommunication doomed FCD on the first goal while Seitz could have done better on the second. The third came moments after a short goal kick, one which, if hoofed long, could have carried FCD to extra time.

Comments

  1. Dallas couldn’t have gone out any worse than that! Zimmerman was poor last night, and Hedges wasn’t much better. Acosta however, is starting to boss games and its impressive to see. It makes you wonder if its time to start getting him more involved with the first 11 on the USMNT!!!!!

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  2. Looking bleak for MLS again with Tigres up 2 goals on aggregate against Vancouver and Vancouver has no away goals. Another year all LigaMX final looks likely.

    Sick of it really. Sick of hearing how we only need more time to develop the league and players. Sick of hoping and going no where. Sick of blaming the calendar or lack of fan interest or support. Sick of all the excuses why we can’t compete on the same level as LigaMX.

    Can’t say MLS is even on same level as LigaMX. Dallas was our best shot this year and they got owned.

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    • Losing by one on aggregate isn’t exactly getting owned. Objectively, LigaMX is better than MLS. The gap is closing though. FCD-Pachuca was a series worth watching with entertaining soccer and plenty of chances for either side to advance. Even if the league’s were equals, that’s all you can really ask for.

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    • Take out the last “owned” portion of his post and he provides a very valid outlook shared by a lot of MLS fans.

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  3. Lozano… that kid was awesome. And we didn’t have a better answer than to foul him. I can’t help but wonder what kind of difference Mauro would have made in this game, but the gaps between the leagues are closing. It was an exciting game to watch.

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    • Good point — FCD was playing without their best player. And as good as Lozano was, Acosta might have been just as good in a much different way. He dominated the midfield and created some great chances.

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  4. MLS is still nowhere near as good of quality as Liga Mex. No matter how man new franchises and fancy stadiums you build, the quality and roster depth is not even close. Results don’t lie…

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    • I think even the staunchest MLS fans would agree that depth remains the achilles heel from reaching the “next level”.

      (That and my personal opinion: lack of coaching quality)

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  5. Pachuca committed 9 fouls to Dallas’ 18
    out of those 18, 8 were against Lozano.
    Does anybody remember certain outrage not long ago about the fouls committed against certain US youngster?
    Anybody?

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  6. Dallas’ strategy was to beat the leaving sheat out the Lozano kid. He still scored two goals.
    Maybe try the play soccer strategy next time?

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  7. You can argue Pachucha was a little better in the two games. However, you need to take into account home field advantage. Pachucha’s crowd was 100x more intimidating.

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    • I’m not sure if this was true this time around, but when I went down to Pachuca to watch the Dynamo play in 2009 (and I believe it was also true in 2007), the team opened the stadium’s gates to the public for free so that they could pack the house with as many fans as possible who were screaming to see their yankee neighbors sent home with a loss.

      I’m not saying this is a dirty trick or even a bad thing. it’s just what they do. And it works.

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    • Just looked it up and Pachuca is at 7,900 feet. So fatigue may have played a big part at the end. A number of Mexican teams play at altitude.

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  8. Acosta had a great match. His star continues to rise quickly. Overall, a good showing for FCD. A little bit unfortunate not to advance as they had more than their share of chances. I predict that MLS will win CCL within the next three years. Hopefully this Dallas team can keep building and be in position to compete over that time. They, much more so than RSL or Montreal were (as close as they both came), are legitimate threats to Liga MX.

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    • Don, I’m not trolling or being snarky. I’m sincerely interested in what you are basing your prediction on. Especially given your three year window. I just don’t see it. I believe that there is a good possibility that an MLS club will make it to a final in the next three. I just don’t seeing them being able to win it. There is just too much of a talent and depth difference between Liga MX and MLS clubs and I don’t anticipate that is going to change in such a short amount of time.

      What gives you so much optimism?

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      • Yank,

        They lost in extra time in the semis. It is really that big of a leap to say next three years?
        Especially with the speed at which teams are getting better in MLS. American players are better and better every year. Add on top of that guys like Lodeiro or Blanco being added to the Morris and Nagbes.

        MLS is doing such a great job providing soccer for us, with a promise of even better every year, I am at the stage of not caring, feeling like I have to root for MLS because of the chip on a shoulder, but rather just enjoying the great soccer….unless it is my Sounders.

        I can understand a guy like Rob not getting that, but for others you would think more people would be on that page.

      • This is a response to Quit Whining About Soccer in the US.

        Sure they lost in extra time in the semi-finals, but so did the Dynamo ten years ago, and they did it against a much stronger Pachuca team with players like Chaco Gimenez, Gabriel Caballero and Miguel Calero. MLS teams have long found middling success in the tournament, but I see nothing about Dallas’ performance this time around that hasn’t been done before and better.

      • TexasDevin,

        I disagree completely. Houston teams of ten years ago, not even close to where Dallas is now.
        Not really sure how you can think that, but everyone has their own opinions.

        Does MLS have a bit to go? Sure, how about more than 1/10th the average team salary as someone noted below, how about someone go to a Dallas game to help solve that………but to be close with that kind of salary discrepancy……MLS is doing very well and will continue to progress.

      • I disagree completely. Houston teams of ten years ago, not even close to where Dallas is now.

        “Different”. Sure.

        But as a staunch MLS supporter I’m surprised by how quickly you forget or may be unaware of how talented that team was. Houston in it’s heyday under Kinnear had some serious talent for MLS (and a nice collection of capped USMNT players/players that would go on to Europe).

    • The influx of talent into the league this year was significant. The trend suggests that all teams will continue this significant growth, which might not be a year over year thing, but there should be another round of big signings within the next three years. Consider that we are finally starting to some real production from homegrown players, and that is another way that teams are significantly improving themselves. Given those trends and with their ability to develop talent, Dallas could be even better in another three years. Seattle is not far back and probably adding Honda this summer. They could be a player in the next three years (considering the depth and mid level talent should get better over that time also). Portland is a really good team right now, and I think they could go toe to toe with Liga MX teams right now. DC is kind of a sleeping giant. They could be up to big things as early as next year when they finally open their new stadium and start investing in their roster more. Atlanta has proven they are a force to be reckoned with, and three more years of growth could bring something special. The New York teams have loads of potential, but have certain things holding them back. The LA market will be interesting over the next three years — will LAFC be able to do something similar to what we are seeing with ATL UTD? Will the Gals come out of this transition period as a dominant team once again?

      My prediction is admittedly optimistic, but I don’t think that is off base given the growth that we have seen over the last 3-5 years.

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      • DL, thanks a lot for such a detailed and thoughtful response. I still disagree but I better understand your thought process to show you arrived to make such a bold prediction.

        Maximum respect, Player…

      • You bet, Yanki. Appreciate the response. I understand it’s bold and optimistic. I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen in the next 3 years, but I would be if it doesn’t happen in the next 5. One thing is for sure — it’s only a matter of time.

      • Until our salary cap is in that $20-30mil range, we’re going to be behind LigaMX.

        That being said, we made a huge jump this year. When we got the TV contract and pushed the cap up to $3mil that was our first boost, but they added a ton of GAM/TAM for each team this year and it shows. Most teams were able to not just improve their starters, but finally be able to significantly increase their depth.

        It’s the depth which has always been the achilles heel for MLS. MLS teams typically have a chunk of their starters who have no problem dealing with LigaMX competition, but the drop-off has been traditionally steep. I think we’re finally rounding that bend.

    • About 2 years ago I predicted that MLS would be about even with League MX in about 3 to 5 years. It looks like it will be about that 5 year time frame, or 3 years from now. MLS has two advantages. One, they have been able to draw players from a lot more countries than the Mexican League, which mainly draws from Latin America and, lately, the US. Very few Europeans or those from other areas. Second, more players would choose to live in the US if the salary differential is small. The US is still a draw, much more than Mexico is for foreigners.

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  9. After they scored the tying goal on aggregate, Dallas seemed to let up. Pachuca almost scored immediately after when Dallas were slow to get back. Then Dallas had a horrible turn over in their final third which almost led to a goal. On the winning goal the shot, which was probably intended as a pass, wasn’t even challenged and the defender played about three yards off him and didn’t even try to pressure the shooter. It was one of those shots where it was intended as a pass for a teammate running across in front of goal, The defender had inside position and both players missed it and it bounced just inside the far post without being touched. A horrible way to lose, but Dallas has no one to blame but themselves as they seemed to stop playing, thinking they had the draw.

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  10. As poor as FCD executed, still a crushing way to go out. I’d be scouting for a replacement for Coleman. All the young talent in the world won’t matter without someone who can finish

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