Pachuca outlasts Tigres to win CONCACAF Champions League title
Pachuca is CONCACAF's Champions League winner after riding Franco Jara's goal to a 1-0 second leg victory and a 2-1 aggregate triumph over Tigres UANL.
The two Liga MX sides drew 1-1 in the first leg, with Raul Lopez's early away goal giving Pachuca the edge entering Wednesday night. Jara's 83rd-minute goal–his sixth of the competition–was the icing, as Los Tuzos lifted the trophy on home soil. Tigres, which boasts attacking stars Andre-Pierre Gignac, Javier Aquino and Jurgen Damm, couldn't break through in the final third, and the club's task became more difficult when it was reduced to 10 men after Guido Pizarro's second yellow card in the 78th minute.
The result makes a winner out of U.S. international center back Omar Gonzalez, who adds a continental trophy to his list of accolades after being a part of Pachuca's 2016 Clausura championship as well.
The title is Pachuca's first since 2009-2010 and fifth overall (second in the current format of the competition), while for Tigres UANL, the loss marks the second straight year of falling short in the final after losing to America last season.
Pachuca will play in the FIFA Club World Cup as CONCACAF's representative in December.
