Eduardo Vargas had a second half penalty saved as Tigres were held 1-1 by Pachuca in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League Final clash.
It was a breathless start from Pachuca, who opened the scoring after only three minutes when a Raul “Dedos” Lopez free kick found its way past Nahuel Guzman following an Eduardo Vargas deflection.
As Tigres came forward in search of an equalizer, an in-form Andre-Pierre Gignac came only inches of leveling the score after latching on to an Eduardo Vargas pass.
The hosts continued to threaten, and they eventually got their reward in the 32nd minute when Ismael Sosa took advantage of an Alfonso Blanco error to put the score at 1-1 heading to the break.
In the second half, Tigres attempted to press home a second, and deservedly earned a penalty in the 67th minute for an Erick Gutierrez handball. Eduardo Vargas stepped up, but Alfonso Blanco thwarted Vargas’ penalty in superb fashion to keep the score at 1-1.
Pachuca had a brilliant chance score a second in the 83rd minute when a Franco Jara through ball put Jonathan Urretaviscaya on a 1 v. 1 situation with goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman, but the Argentina national team goalkeeper made a fantastic save to preserve the scoreline at 1-1
Both teams will meet again for the return leg next Wednesday at the Estadio Hildalgo.