Tigres’ hopes of first international title extinguished as Pachuca earn CCL Final glory

Pachuca were crowned CONCACAF Champions League winners after a late Franco Jara goal helped the Hidalgo side to a 2-1 aggregate victory over Tigres.

The Tuzos ran out of the first leg with an away goal advantage after Eduardo Vargas missed a second half penalty that would have given Tigres the lead.

Pachuca arrived to this match on the back of an astounding run of 32 straight games without a defeat at home, but after forcing Nahuel Guzman to a pair of saves, the hosts found themselves on the back foot.

Andre-Pierre Gignac was the first to come close to leveling the score after connecting with a Javier Aquino cross before the same Gignac rattled the woodwork from outside the box.

Pachuca were undeterred, though, and after going into the break scoreless, things went from bad to worse for the visitors when the talismanic Guido Pizarro was sent off for a second yellow.

Up a man, Pachuca’s impressive defensive form continued, as Tigres stormed forward in search of the winner.

Finally in the 83rd minute, Hirving Lozano took aim from outside the box, forcing Guzman to save. The rebound fell to Franco Jara, who made no mistake from point-blank range to give Pachuca their fifth North American title.