In a wild Copa MX final, struggling Puebla beat first-place Chivas Guadalajara 4-2 to lift the trophy and send Mexican legend Cuauhtémoc Blanco off into his political career with a championship.
Tuesday night's final included wild momentum swings, former MLS players on both sides and a stoppage-time power outage to boot. In the end, Puebla, currently last in the Liga MX relegation standings, advance to a Supercopa MX meeting with fall Copa winner Santos Laguna to determine the country's third and final entrant into the 2016 Copa Libertadores.
Much of the night looked like a coronation. With US international and former Philadelphia Union center back Michael Orozco starting but American forward Herculez Gomez (5 goals in the tournament) on the bench, Puebla jumped out to a 2-0 lead against a disorganized Chivas back line in the first half.
Former D.C. United center back Facundo Erpen opened the scoring in the sixth minute, and Luis Gabriel Rey made it 2-0 in the 25th minute.
But Chivas, with on-loan Houston Dynamo Designated Player Erick 'Cubo' Torres starting up front after scoring the series-winner in the semifinals, rallied in the second half.
In the 54th minute, Mexican international Aldo de Nigris sent in a dangerous cross toward Torres, and after a failed clearance attempt near the penalty spot, the ball squirted off the hands of Puebla goalkeeper Fabián Villaseñor and wound up in the back of the net. De Nigris struck again less than a minute later, scoring a more conventional goal after a corner kick fell to him, to tie the game. It was also the fifth goal scored by de Nigris in the tournament, tying him with Gomez and Sinaloa's Raúl Enríquez for the most in the tournament.
But Puebla's veteran Argentine forward Matías Alustiza converted a penalty kick in the 59th minute (Blanco had not yet enteredd the game) and scored again in the 67th to restore the two-goal edge.
Chivas had a chance to start another comeback when they were awarded a second-half penalty kick, but de Nigris fired wide of the target.
In the game's dying minutes, the ball fell to Blanco near the top of the penalty area, but he could not convert one more goal to cap his legendary career. A power outage of more than 10 minutes during stoppage time added to a crazy night before the final whistle gave Puebla, and Blanco, the title.
Gomez did not get off the bench for Puebla, but former Chivas USA midfielder Mario de Luna did appear as a substitute. Former Sporting Kansas City forward Omar Bravo and former Real Salt Lake defender Carlos Salcedo were unused substitutes for Chivas, who play Champions League finalist Club América in Liga MX play this weekend.
