Montreal Impact vs. Pachuca
Olympic Stadium - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, 2nd leg
March 3, 8 pm ET (FOX Sports 2-US, Galavision-US; Sportsnet One-CAN, TVA Sports-CAN)
A well-deserved 2-2 draw in Mexico puts the Montreal Impact in the driver’s seat as they face Pachuca on Tuesday in the second game of their series. Thanks to two away goals by Dilly Duka, Montreal can approach the second leg of this tie with a similar mindset to the first, and the Tuzos have to score if they are to have a chance to progress to the semifinals, where either D.C. United or Alajuelense await (Alajuelense won the home leg 5-2).
The Impact’s encouraging performance has kept the Montreal ticket sales department busy. There is still much to do if the Impact faithful are to match their turnout from the last time the club went this far in the competition, when 55,571 supporters saw then-second division Montreal defeat Santos Laguna 2-0 in February 2009. But as of Monday afternoon, the club had sold more than 30,000 tickets for the game – more than 10,000 in the previous five days alone.
With a new-look lineup, Montreal executed their game plan to near-perfection last Tuesday at Estadio Hidalgo. Sitting deep, they conceded possession to Pachuca but kept them at bay for large portions of the game. Duka opened the scoring in the 25th minute when he picked up a Donny Toia pass, cut inside from the left and squeezed a shot between Aquivaldo Mosquera’s legs and just inside the near post. Duka added a second in the 53rd minute when he tapped home a rebound after Justin Mapp beat his man and forced a save from Óscar Pérez.
But Pachuca rallied with two goals in 12 minutes to tie the game. Heriberto Olvera closed the gap in the 56th minute when his free kick slightly deflected off the wall and beat goalkeeper Evan Bush to his left. Ariel Nahuelpán equalized in the 68th when Bush collided with center back Laurent Ciman, deflecting a low cross in the Pachuca forward’s path.
Pachuca are coming off a first loss in four games in Liga MX. Having jumped to a 2-0 lead within 35 minutes on Friday night, they lost 3-2 at Tijuana, conceding two goals in the last 10 minutes. Diego De Buen and Rodolfo Pizarro scored for the Tuzos, who were shorthanded for the last 33 minutes after center back Aquivaldo Mosquera was shown a second yellow card.
How they qualified:
- Montreal: Group 3 winner, seed No. 4 (3-0-1; 10 pts, 6 GF/3 GA)
- Pachuca: Group 1 winner, seed No. 5 (3-1-0; 9 pts, 17 GF/8 GA)
The Opponent – What you need to know about Pachuca
Coach: Diego Alonso (Uruguay)
Position: 13th in Liga MX (3-4-1; 7 pts, 10 GF/10 GA; Last five games: L-W-W-D-L)
Best CCL/Champions' Cup finish: Winners (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009-10)
Star Player: Jurgen Damm
Montreal managed to shut him down for most of the first leg, but make no mistake about it: Damm is as dangerous a wide player as the Impact defenders are likely to face this season.
His pace can trouble any defense, and his ability to get past his marker and deliver a good cross or cutback in the box can wreak havoc – as Montreal found out in the first 10 minutes at the Estadio Hidalgo.
You may recognize: Walter Ayoví
A bright spot in Ecuador’s 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign with two assists in three games, Ayoví remains dependable in spite of his advancing years. The 35-year-old has seen Heriberto Olvera stake a claim for the left back spot this term, but head coach Diego Alonso still trusts him, either at his preferred position or in the center of the park.
Ayoví stayed on the bench for the first leg. He also played no part in last Friday’s 3-2 defeat at Tijuana. Should he be needed, he will be fresh.
- Get the latest Montreal news at ImpactMontreal.com
Possible Lineups:
- Montreal (4-2-3-1): Bush; Cabrera, Ciman, Soumare, Toia; Donadel, Reo-Coker; Mapp, Piatti, Duka; Oduro
- Pachuca (4-2-3-1): Perez; Pizarro, Herrera, Mosquera, Olvera; Gutierrez, De Buen; Damm, Sornoza, Lozano; Cano
Why Montreal will win: If we learned anything from last Tuesday’s first leg, it’s that the Impact are a much more disciplined and compact side than in 2014. Despite the change of scenery, the circumstances aren’t much different: Pachuca, as the home team last week, had to take the game to Montreal. This Tuesday, Pachuca have to be just as aggressive – a 0-0 tie gets the Impact through to the next round. Furthermore, Montreal have had a full week to rest and train on Olympic Stadium’s artificial field, while Pachuca had to play at Tijuana and make the 2,500-mile journey to Montreal, where more than 30,000 Impact supporters await at the Big O.
Why Pachuca will win: The first leg result may have disappointed them, but Pachuca are still Pachuca. This is a team that know how to win in CCL: They’re four-time continental champions. The sample size is small, but in two away games in this CCL edition, they’ve scored nine goals and conceded six. A high-scoring game would favor them here. The turf field at the Big O is, in theory, an issue. But Pachuca trained on turf at their training center last week, and they played their most recent Liga MX game on Tijuana’s artificial field – they’ll be ready. Montreal’s field is wider than Hidalgo’s; Pachuca’s tricky wide men could find big pockets of space in which to operate.
