Crew comes back to beat Monterrey and will settle the CONCACAF title with Pachuca

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — With goals from Aidan Morris, Diego Rossi and Jacen Rusell-Rowe, the Columbus Crew came back as a visitor to beat Monterrey 3-1 on Wednesday and qualified for the final of the Champions Cup CONCACAF where they will face Pachuca.

The Argentine Maximiliano Meza put the locals ahead in the 10th minute, but Morris leveled it in the 45th, the Uruguayan Rossi scored another goal in the 49th and Rusell-Rowe sealed the score in the 89th for the American team, which advanced to the final with a global score of 5-2.

CONCACAF has not yet revealed the venue or the day on which the final will be held, which will be played in a single match.

Pachuca, which eliminated América in the other key, is going for its sixth crown in the area while Columbus is looking for its first.

The Crew seeks to be the second MLS team in the last three years to win the CONCACAF final. A couple of years ago, the Seattle Sounders defeated Pumas in the championship series.

The winner of the match between Columbus and the Tuzos will get their ticket to the Club World Cup that will be held next year on fields in the United States.

The setback is painful for the Rayados, the team with the highest payroll in Liga MX, which must now focus on seeking the Clausura tournament championship.

Monterrey will face Tigres in one of the quarterfinal series next week.

Argentine coach Fernando Ortiz lost his fifth semifinal since leading Mexico’s first division. He previously fell three times at the head of América (Clausura 2022, Apertura 2022 and Clausura 2023) and twice as strategist for Monterrey (Leagues Cup 2023 and this semifinal against Columbus).

The Rayados took the lead when Argentine Jorge Rodríguez sent a 30-meter pass to Meza, who lowered the ball and finished with a shot placed over goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. They thus equalized the overall score, after the 2-1 victory achieved the previous week by Columbus.

As the first half expired, Argentine goalkeeper Esteban Andrada made a mistake when delivering a compromised hand clearance. Morris stole it to head into the area before converting with a low shot against the right post.

At the start of the second half, the visitors took the lead on the return leg and extended it overall when Rossi received a pass from Shawn Zawadski in the center of the area and converted with a shot that went in close to Andrada’s right post.

Towards the end of the match, with Monterrey already blurred, Russell-Rowe received a ball on the left wing in a quick transition and took advantage of a hasty exit from Andrada to finish with a low shot.

Columbus could have achieved the victory in the agony, with a penalty taken by Christian Ramírez and saved by Andrada.