Salomon Rondon recorded a brace to lead host CF Pachuca to a 3-0 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday in the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Rondon’s goals in the 12th and 67th minutes sandwiched a 32nd-minute tally from Miguel Rodriguez against the reigning MLS Cup champions.
Pachuca advances to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup next summer in the United States. The 32-team field includes Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. Pachuca also qualified for the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
The last MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup was the Seattle Sounders, who prevailed in 2022.
The Crew were in their first CONCACAF final after beating two Mexican sides earlier in the tournament. They defeated Tigres UANL on penalties after tying 2-2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals and overpowered Monterrey to win the semifinals 5-2 on aggregate.
CF Pachuca are 6-0 in the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, with victories in 2002, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2017.
Columbus nearly got off to a rousing start when Diego Rossi forced a save by Carlos Moreno just 15 seconds into the match, but it was all Pachuca after that, beginning with Rondon’s chip shot in the 12th minute over Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte after a through ball from Nelson Deossa.
Two minutes later, it would have been 2-0 on a goal by Oussama Idrissi, but a video review determined that Rondon had fouled Rudy Camacho before the build-up.
Undeterred, Rodriguez completed a three-man break with a left-footed shot from the right side of the box on the counter for a 2-0 CF Pachuca lead after Cucho Hernandez misfired on a point-blank shot at the other end.
Rondon then sealed the victory with his second-half goal.
The Crew tried to rally with a Hernandez shot, but it was saved in the 71st minute. A strike by Jacen Russell-Rowe then went off the left post six minutes later.
Pachuca led in shots (23-11) and shots on target (8-3).
–Field Level Media
