Tigres end Whitecaps’ Champions League run
VANCOUVER — Andre-Pierre Gignac scored a stunning goal in the 63rd minute as Tigres UANL defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Wednesday night to secure a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League final.
The Mexican champions won the first leg of the semifinal 2-0 and advanced with a 4-1 aggregate victory over the Major League Soccer side.
Damian Alavarez had the other goal for Tigres.
Brek Shea scored just over two minutes into the match to give Vancouver life, but the hosts were unable to find another before Gignac buried the Whitecaps’ hopes with a priceless away goal.
Tigres will take on Pachuca, which beat FC Dallas of MLS in the other semi, in an all-Mexican final later this month.
With star-studded Tigres down 1-0 in the second half, Gignac, a French striker who made six appearances at Euro 2016, took a pass on the edge of the Vancouver penalty area and curled a perfect shot into the top corner past the outstretched hands of ’keeper David Ousted.
The goal meant the Whitecaps needed to score three more times to advance, a miracle that didn’t come close to materializing before Alvarez, who subbed on seconds earlier, blasted a shot into the roof of the net in the 83rd minute.
In hopes of making things uncomfortable for the visitors — Wednesday’s high in Monterrey was 27 C — the Whitecaps decided to leave the retractable roof at B.C. Place Stadium open for the match. But while the temperature at kickoff was 9 C, the rain expected in the forecast never materialized.
After dodging that bullet, the Whitecaps went on the attack with Cristian Techera clipping a ball into the six-yard box that Guzman could only palm out to the waiting Shea, who poked home his first goal with the club.
But the joy of that moment was short-lived for the veteran midfielder after appearing to injure his left leg just moments later when he came together with Luis Rodriguez.
That forced Vancouver head coach Carl Robinson into an early change that saw him bring on 16-year-old Alphonso Davies in place of Shea.