It was shaky towards the end, but Club América was able to hold on and qualified for the next round of the Concacaf Champions Club after defeating the Philadelphia Union on aggregate. The Aguilas played a game of two halves as they dominated the first half but struggled in the second half. They were lucky that the Union was unable to capitalize on any of their chances. Now the Union return home to resume the regular season while the Aguilas will prepare to face Pumas in the Clasico Capitalino and then
Nashville in the Champions Cup.
América got the ball rolling six minutes into the match thanks to a goal from Rodrigo Dourado. Philadelphia committed a foul outside of the box which gave the Aguilas a free kick in a dangerous spot. Brazilian Rapha Veiga took the kick as he sent the ball into the box where fellow Brazilian Dourado was there to head the ball into the back of the net and go up 2-0 on aggregate.
The visitors did not get their first chance of the night until the 11th minute, which was a wasted opportunity as the ball went nowhere near the target. It was still the beginning of the game so the Union had a chance to make their way back. That, however, looked to be difficult as the Aguilas dominated control and Philadelphia were just trying to make their way forward towards goal but without success. Then it looked as if the night went from bad to worse for the visitors when Alejandro Zendejas scored a goal after a great through pass from Patricio Salas. Upon a second look the goal was called back due to offside. Philadelphia got lucky and they would need to take advantage of this opportunity given. Instead it was América who had the chances to go up as they attacked the wings. Whether it was Brian Rodriguez on the left side or Zendejas on the right side, the home side was creating chances while the visitors could only defend. The Union were even lucky that the Aguilas were unable to finish any of their chances as they weren’t lethal in front of goal as they used to be. As the first half came to an end, Philadelphia were lucky to not be down by many goals the way América were playing.
The second half started with changes from both coaches. André Jardine made only one change as he subbed in Ramon Juárez for Sebastian Cáceres. Meanwhile Bradley Carnell made two changes as Frankie Westfield and Bruno Damiani came on for Geiner Martinez and Stas Korzeniowski. The changes on the visitors’ side paid off just a few minutes later. Westfield made his way into the box with the ball as Zendejas attempted to disarm him but instead he tripped up the player and the referee did not hesitate to point to the center of the box for a penalty. Jesus Bueno stepped up to take the penalty to attempt to give his team a lifeline. The Venezuelan sent Rodolfo Cota the wrong way as he easily sent the ball to the corner and now Philadelphia had a chance to make a comeback. If they scored another goal, without receiving one, they would advance to the next round.
Seeing as the visitors only needed one goal to advance it would seem that América would up the intensity to put the game away but that was not the case. Instead they found themselves back, blocking attempts from the Union. A second goal from the visitors came close in the 60th minute when Nathan Harriel made his way into the box unmarked and got on a rebound but his shot went high into the stands. A few minutes later Westfield made his way up the left side of the field where he sent a cross into the box but before his teammate got to it Cota stretched his arms out for the save. In the 65th minute the Aguilas had a chance to go up when Zendejas found himself alone on the right side but instead of running at full speed up the right side, he slowly made his way up. Then he passed to Rodriguez who fell to the ground right outside the box looking for a foul the moment he felt a defender run up to him. It looked as if Zendejas might have slowed down because he thought he was in an offside position even though he was not. Even if he believed he was offside, players need to play until they hear the whistle because if he would have done that then his team would be up a goal. The Union then had two back-to-back chances at goal. They received a free kick outside the box after Cristian Borja committed a reckless foul. The chance went nowhere as the ball hit the wall of yellow jerseys and went out of danger. Right after this, Westfield had another big chance when he sent a ball towards the net from distance but the ball went just above the crossbar. In the 72nd minute Jardine made more changes that did not bring a lot of confidence to fans. A substitution is supposed to be a game changer but the three players Jardine was about to send in were anything but that. This wasn’t a surprise seeing as América had yet to bring in high caliber signings like they used to. As the game was in its final 10 minutes the home side was just trying to defend their result. If the Union scored a goal then their journey in the tournament was over. Meanwhile the Union repeatedly made their way up the field looking for one more goal. They had one last chance in stoppage time as they were awarded a free kick outside of the box. The ball made its way into the box but Cota used his height for his benefit as he jumped into the air and punched the ball out of danger. This was the last play of the game as the referee blew his whistle and the Union players fell to their knees knowing their Champions Cup journey came to an end while Club América moved on, looking for the one trophy that alludes André Jardine.
