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.
Vancouver had a great chance right after halftime to build on its 1-0 lead off a scramble in the Tigres penalty area. The ball squirted out to Christian Bolanos, who saw his powerful drive stopped by Nahuel Guzman.
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.
The Whitecaps talked Tuesday about needing to get at Tigres early in the chilly conditions on the artificial surface, but it was the Mexicans who nearly struck first when Ismael Sosa saw a golden opportunity blocked by Vancouver defender Tim Parker just 15 seconds into the game.
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.
Coming off a 1-0 home loss in league play over the weekend, Tigres came close to equalizing in the 28th minute after playing a dangerous ball into the Vancouver penalty area only to see Eduardo Vargas blast a shot harmlessly over the crossbar.
The Whitecaps picked up a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in front of 25,083 fans at B.C. Place for their first victory of the MLS season on Saturday, but could only attract a crowd of 16,258 against Tigres in what was being billed as the biggest match in club history.
A few hundred Tigres fans sporting the club's familiar blue and yellow colours occupied one corner of the stadium with banners, scarves and a near constant drum beat. Whitecaps supporters were in full voice at the other end, unfurling a banner of their own that read "Never Tell Us The Odds."
Vancouver hung with Tigres for the first hour in Monterrey on March 14 at the Estadio Universitario — an intimidating venue nicknamed "The Volcano" — before an own goal and a Vargas strike sealed it for the hosts.
Mexican teams have won the CONCACAF Champions League, a competition that includes clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, ever since its inception in 2008-09.
D.C. United (1998) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (2000) claimed the region's top club prize when it was known as the Champions Cup, but the last 11 combined winners have come from Mexico.
Vancouver was the third Canadian team to make the semis after Toronto FC in 2011-12 and the Montreal Impact, who reached the final, in 2014-15.
The team that lifts the Champions League title also earns a spot in the 2017 Club World Cup, which features soccer's six continental champions, plus a team from the host United Arab Emirates in December.
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