- Nicolás Sánchez - 25' Pen
- André-Pierre Gignac - 85'
Monterrey secure aggregate win over Tigres in CONCACAF Champions League final
MONTERREY, Mexico -- Monterrey could only draw 1-1 with local rival Tigres on Wednesday, but it was enough lift the CONCACAF Champions League for the fourth time, extending Mexico's domination of the tournament to 14 consecutive championships.
Monterrey had won the first leg 1-0, making it 2-1 on aggregate.
Nico Sanchez netted from the penalty spot in the Clasico Regio in the 25th minute, after Rodolfo Pizarro had been tripped inside the area by Luis "Chaka" Rodriguez.
Substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac leveled the second leg of the final with a scissor kick five minutes from the end, but Tigres couldn't find the goal to take the game to extra-time.
"It's honestly total happiness, really great joy," said Monterrey coach Diego Alonso after the game. "We had to break the run [of losing finals at home], we are a giant.
"They created a monster and we are in charge of making this monster an assassin at all times."
Monterrey dominated the first half and Pizarro was particularly influential, with Tigres keeper Nahuel Guzman saving from Rogelio Funes Mori and a misguided header from teammate Carlos Salcedo to keep the score at 1-0 at half-time.
Tigres coach Ricardo Ferretti had surprisingly left Gignac out of the starting XI and his entrance at half-time spurred Tigres.
"[I didn't start Gignac] for tactical reasons," said Ferretti afterwards, without explaining any more why the French striker had been left out.
The away team pressed in second half with Gignac on the pitch and their first attempt on target came 10 minutes into the second half, when the striker forced a stretching save from Rayados keeper Marcelo Barovero.
But the two goals they needed to force extra time were beyond Tigres.
"The two games were very even and this time they won," Gignac told reporters. "Congratulations."
Monterrey also had its chances in the second half, with Funes Mori hitting the crossbar with a looping shot from 30 meters.
Tigres are still without an international trophy, having lost the 2016 and 2017 CONCACAF Champions League finals and the 2015 Copa Libertadores final.
"It makes me very sad that we haven't achieved this objective," said Ferretti. "People think that we don't value [this competition], but if it was like that we would've have been in the final three times."
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