Leon (pictured) celebrates after winning the 2014 Mexican Clausura title on May 18, 2014, at the Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca. (Photo: Mexsport)
Leon captured the Mexican Clausura championship by overcoming Pachuca in a thrilling two-legged final, while 10-man Portland Timbers rallied to tie the Columbus Crew 3-3 in Major League Soccer action.
CONCACAF.com recaps the weekend’s domestic action from Liga MX and Major League Soccer from the competitors in the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League.
LIGA MX
(2014-15 CCL qualifiers in BOLD)
Leon rallied to claim a second straight Liga MX title on Sunday, outlasting host Pachuca 2-0 after extra time to capture the two-legged Clausura final 4-3 on aggregate.
Mauro Boselli leveled the series at 3-3 with a 66th minute goal and Juan Gonzalez headed in a 112th minute cross from Luis Montes for the series winner.
The Esmeraldas, who entered the playoffs as the eighth and last seed, became the first team to win consecutive championships since Pumas won the 2004 Clausura and 2004 Apertura under the guidance of manager Hugo Sanchez.
In Thursday’s first leg, Enner Valencia (41’, 60’) netted a brace and Hirving Lozano (69’) added a goal to lift visiting Pachuca to a 3-2 victory. Leon took a 1-0 through Carlos Peña (34’) and also benefitted from a Miguel Herrera own-goal in the 77th minute.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
(2014-15 CCL qualifiers in BOLD)
Gaston Fernandez struck for a late equalizer to give the 10-man Portland Timbers (10 points) a 3-3 tie with the visiting Columbus Crew (13 points) on Saturday.
Maximiliano Urruti (5’) staked the host an early lead, but Federico Huguain netted a brace – the second on a stoppage-time penalty kick – to give Columbus a 2-1 halftime lead after Alvas Powell received a straight red card in the 34th minute.
Portland captain Will Johnson equalized in the 80th minute, but one minute later Ethan Finlay gave the Crew a 3-2 lead.
In the 85th minute, Fernandez completed the scoreline, tapping in at the right post after Diego Valeri’s long free kick into box was headed on by Fanendo Adi.
Eddie Johnson scored a late equalizer as host D.C. United (15 points) shared the points with the Montreal Impact (7 points) in a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Jack McInerney, who struck for two goals in Montreal’s 4-2 Amway Canadian Championship win over FC Edmonton on Wednesday, gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute.
With six minutes left in regulation, Johnson leveled the match, heading in a Fabian Espindola cross for his first goal of the season.
After dropping a midweek decision to the Philadelphia Union (2-1), 10-man Sporting Kansas City (17 points) fell 2-1 at the Chicago Fire (12 points) on Sunday.
Mike Magee (7’, 15’) struck for a pair of penalty kicks inside the opening 20 minutes to give Chicago a 2-0 lead, but Dom Dwyer (68’) pulled Sporting Kansas City within a goal four minutes after Erik Palmer-Brown was sent off for his second bookable offense.
On Saturday, Jermain Defoe (12’) scored early and Luke Moore (90’+5’) struck late as host Toronto FC (12 points) handed the New York Red Bulls (14 points) their second consecutive loss, 2-0.
