In what was no doubt the closest of the four QF matchups, Pachuca and Tigres lived up to that expectation in every way. They each traded their respective punches (figuratively), both had a red card last night, both had their moments of dominance, and the score on aggregate even ended up tied 2-2. However, Pachuca are the ones moving on due to higher seeding.
The first half was largely uneventful, just like much of Thursday’s first leg. Other than Pachuca’s 19th minute opener which displayed great playmaking ability by Romario Ibarra coupled with lukewarm Tigres defending who conceded way too much space down low for a team who’s leading a QF series by just one goal, most of the half was played out in the midfield and approaches for both sides mostly ended in blocked shots, bad shot attempts / crosses, or meaningless squibbers.