Cavalry FC’s historic Concacaf Champions Cup campaign came to an end on Thursday in Mexico City following a 2-0 loss to Pumas UNAM in the second leg of their round one matchup.
The two goals Pumas scored on the night gave them the 3-2 victory on aggregate after Cavalry had become the first CPL team to win a match in the competition with a 2-1 win in the first leg.
After coming on as a second-half substitute, Guillermo Martínez scored a brilliant brace to give Pumas the two goals they needed to overturn the aggregate score. Cavalry were reduced to ten men for the entire second half following a red card to Jay Herdman in first-half stoppage time.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
Cavalry boss Tommy Wheeldon Jr. elected to name an unchanged starting XI, after his side’s victory in the first leg. Pumas, meanwhile, offered a significantly different side; manager Gustavo Lema made seven changes from the match back in Canada, bringing in experienced veterans like Lisandro Magallán, Ignacio Pussetto and Adalberto Carrasquilla.
Right from kickoff, it was clear that Pumas would be the protagonists. They had consistent attacking momentum, challenging Cavalry’s goal on several occasions, calling the defenders into action repeatedly.
The first major incident of the game arrived just inside the 20-minute mark. As Cavalry midfielder Charlie Trafford slid to get his foot on a ball and clear it from Cavalry’s half, his follow-through collided with a Pumas attacker. The referee immediately reached for his pocket and showed Trafford a red card, much to the Cavs’ dismay — but a VAR check overturned the decision and Trafford’s discipline was downgraded to a yellow card.
So, the half continued as it had been: with Pumas throwing all they could toward the net in desperate search of a goal.
Moments before halftime, Cavalry’s luck turned. This time it was Jay Herdman in the box sliding to clear a ball away, and though he touched the ball first, his studs planted painfully on Pablo Bennevendo’s shin. After another VAR check, the penalty kick was given and Herdman was sent off.
Pussetto stepped forward to take the spot kick, and he thumped it to his right — but Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci came up with a heroic save, pushing it away for a corner. Fending off a couple more attempts over the next few moments, the Canadian side manage to get to halftime with the score still 0-0, as the home side left the pitch to a chorus of boos.
Pumas boss Lema, not thrilled with his side’s first-half performance, made a change at the interval, bringing on experienced striker Martínez in place of the younger Canadian international Santiago López.
Not long into the second half, Pumas again came close to breaking the deadlock, as Pussetto fired a shot from well outside the box, but Carducci again got a hand to it and tipped it away.
However, the hosts could not be held off forever. In the 53rd minute, Pussetto found the ball out wide and crossed into the box, where the substitute Martínez flicked a brilliant header into the top corner to make it 1-0 for Pumas — and 2-2 on aggregate, which would see the Mexican side advance on away goals.
Pumas did not let up after scoring, either; they continued attacking, as 10-men Cavalry struggled to get numbers up the pitch for a counter-attack they sought so desperately.
Eventually, the hosts found their way through once again. After turning the ball over in midfield, Martínez strolled toward the top of the box and, with the Cavs’ backline retreating, he struck a low shot just inside the right goalpost to put Pumas up 2-0 on the evening — and 3-2 on aggregate.
Knowing that a goal would put them right back in the tie, and force extra time, Cavalry kept pressing as the match entered its dying minutes. Tobias Warschewski won a pair of free kicks in the attacking half, but Pumas fairly comfortably dealt with both of Fraser Aird’s deliveries.
Musse himself came close in the second minute of stoppage time after stealing a ball down the right flank. But his tight-angled shot was stopped by Alejandro Padilla.
Cavalry brought up everyone for a free kick in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, including goalkeeper Marco Carducci, but no Cavalry player was able to direct the ball goalward.
Pumas now advance to take on 2024 Central American Cup champions C.D. Alajuelense in the round of 16, with leg one scheduled for Mar. 4, and the second leg on Mar. 13.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Pumas UNAM: Padilla; Bennevendo, Magallán, Duarte; Ergas, Quispe, Carrasquilla (Trigos’ 90′), R. López (Rivas 80′), Caicedo; S. López (Martínez 46′), Pussetto (Ruvalcaba 67′)
Cavalry FC: Carducci; Wähling (Aird 56′), Kobza, Montgomery (Elva 67′), Kamdem; Trafford (Gutiérrez 45+5′), Shome (Henry 67′); Musse, Camargo (Daley 56′), Herdman; Warschewski
Goals
53′ — Guillermo Martínez (Pumas UNAM)
74′ — Guillermo Martínez (Pumas UNAM)
Discipline
8′ — Yellow: Sergio Camargo (Cavalry FC)
19′ — Yellow: Charlie Trafford (Cavalry FC)
45+4′ — Red: Jay Herdman (Cavalry FC)
88′ — Yellow: Pablo Monroy (Pumas UNAM)
