Pumas UNAM Vs. Isidro Metapan, 2012 CONCACAF Champions League: Pumas Dominate Metapan 8-0

Pumas UNAM will fill be the third team in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals in 2012, after they defeated Isidro Metapan of El Salvador 8-0 Thursday evening in Mexico City. They won the two leg quarterfinal 9-2 on aggregate. It was a completely dominant performance by the hosts, continuing the trend of three of the four Mexican sides this week, all of whom dominated in second leg matches at home (and the fourth, Morelia, was beaten by another Mexican team, Monterrey).

Pumas controlled the play from the opening whistle, and Metapan spent almost all of the first half in their own end. Pumas misfired on several early opportunities, but an own goal opened the floodgates, when Efrain Velarde sent a poor shot towards goal and Metapan’s Alexander Escobar poked it past his goalkeeper for the game’s first goal in the 25th minute. Just a minute later, Pumas began scoring goals themselves, when Eduardo Herrera got on the end of a cross from Martin Bravo and buried it right in front of goal to make it 2-0. They finished off the scoring for the half in the 39th minute when Velarde made a late run into the box behind the forward and made a good angled shot to give Pumas a comfortable lead.

But the scoring didn’t stop in the second half for Pumas. In the 54th minute Bravo had a one-on-one shot deflected by the keeper, but he stuck with the ball and scored to make it 4-0. Herrera scored his second of the night by nipping past the defender to get a header on a cross from the left in the 63rd minute. Then, in the 69th minute, Jose Garcia Fernandez got a headed goal of his own, this time off a corner kick to give the home team a six goal lead.

Fernando Espinoza got in on the act in the 73rd minute, with perhaps the best goal of the night, when he volleyed a goal in on an angle from a cross. Finally, Juan Carlos Cacho nabbed one, in the 88th minute, when he received a long pass over the defense and chipped it over the keeper, making the final score 8-0.

Clearly, Metapan were thoroughly thrashed in this match, and their star from last week’s match, forward Lester Blanco, was limited to one good scoring chance, in first half injury time on a shot saved by Pumas goalkeeper Odin Patino. Otherwise, the visitors were torched, and in particular could not deal with Pumas’ crossing on the night.

Pumas should feel confident when they face Monterrey, but while the Mexican clubs will know each other well, Monterrey will almost certainly provide a much stronger test over two legs than Metapan. In particular, Monterrey know what it’s like to be in this position, as most of the squad was in this phase just last season, and went on to win the tournament. Still, tonight’s performance will give Pumas momentum ahead of the next round in the CCL.