The Columbus Crew’s desire of becoming a first time ever Concacaf Champions Cup winner came to an end at Estadio Hidalgo as Pachuca become Concacaf champions for sixth time in their history with a 3-0 victory over the Black & Gold on Saturday evening.

Columbus seemed to start strong when striker Diego Rossi’s shot from outside the box was saved by Pachuca’s goalkeeper Carlos Moreno just 15 seconds into the game.

Two minutes later, by playing out from the back, Crew found some open spaces and midfielder Darlington Nagbe’s quick transition ball found forward Alex Matan, but his crossed ball was blocked by Pachuca’s defense for a corner kick.

One minute later, coming from a through ball in the Crew’s left side of the defense, a crossed ball to Rondon was ruled off offside by the assistant referee.

In the seventh minute, midfielder Erick Sanchez’s long-distance shot was deflected by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte with both hands.

Pachuca disconnected the Crew’s midfield pressure and played a though pass to open the defense to find Rondon, who lifted the ball over Schulte to put the hosts on board in the 11th minute, giving them a 1-0 lead.

Only two minutes later, Pachuca could have extended its lead when Rondon received a long ball and crossed it to Valentin Rodriguez to beat Schulte, but the play was whistled back after VAR review due to a foul by Rondon over defender Rudy Camacho at an earlier stage.

The officials interpreted that Rondon pushed Camacho before receiving the ball.

After an exhausting first 20 minutes, the Crew replied with striker Cucho Hernandez’s shot that went wide.

The Black & Gold found some open spaces in their left side of the field when left back Yaw Yeboah crossed the ball to the box and Farsi passed the ball to Hernandez, whose one-touch shot almost came of the left post.

Coming from that play, Pachuca turned Crew’s attacking opportunity into a nightmare, as the hosts counter attacked and extended the lead.

Sanchez played the ball for Rodriguez and his shot beat Schulte’s hands. By this moment, the Crew was clearly stretched and was lacking men in the midfield to recover the ball and build up. Nancy’s initial game plan with three player on top was not working.

Pachuca almost found the third goal at the end of the first half when Rondon received a long ball on the right side of the field and dribbled Schulte, but passed the ball to Sanchez, who missed an empty-goal shot.

Coming from the halftime, following a defensive miscalculation mistake of the ball’s bounce, Steven Moreira possibility of red card was overshadowed by an offensive foul over Farsi after VAR review.

Just a minute later, a corner kick defender Gustavo Cabral flipped the ball and found Rondon, whose shot was blocked by Schulte.

Emilio Rodriguez beat Yeboah’s position in the 50th minute and cut inside to shot to goal, but again, his intentions were saved by Schulte.

Sanchez’s shot from outside the box was deflected and still gathered by Schulte, who also blocked the rebound shot by defender Luis Rodriguez.

After a long time, Crew created a goal chance in the 58th minute when counter attacked Pachuca. Matan’s ball to Rossi was too long and he couldn’t lift it over Moreno.

The third and last goal of the night came from a magnificent play as Rondon’s worked his way inside the box and sent it against Schulte’s right post.

Forward Jacen Rossell-Rowe was subbed in in the latter moments of the game and almost scored a beautiful goal, but his shot came of the crossbar.

The final whistle blew as the Black and Gold fell 3-0 as their Concacaf dreams ended in a country that had previously produced kind results to them throughout the tournament.

Thank you for the journey and time to move on.