Argentine forward Christian Gimenez scored a hat-trick including two penalties as Pachuca FC beat Houston Dynamo 5-2 after extra time to reach the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.
Pachuca, trailing 2-0 from the first leg, led 4-2 after 90 minutes in Thursday′s tie thanks to Gabriel Caballero′s 85th-minute goal before Gimenez scored the winner.
Their final opponents will be fellow Mexicans Guadalajara, who eliminated D.C. United, another Major League Soccer (MLS) team, on Tuesday.
Pachuca needed only 15 minutes to wipe out the first-leg deficit as midfielder Gabriel Caballero scored from Andres Chitiva′s header and Gimenez converted his first penalty.
Brian Mullen pulled one back eight minutes after the break but Pachuca restored their two-goal advantage with a hugely controversial penalty six minutes later.
Gimenez went tumbling over after the slightest of touches from Brad Davies and converted the penalty himself.
The drama continued as Brian Ching headed Houston′s second goal in the 79th minute only for Caballero to head Pachuca′s fourth with five minutes left. As they away goals rule is not used, the tie went to extra time.
Gimenez settled matters in the 105th minute with a left-foot shot from outside the area.
