PACHUCA, Mexico - Luis Montes scored with two minutes remaining to give Pachuca a 2-1 victory over nine-man Comunicaciones on Tuesday and make it the first team to reach the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Pachuca capitalized on a two-man advantage it held from midway through the second half and advanced on a 3-2 aggregate. It will play the winner between Toluca and the Columbus Crew, which were to face off Wednesday in Toluca after drawing 2-2 in Columbus last week.
Pachuca, which won the last two CONCACAF Champions Cup titles in 2007 and 2008, had the better of play and several near misses, while Comunicaciones was limited to ineffective tries from distance.
Comunicaciones lost two players in three minutes when Carlos Gallardo and Fredy Thompson were ejected by American referee Terry Vaughn in the 65th and 67th minutes.
Gallardo was sent off for a two-footed slide tackle on Paul Aguilar and Thompson followed for shoving Javier Munoz from behind as the play walked back toward the Comunicaciones goal.
Pachuca took the lead in the 72nd minute when Aguilar took a short ball at the top of the area and curled a left-footed ball around Comunicaciones keeper David Guerra.
Guerra had made several saves to keep Comunicaciones in the game, including pushing Davio Cvitanich's short-range header over the bar just before Aguilar scored.
But Comunicaciones equalized three minutes after Pachuca took the lead. Rolando Fonseca converted a penalty when Leobardo Lopez was called for blocking Transito Montepeque's shot with his right arm.
Montes scored the winner when a corner kick was cleared to the top of area. He ran on and struck a low drive that bounced once near the line before beating Guerra at the left post.
Pachuca dominated possession and chances and hit the bar in the 39th when Cvitanich's header banged off the pipe.
Cvitanich was the most active threat for Pachuca, testing Guerra repeatedly.
Pachuca entered the game with three consecutive losses in the Mexican league, two of them at home, by identical 3-0 scores. The result could relieve some criticism of manager Guillermo Rivarola, who received backing from management earlier this week.
