Querétaro F.C. leave RFK Stadium with their place in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) semifinals secure after drawing 1-1 with D.C. United on Tuesday night.
The Mexican club won the two legged series 3-1 on aggregate. The newcomers to the CCL will face the victor of the Tigres UANL and Real Salt Lake series, which will be decided on Wednesday night. However, in the mean time Los Gallos Blancos will be celebrating their quarterfinal series victory over DCU.
The Black and Red
A Nightmare Start For United
The Major League Soccer (MLS) club got off to the worst possible
Five minutes had not even
The Great Wall Of Volpi
Both clubs were attacking for a while until United started to show more initiative. They wound up launching 16 shots in the match with nine on target. However, Querétaro goalkeeper Tiago Volpi once again single handedly denied the Black and Red a potential victory.
Volpi followed his nine save performance in leg one last week with eight saves in the second leg. When United striker Chris Rolfe was subbed out of the game in the 60th minute, he left frustrated knowing that Volpi denied him twice in the game. Querétaro’s keeper even blocked his penalty in the 56th minute to keep his clubs’ 1-0 lead intact.
Too Little, Too Late For United
In the final six minutes of the match DCU finally broke through with a long range bomb from substitute midfielder Julian Bueschler. He was running with the ball heading towards the top of the box when he unleashed a thunderous strike from more than 20 yards out. The ball flew towards the right hand post and dinged in off the bar to tie the match at 1-1 in the 84th minute.
Regardless that D.C. was able to tie the game, their fate was already sealed, and they went out 3-1 on aggregate.