Vancouver Whitecaps stun Pumas UNAM, seal meeting with Messi | OneFootball

For a second consecutive round, the Vancouver Whitecaps have gone to Mexico and earned a result in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

This time that result came in the most dramatic fashion possible, with Tristan Blackmon hammering in a first-time volley from close range in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to secure a 2-2 draw against Pumas UNAM at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City.

With the result, the Whitecaps earn a 3-3 aggregate draw advance on away goals. They'll face Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in a two-leg semifinal that begins later this month.

Messi and Miami earned their quarterfinal victory earlier Wednesday with their own dramatic comeback in a 3-1 Leg 2 victory, defeating LAFC 3-2 on aggregate.

Match rewind

Sebastian Berhalter scored the opening goal in the 33rd minute for Vancouver.

Pumas leveled four minutes later through Guillermo Martinez and must have thought they had reversed the tie in their favor when Ignacio Pussetta put his side in front in the 88th minute.

But Vancouver still knew it needed only a second goal in regulation to move on, and it came five minutes later when Edier Ocampo got to the byline on the right, then sent a half-volleyed cross back across the 6-yard box.

Blackmon beat his marker to reach it from close range, thumping in a finish that left goalkeeper Alex Padilla no chance.

Pascal Jansen's Whitecaps now join the rare company of MLS teams who have felled multiple Liga MX foes in the same Concacaf Champions Cup or Champions League knockout phase.