CF Montreal wins Leagues Cup opener by beating Club Leon in penalty kicks
Rogelio Funes Mori opened the scoring for Club Leon in the 11th minute, while Montreal's Prince Owusu scored in the 62nd minute to tie the match.
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CTV News
9 hours ago
- CTV News
Puebla's Marin scores late winner to eliminate CF Montreal from Leagues Cup
CF Montreal's Prince Owusu (9) tangles with Club Puebla's Efrain Orona (4) during first half Leagues Cup soccer action in Montreal, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe) A goal in the 73rd minute by Ricardo Marin snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the visiting Mexican side Puebla to a 2-1 win over CF Montreal in Leagues Cup action on Tuesday night at Stade Saputo. With the loss, Montreal was eliminated from Cup contention, while the victory keeps LIGA MX side Puebla hopeful of advancing to the knockout stage. Prince Owusu scored for Montreal in the 47th minute to give the hosts the lead, but Emiliano Gomez netted the equalizer 10 minutes later. Marin's winner improved Puebla's record to 2-0-1. 'I'm proud of my guys, and I think that CF Montreal must always play with this intensity and this mentality. It will be much easier to correct mistakes with this mindset,' said interim head coach Marco Donadel. 'It was amazing for us to improve (during this competition) as a team and as a group.' Montreal opened the match on its front foot and made significant progress on the right flank, generating several half-chances in the first 15 minutes. As Club Puebla got into the game, it was the visitors' turn to exercise some control. Just after the 20-minute mark, Montreal's task became much more complicated when Joel Waterman was given a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the penalty area. However, netminder Thomas Gillier came to the rescue by stopping Gomez's penalty. 'All the credit goes to Vincenzo (Benvenuto), we worked together with Jo (Sirois), Seba (Breza) and Emil (Gazdov) to analyze their matches and their shooters,' said Gillier, who arrived as a midseason loan from Italian club Bologna FC. 'It's a mix of emotions with tonight's game, but what I wanted the most is a team that fights, and I'm very happy with the group's attitude.' With the numbers advantage, Puebla dominated possession for the remainder of the first half, but could not break down an organized Montreal block that was now looking solely to hit back on the counter. Scoreless after 45 minutes, the hosts began the second half looking for a goal and found one just moments after the restart. Caden Clark got on the end of a loose ball and was able to pick out Owusu at the back post. 'The way they continued to fight was amazing for me. To jump on the field and give everything like this is not easy, especially when you don't have something to achieve,' said Donadel. 'They scored off two mistakes, not because we were a man down, we were in a perfect position for the cross and we lost the man.' Puebla immediately replied with renewed offence, pressing their numerical advantage and finding an equalizer just 10 minutes later. After Efraín Orona hit the post from distance, Gomez was able to remedy his penalty miss and bring Puebla back level by burying the rebound. With momentum firmly on their side, Puebla went hunting for the go-ahead goal by continuing to pin Montreal back in its defensive third. The visitors would break the deadlock after managing to play through Montreal's defensive block and taking advantage of an error in marking that left Marin all alone in front of goal. After a series of controversial refereeing decisions from match official Adonai Escobedo, tensions reached a boiling point. This led to a mass confrontation between both teams as the game wound to a close. 'I think the nonsense was good for us, to be honest. It brings out a different anger in you — especially me — where you want to get at them and make them pay,' said Clark. 'What you're seeing in the team is that we can do dogfights, we're not afraid to fight back.' After order was restored, it was Montreal's turn to play for an equalizer. In the 93rd minute, they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area, and a near-perfect strike from Brendan Craig saw the ball hit the woodwork. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2025.
Canada News.Net
18 hours ago
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Leagues Cup roundup: David Martinez, LAFC edge Tigres
(Photo credit: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) David Martinez scored his second and third goals of the tournament to lift Los Angeles FC to a 2-1 victory over visiting Tigres UANL on Matchday 3 of Leagues Cup opening-phase play on Tuesday night. The 19-year-old Venezuelan opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 38th minute, then scored a brilliant solo goal after outpacing two defenders down the left flank in the 64th minute. That helped keep quarterfinal hopes flickering for 2024 tournament finalist LAFC (1-0-2, 6 points), who ended the night holding the fourth and final MLS berth, but with eight teams still capable of catching them. Four Mexican teams and four MLS teams will earn quarterfinal berths. Ivan Lopez scored just moments after his halftime introduction for Tigres (2-1-0, 6 points), who ended the night holding the third Liga MX berth. Five Mexican teams will have a chance to overtake Tigres during the final two days of the opening phase. Toluca 2, New York City FC 1 Paulinho scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the 39th minute and visiting Toluca came from behind again to earn an important victory. Jesus Angulo recorded his second of the tournament in the 37th minute for Toluca (2-0-1, 8 points), which finished Tuesday on top of the tournament's Liga MX standings. Alonso Martinez scored his second goal of the tournament for New York City FC (1-2-0, 3 points), which was eliminated with the defeat. The Cityzens became the second straight Leagues Cup opponent to lose to Toluca after scoring first, and the third to drop points. Crew 1, Club Leon 0 Max Arfsten scored early in the second half to give host Columbus a victory against already-eliminated Leon. Patrick Schulte made four saves to keep his first tournament clean sheet to go with two so far during the MLS regular season. That was enough to push the Crew (2-0-1, 7 points) to the top of the MLS side of the standings through Tuesday. Eight teams still have the chance to surpass Columbus in their final opening-phase matches. Leon (0-2-1, 1 point) went their last 259 minutes of play without scoring after Rogelio Funes Mori's early strike in a 1-1 draw against CF Montreal on Matchday 1. CF Pachuca 2, Houston Dynamo 1 Gaston Togni's 85th-minute winner lifted visiting Pachuca momentarily to second in the Liga MX standings. Luis Quinones gave the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners the lead in the 24th minute as the Tuzos (2-0-1, 7 points) tried to prolong their bid for another continental honor. Amine Bassi pulled Houston (0-3-0, 0 points) level from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute on a foul awarded by referee Adonis Carrasco following video review. However, Togni's goal came only three minutes later. It was enough to secure victory against Dynamo, who have scored one goal or fewer in 10 of their past 11 matches in all competitions. Puebla 2, CF Montreal 1 Ricardo Marin scored in the 73rd minute as visiting Puebla eventually seized on a lengthy numerical advantage to rally past Montreal and keep their knockout-phase hopes alive. Emiliano Gomez added his second goal of the tournament for Puebla (2-1-0, 6 points) earlier in the second half after seeing his first-half penalty kick saved. Those second-half goals moved Puebla up to fourth in the Liga MX standings at the end of Tuesday night, behind Tigres on goal-difference. Montreal's Joel Waterman was sent off for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity on the foul that led to the penalty. However, Prince Owusu scored his second goal of the tournament early in the second half to briefly give CF Montreal (0-2-1, 2 points) the lead on a night when their elimination became official. Both teams finished with 10 men when Raul Castillo received his second caution in second-half stoppage time. San Diego FC 2, Mazatlan FC 0 Onni Valakari scored a second-half brace as already-eliminated San Diego ended Mazatlan's tournament run. Anders Dreyer set up Valakari's first in the 66th minute for his 28th goal involvement in all competitions this season. Eight minutes later, David Vazquez's slick pass freed Valakari to seal the win for San Diego (1-2-0, 3 points). Mazatlan (1-1-1, 5 points) finished with 10 men after captain Nicolas Benedetti was sent off for bumping into referee Walter Lopez while arguing a call in the 78th minute. The Canoneros will return to Liga MX having been shut out in three of six matches since 2025 Apertura play began.
Canada News.Net
20 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
Leagues Cup roundup: Unbeaten Toluca knock out NYCFC
(Photo credit: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images) Paulinho scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the 39th minute and Toluca again came from behind to earn a 2-1 road victory over New York City FC on Matchday 3 of Leagues Cup opening-phase play on Tuesday. Jesus Angulo recorded his second of the tournament in the 37th minute for Toluca (2-0-1, 8 points), which moved momentarily to the top of the standings on the Liga MX side. Four Mexican teams and four MLS teams will earn quarterfinal berths. Alonso Martinez scored his second goal of the tournament for New York City FC (1-2-0, 3 points), which was eliminated with the defeat. The Cityzens became the second straight Leagues Cup opponent to lose to Toluca after scoring first, and the third to drop points. Crew 1, Club Leon 0 Max Arfsten scored early in the second half to give host Columbus a victory against already-eliminated Leon. Patrick Schulte made four saves to keep his first tournament clean sheet to go with two so far during the MLS regular season. That was enough to push the Crew (2-0-1, 7 points) for the moment to the top of the MLS side of the standings. But as of the final whistle, eight sides still had the chance to surpass Columbus in their final opening-phase matches. Leon (0-2-1, 1 point) went their last 259 minutes of play without scoring after Rogelio Funes Mori's early strike in a 1-1 draw against CF Montreal on Matchday 1. CF Pachuca 2, Houston Dynamo 1 Gaston Togni's 85th-minute winner lifted visiting Pachuca momentarily to second in the Liga MX standings. Luis Quinones gave the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners the lead in the 24th minute as the Tuzos (2-0-1, 7 points) tried to prolong their bid for another continental honor. Amine Bassi pulled Houston (0-3-0, 0 points) level from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute on a foul awarded by referee Adonis Carrasco following video review. However, Togni's goal came only three minutes later. It was enough to secure victory against Dynamo, who have scored one goal or fewer in 10 of their past 11 matches in all competitions. Puebla 2, CF Montreal 1 Ricardo Marin scored in the 73rd minute as visiting Puebla eventually seized on a lengthy numerical advantage to rally past Montreal and keep their knockout-phase hopes alive. Emiliano Gomez added his second goal of the tournament for Puebla (2-1-0, 6 points) earlier in the second half after seeing his first-half penalty kick saved. Montreal's Joel Waterman was sent off for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity on the foul that led to the penalty. However, Prince Owusu scored his second goal of the tournament early in the second half to briefly give CF Montreal (0-2-1, 2 points) the lead on a night when their elimination became official. Both teams finished with 10 men when Raul Castillo received his second caution in second-half stoppage time.
