CF Montreal wins Leagues Cup opener by beating Club Leon in penalty kicks

CTV News

5 days ago

CF Montreal's Fernando Alvarez, right, battles with Club Leon's Adonis Frias during first half Leagues Cup action in Montreal on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe)
It took seven rounds of a tense penalty shootout to decide the outcome, but CF Montreal secured a dramatic 7-6 victory over LIGA MX side Club Leon in Tuesday's first match of the 2025 Leagues Cup at Stade Saputo.
Rogelio Funes Mori opened the scoring for Club Leon in the 11th minute, but Montreal's Prince Owusu scored in the 62nd minute to tie the match.
'I think today is probably one of our best games this season. We're taking a lot of risks with our play and that means that players are comfortable to try this kind of stuff,' said interim head coach Marco Donadel.
'There's no frustration (with missed chances), especially when the guys give everything on the field. We wanted to keep the pace very high.'
In the shootout, Joel Waterman, Brendan Craig, Bryce Duke, Olger Escobar, Luca Petrasso, Tom Pearce and Owusu scored for Montreal.
This year's Leagues Cup features 36 teams — 18 from Major League Soccer, and 18 from LIGA MX, where the top four from each table advance, rather than a conventional group stage qualification format.
The tournament runs until the end of August.
In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, both teams earn a single point, and the winner of the shootout will be awarded an extra point.
'Some stuff didn't go our way, and it was tricky, but we got the result and we got the job done,' said Montreal's Samuel Piette. 'It's a win that's worth two points. It's a new tournament and a new format, so we'll take what we can get.'
James Rodriguez, Adonis Frias, Emiliano Rigoni, Ettson Ayon, Rodrigo Echeverria, Valentin Gauthier all scored for Club Leon, with Sebastian Santos hitting the bar and ending the game.
Montreal looked to set the tone physically from the opening kickoff, pressing a Leon side that has only played three competitive matches this season.
This helped keep the danger in front of the Leon goal, but the Mexican side would be the first to score, against the run of play.
Rodriguez was able to carve out enough room on the right flank to send in a perfect ball that was met by Funes Mori's header.
The shot was then mishandled by Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, giving the visitors an early lead.
Montreal replied with an immediate increase in pressure, spending the rest of the first half firmly planted in the attacking third, but Leon's low defensive block held up.
That same pressure continued in the second half as Montreal created two more golden scoring opportunities, but missed the target on both, leading to a change in formation at the hour-mark that immediately paid off.
'We talked about it with the guys and just how much fun it was, different kind of game and different kind of atmosphere,' said Waterman. 'You always want to have fun while playing football. It's bittersweet too, because I think we should've had all three points.'
After breaking away from his defender, Dante Sealy was able to pick out a ball into space for Owusu, who was in flight behind the defensive line and finished into the bottom right corner.
With momentum now on their side, Montreal nearly took the lead on several occasions in the 10 minutes following the goal but were frustrated repeatedly by Leon goalkeeper Oscar Jiminez.
With nothing to separate both teams after 90 minutes, penalties were needed to settle the match.
UP NEXT
Montreal: Travel to New Jersey to face the 2024-2025 Liga MX Champions Deportivo Toluca F.C. on Friday.
Leon: Visits New York City FC on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.