Leagues Cup roundup: Paulinho, Toluca stay hot with win over CF Montreal

Miami Herald

3 days ago

Paulinho scored on an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 26th minute to put Toluca ahead in a 2-1 victory over CF Montreal in their Matchday 2 clash in Phase One of the Leagues Cup on Friday night in Harrison, N.J.
Jesus Angulo leveled for Toluca (1-0-1, 5 points) three minutes earlier, after Efrain Morales' header from a corner kick gave Montreal (0-1-1, 2 points) the lead in the 20th minute.
Paulinho's third goal of the tournament then lifted Toluca to its second positive result after falling behind. In their Leagues Cup opener on Tuesday, the Diablos Rojos rallied from two down to a 2-2 draw at Columbus and earned an extra point via penalty shootout.
Montreal striker Prince Owusu received a red card after the final whistle and will be suspended for his side's Phase One finale against Puebla.
Morales' goal was his first playing for an MLS team. The 21-year-old center back joined Montreal from Atlanta United in a July 23 trade.
Angel Correa scored his third and fourth goals of the tournament and his Tigres UANL career to punish a pair of San Diego mistakes and put his visiting side closer to the knockout phase.
In only the Argentine's fourth appearance in all competitions since his move from Atletico Madrid, Correa put Tigres (2-0-0, 6 points) in front in the 31st minute on a rebound of Juan Brunetta's shot, one goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega should've held.
Brunetta then assisted Correa's winner in the 67th minute immediately following a turnover by San Diego (0-2-0, 0 points) in its own half.
The winning goal came 12 minutes after Tomas Angel pulled the hosts level with a deflected effort from near the penalty spot.
Thomas Hasal saved two penalties and host Los Angeles converted all four of its shots to earn the extra point and keep its knockout phase hopes alive following its draw against Pachuca.
Both teams finished regulation with 10 men, though LAFC (0-0-2, 3 points) played short-handed for far longer.
Denis Bouanga put LAFC in front in the 10th minute before teammate Nathan Ordaz was sent off in the 29th for throwing an elbow into the chest of Pachuca defender Sergio Barreto.
Elias Montiel leveled with a low half-volley from just beyond the penalty area three minutes after Ordaz's dismissal. But Pachuca (1-0-1, 4 points) couldn't turn their advantage into another goal, then saw their own ranks reduced in the 83rd minute when Jhonder Cadiz's bicycle-kick attempt caught Nkosi Tafari in the head.
Diego Rossi scored his second tournament goal and assisted another as Columbus won comfortably over visiting Puebla.
Malte Amundsen and Andres Herrera also scored for Columbus (1-0-1, 4 points) in a match where all the goals came before halftime.
The 18-year-old Taha Habroune had two assists for the Crew, who drew with Toluca 2-2 in their first match before losing the ensuing penalty shootout.
Esteban Lozano pulled a goal back in first-half stoppage time for Puebla (1-1-0, 3 points), which has allowed multiple goals in three of five matches across all competitions since the 2025 Liga MX Apertura began.
Fabio Gomes scored his second goal of the tournament after halftime as visiting Mazatlan boosted its chance of advancing to the knockout phase for a third consecutive tournament.
Facundo Almada also scored before the break for Mazatlan (1-0-1, 5 points), which reached the round of 32 in 2023 and the quarterfinals last year.
Ricardo Gutierrez made six saves to keep his second clean sheet since the Apertura started, after he was the victorious goalkeeper in a penalty shootout following Mazatlan's 1-1 draw at LAFC to open the tournament.
Houston (0-2-0, 0 points) has now lost seven of its last 10 in all competitions, with six of those defeats coming by multiple goals.
Alonso Martinez and Agustin Ojeda scored before halftime and New York City completed a dominant victory over Leon in Harrison, N.J.
Matt Freese saved a second-half penalty kick by James Rodriguez and made four total stops to keep a clean sheet and help NYCFC (1-1-0, 3 points) rebound after absorbing a 3-0 loss to Puebla in their opening match.
It was Freese's seventh clean sheet in all competitions and the Pigeons' eighth.
Leon (0-1-1, 1 point) is now scoreless in its last 169 minutes and has scored only three goals in five games since opening Liga MX Apertura play last month. They drew CF Montreal 1-1 in their opener before losing the ensuing penalty shootout.
--Field Level Media
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