Leagues Cup roundup: Toluca FC rally to beat '24 champion Crew
Paulinho scored twice late in regulation, then Luis Manuel Garcia pulled off some penalty-saving heroics as visiting Toluca FC triumphed on penalties after rallying to a 2-2 draw against Columbus Crew on Tuesday night in both teams' Leagues Cup opener.
Paulinho's goals came in the 71st and 80th minutes to pull the reigning Liga MX Clausura champions level.
From there, Garcia saved three penalties -- first denying Diego Rossi his second goal from the spot in the 88th minute, then thwarting Rossi again as well as Amar Sejdic during the shootout.
That was enough to help the Diablos Rojos earn the extra point in the standings, completing their shootout win when Helinho converted to make it 4-2 on the Mexican side's fifth kick.
Rossi's 11th-minute penalty opened the scoring for the Crew, the defending Leagues Cup champions. Max Arfsten doubled Columbus' lead just after halftime on a composed finish after receiving Jacen Russell-Rowe's feed.
Puebla 3, New York City FC 0
Emiliano Gomez had a goal and an assist as visiting Puebla eased to a deceptively lopsided victory over New York City FC in Harrison, N.J.
Juan Fedorco opened the scoring in the second minute as NYCFC failed to clear the danger from a corner kick.
Gomez doubled the lead when he reached Alejandro Organista's low cross in the 38th minute, and Owen Gonzalez finished off an excellent team goal in the 88th minute after Gomez's final pass.
Jesus Rodriguez made five saves to keep the tournament's first clean sheet, on a night NYCFC narrowly led Puebla 17-13 in total shots. Matthew Freese made two saves for NYCFC.
CF Montreal 1 (7), Club Leon 1 (6)
Prince Owusu scored his 10th goal in 10 matches across all competitions, and Montreal prevailed on penalties against visiting Club Leon following their draw.
Owusu leveled the match in the 62nd minute following a wonderful setup from Dante Sealy, canceling out Rogelio Funes Mori's 11th-minute header from James Rodriguez's long, early diagonal ball.
From there, 13 consecutive penalty takers converted in the shootout before Leon's Sebastian Santos struck the crossbar with his effort, handing Montreal the extra point in the standings.
Oscar Jimenez made six saves to keep Club Leon in it on a night they were outshot 17-4 overall and 7-2 in efforts on target.
Tigres UANL 4, Dynamo 1
Angel Correa scored his first two goals for his new club, one in each half, and visiting Tigres UANL pulled away for the win at Houston.
Diego Lainez added the eventual match-winner in the 63rd minute and Ozziel Herrera scored in second-half stoppage time of Tigres' third straight win in all competitions.
Ondrej Lingr leveled in the 47th minute for Houston, which absorbed its sixth defeat in its oast nine across all competitions.
The 30-year-old Correa, a member of Argentina's 2022 World Cup winning side, joined Tigres from Atletico Madrid this summer following the FIFA Club World Cup. He broke through from beyond the penalty box just before halftime, then added a second goal in the 70th minute on a breakaway after dribbling around goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.
Mazatlan 1 (11), Los Angeles FC 1 (10)
Fabio Gomes scored his first-ever goal for Mazatlan, and the visitors outlasted Los Angeles FC in a marathon penalty tiebreaker following a draw.
Denis Bouanga missed LAFC's 12th penalty, sealing the extra point in the standings for Mazatlan. Bouanga previously missed a late, potential game-tying penalty against ES Tunis at the FIFA Club World Cup last month.
In just his second game in the CONCACAF region since a 2021 stint with the New York Red Bulls, Gomes levelled the game in the 31st minute with a low finish to the far post after Dudu Teodora's pass found him in the right side of the penalty area.
David Martinez had given LAFC the lead two minutes earlier with a well-placed half-volley on the run over charging goalkeeper Ricardo Rodriguez, set up by Tim Tillman's ball over the top.
CF Pachuca 3, San Diego FC 2
Alexei Dominguez scored two goals and helped set up another as visiting CF Pachuca held on against San Diego FC en route to their fourth straight win in all competitions.
Victor Guzman opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, on a chance set up by Dominguez's excellent diagonal ball, before Dominguez added to the lead himself twice.
Emmanuel Boateng scored in the 88th minute and Luca Bombino added a goal deep in second-half stoppage time, but San Diego's late rally fell just short. In between those goals, Anders Dreyer was sent off to reduce the hosts to 10 men.
Dominguez doubled Pachuca's advantage in first-half stoppage time when he collected his own rebound following Pablo Sisniega's diving stop and finished into the bottom left corner. Then Dominguez added what proved to be a needed third with another strike from beyond the box into the top left corner to make it 3-0 in the 67th minute.
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