Franklin scores off the bench as Toronto edges Mexico’s Pachuca 2-1 in Leagues Cup

Winning East Group 6 doesn’t come with much of an advantage.

Toronto plays at defending champion Inter Miami on Thursday in the round of 32. Miami, which finished second in East Group 3 after losing 2-1 to Mexico’s Tigres on Saturday in Houston, gets to host the game because it is seeded in the tournament.

Miami beat Toronto 3-1 when they met in league play July 20 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Pachuca plays Tigres in the round of 32.

The tournament features 47 teams, 29 from Major League Soccer and 18 from Mexico’s Liga MX.

TFC and Pachuca had already secured their passage to the round of 32, having both defeated the New York Red Bulls via penalty shootout in their first cup outing.

Toronto exited after the group stage last year in its first Leagues Cup participation following losses to New York City FC (5-0) and Mexico’s Atlas (1-0).

Toronto went ahead in the 44th minute Sunday when an exquisite Lorenzo Insigne pass split the Pachuca defence and found Etienne, who chipped Moreno to cap a five-pass counterattack that started with Toronto goalkeeper Seas Johnson.

It marked TFC’s first-ever goal in Leagues Cup play.

The home side, which had led the dance, deserved the goal — as did Etienne who had an earlier goal called back for offside. Toronto outshot Pachuca 10-3 (4-0 in shots on target) in the first half.

Pachuca pulled even in the 59th minute when defender Nicksoen Gomis was caught on the ball after a Toronto free kick hit the wall. The Toronto defence was caught short and while Johnson stopped Salomon Rondon’s shot, he could not get to Idrissi’s shot off the rebound.

TFC came into Sunday’s game with a 4-9-7 record against Liga MX clubs. Toronto had lost to Pachuca the only other time they met, in a 2008 friendly that was decided via a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

Pachuca currently sits 12th in Liga MX at 1-2-1 but made headlines in June when it blanked MLS champion Columbus 3-0 to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Pachuca also won CONCACAF’s elite club competition in 2002, ’07, ’08, ’10 and ’17.

Pachuca defender Bryan Gonzalez, midfielders Alan Bautista, Nelson Deossa, Idrissi and Rondon were all part of the Liga MX all-star team that beat its MLS counterparts 4-1 with Idrissi among the scorers last month in Columbus.

Only Rondon, Venezuela’s captain and leading scorer, and Idrissi started Sunday, with the other three all-stars on the bench. Deossa and Bautista came on in the second half.

The Mexican side was missing defender Ari Contreras and midfielders Alexei Dominguez and Elias Montiel who were at the CONCACAF Men’s U-20 Championship where Mexico defeated the U.S. 2-1 after extra time in the championship game earlier Sunday in Leon, Mexico.

Toronto coach John Herdman made two changes to the team that won at the Red Bulls on July 27 with Matty Longstaff and Kosi Thompson slotting in for Deybi Flores and Prince Owusu.

It was 29 C, feeling like 34, for the 8 p.m. local time kickoff at BMO Field.

Toronto started well with Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi both testing Moreno soon after kickoff.

Etienne scored for Toronto in the ninth minute, tucking an Insigne feed past Moreno. But the offside flag went off, much to Toronto’s ire, and the no-goal was confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee who judged that an initial pass from Longstaff to Gomis was offside.

Rondon tried to chip Johnson from distance midway through the first half, as he did successfully against Canada’s Maxime Crepeau at Copa America last month, but was off-target this time.

Laryea had a chance to shoot in the 31st minute after Etienne found him in space but the wingback opted to pass to Bernardeschi, whose shot was stopped by Moreno. Soon after, a Thompson header was intercepted by a Pachuca defender.

Pachuca’s Carlos Sanchez came close with a shot from distance in the 36th minute.

Defender Henry Wingo came on in the 67th minute for his Toronto debut. Pachuca coach Jorge Alamada was shown a yellow card soon after for protesting a call by referee Joe Dickerson.

Owusu, Flores, Marshall-Rutty and Franklin also came on for Toronto in the final third of the game with Insigne and Bernardeschi among those making way.

Franklin scores off the bench as Toronto edges Mexico’s Pachuca 2-1 in Leagues Cup

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