TORONTO — Toronto FC's "prize" for topping its Leagues Cup preliminary-round group by beating Mexico's Pachuca 2-1 on Sunday is an away game with defending champion Inter Miami.
A loss to Pachuca and Toronto, as runner-up in East Group 6, would have hosted Mexico's Tigres. Such are the vagaries of the Leagues Cup, which features all 29 teams from Major League Soccer and 18 from Mexico's Liga MX.
Under the somewhat strange tournament format, Mexico teams don't get to play in Mexico although a few select sides get to play out of U.S. hubs that cut down on travel. And Miami, as a seeded team, gets to play its first knockout game at home despite losing 2-1 to Tigres on Saturday in Houston, a result that left it runner-up in East Group 3.
It doesn't make a lot of sense. But Toronto coach John Herdman isn't complaining about the trip to Florida.
"I think it was pick your poison really. We were watching Tigres against Miami and they looked very good," said Herdman. "It was difficult because you've never gone into a game to ever think 'Let's not win, to get a home match.'"
Miami beat Toronto 3-1 when they met in league play July 20 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Substitute Kobe Franklin scored in the 78th minute to give Toronto the win and set up the Miami matchup on Thursday.
Fellow sub Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty set up the goal, beating a defender down the left flank and then sending in a cross that Franklin acrobatically volleyed past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno. It was a first-ever TFC goal for the 21-year-old homegrown product.
Derrick Etienne Jr. also scored for Toronto, which led 1-0 at the break and seemed in control as it stroked the ball around the pitch until Moroccan international Oussama Idrissi replied for Pachuca in the 59th minute.
Pachuca pressed in the dying minutes but failed to pull even.
Toronto outshot Pachuca 17-11 (6-5 in shots on target) and looked comfortable on the ball for much of the evening before an announced crowd of 24,202 on a toasty evening at BMO Field.
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.
"The real focus tonight was we weren't happy with our attacking performance against (the) Red Bulls," said Herdman. "We were happy with the defending. Tonight they took it up a notch."
TFC has won three straight in all competitions since the loss to Miami.
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 Sean 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 Pachuca 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 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 Deossa and Bautista entering 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.
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.
Defender Henry Wingo came on in the 67th minute for his Toronto debut.
Owusu, Flores, Marshall-Rutty and Franklin came on for Toronto in the final third of the game with Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi among those making way.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2024.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press