Fabulous finish gives Cincinnati group crown in Leagues Cup

Host Cincinnati scored four goals in a 10-minute span from the 79th to 89th minutes to claim the group title in a matchup of MLS clubs that had already qualified for the knockout stage. The World Cup-style event has MLS and Liga MX Mexican sides in three-team groups with two from each advancing to the knockout stage that begins on Wednesday.

Cincinnati will open against Santos Laguna in the knockout round of 32 while New York City's next foe will be decided by Tuesday's final group stage match between New England and Nashville. Uruguay midfielder Santiago Rodriguez opened the scoring for City in the 26th minute and Serbian teen Jovan Mijatovic made it 2-0 in the 61st.

Czech midfielder Pavel Bucha answered for Cincinnati in the 79th minute to begin the comeback and Argentine midfielder Yamil Asad netted the equalizer in the 82nd, setting the stage for Kubo's strike to give Cincinnati the lead. Brazilian forward Sergio Santos added a final insurance tally for the hosts in the 89th minute.

Toluca and Houston booked a knockout-round opener with triumphs to win groups, Houston blanking Real Salt Lake 3-0 and Toluca winning 2-1 at Sporting Kansas City. Toluca, which eliminated Sporting last year, took the lead in the 40th minute when Jesus Angulo stole the ball in the heart of the box and fired in a left-footed shot.

Canadian forward Stephen Afrifa responded with a right-footed shot from just outside the box that nicked the bottom of the crossbar and bounced in for Kansas City's equalizer in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.

Uruguayan striker Max Araujo lifted Toluca ahead by the final margin in the 66th minute on a point-blank blast after taking a header pass from defender Brian Garcia. Sporting, which had already clinched a knockout berth, will open against defending MLS champion Columbus Crew in the knockout round with a possible round of 16 match against defending Leagues Cup champion Inter Miami.

Miami will play host to Toronto on Thursday in a knockout opener. At Houston, the host Dynamo won the group and secured a spot for Atlas in the knockout stage while eliminating Real Salt Lake.

Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera opened the scoring for Houston in the seventh minute and Brazilian defender Micael gave the Dynamo a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute. Argentine striker Ezequiel Ponce netted the last Houston goal in the 42nd minute.

The Colorado Rapids rallied in the dying seconds to reach the knockout round by beating visiting Leon on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Edgar Guerra's goal in the 77th minute gave Leon the lead but Brazilian striker Rafael Navarro equalized in the seventh minute of stoppage time to force penalty kicks, where the Rapids won 4-3 to advance.

August 6, 2024