Washington, Aug 8 (EFE).- Inter Miami, Tigres UANL, Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes qualified for the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup on Thursday.
Toronto, Pachuca Tuzos, Los Angeles Galaxy and Necaxa were left out of the tournament.
Seattle will face Pumas UNAM in the round of 16, while San Jose will face Los Angeles Football Club, the first matches defined.
The rest of the pairings will be decided tomorrow, with the rest of the round of 32 matches being played.
Jordi Alba provided all four assists for Inter in their 4-3 win over Toronto tonight at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The goals were scored by Paraguayan Matías Rojas twice, his compatriot Diego Gómez and Uruguayan Luis Suárez.
With Lionel Messi in the stands, Toronto held on to the match thanks to two penalties converted by Italian Lorenzo Insigne and the expulsion in the 28th minute of Inter’s David Martínez, an Argentine who represents Paraguay internationally.
The Canadians made it 4-3 in the 79th minute, but Inter were able to hold on to the score.
Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martínez’s team will face the winner of the match between Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City in the round of 16.
In another match on Thursday, Tigres UANL, led by Serbian-Spanish coach Veljko Paunovic, defeated Tuzos del Pachuca with a solitary goal from Marcelo Flores. Tuzos were superior most of the time but lacked accuracy.
Tigres UANL will face the winner of the duel between New England and New York City in the round of 16.
The third match on Thursday night saw the qualification of the Seattle Sounders, who defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1.
Seattle quickly took the lead with goals from Colombian Yeimar Gómez in the 4th minute and Jackson Ragen in the 7th.
In the first half’s added time, El Salvador international Alex Roldán made it 3-0, assisted by his brother Cristian Roldán.
Brazilian Gabriel Pec reduced the deficit in the 83rd minute after a great assist from former Barcelona player Riqui Puig for the final 3-1.
Necaxa was thrashed 5-0 by the San Jose Earthquakes in their visit to California.
San Jose wrapped up the match in the blink of an eye with goals from Jackson Yueill in the 5th minute, from Argentine Hernán López in the 17th and with a double in the 29th and 35th by Jeremy Ebobisse, the tournament’s top scorer with 4 goals.
In addition to the heavy score against them, Necaxa faced the entire second half with a numerical inferiority due to the expulsion of Alan Montes Castro before the break. San Jose closed the scoring in the 88th minute thanks to Paul Marie.
Tomorrow they will play Cincinnati-Santos Laguna, DC United-Mazatlán, Columbus Crew-Sporting Kansas City, Orlando City-Cruz Azul, Philadelphia-Montreal, St. Louis-Portland Timbers, Toluca-Houston Dynamo, Juárez-Colorado Rapids and América-Atlas. EFE
at/alf
