Toluca qualifies for the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup after beating the Houston Dynamo

In a thrilling round of 32 match of the 2024 Leagues Cup, Toluca FC and Houston Dynamo played an emotional match at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas. The match, which ended in a 1-1 draw in regular time, was decided in a dramatic penalty shootout, where the Mexican team emerged victorious.

The Houston Dynamo took the lead in the 24th minute with a goal from Amine Bassi. The French-Moroccan midfielder took advantage of a lapse in attention by the Toluca defense to send the ball into the back of the net, igniting the spirits of the home fans.

However, Toluca were not intimidated and equalised before the break. In the 39th minute, Maximiliano Araújo, with a powerful shot from outside the area, beat Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark to make it 1-1.

The second half was a constant exchange of attacks, with both teams looking for the goal that would give them direct passage to the next round. However, the lack of precision in the final touch and the good performance of both goalkeepers prevented the tie from being broken.

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: Leagues Cup 2024: these are the Mexican teams that survive for the round of 16

After regulation time, the match was decided on the penalty spot, where Toluca was more precise. Although Dynamo started strong, Toluca ended up taking the victory 5-4 on penalties. Tiago Volpi, Toluca’s goalkeeper, was the star player by stopping the decisive penalty that gave his team a pass to the round of 16.

Finally, Pedro Alexis Canelo, who missed his penalty in the Clausura 2023 final, redeemed his mistake by scoring his shot with a great execution. Thus, Toluca advances to the next round, while Houston Dynamo says goodbye to the tournament, despite having shown a great level throughout the match.

Follow the AS Newspaper channel on WhatsAppwhere you will find all things sport in one place: the latest news of the day, the agenda with the latest news on the most important sporting events, the most outstanding images, the opinion of the best AS journalists, reports, videos and, why not, a bit of humour from time to time.

Changes

Sebastian Kowalczyk (58′, Latif Blessing), Lawrence Ennali (58′, Ibrahim Aliyu), Frankie Amaya (68′, Alexis Vega), Juan Dominguez (68′, Brian Garcia), Jean Meneses (68′, Claudio Baeza), Edgar Lopez (73′, Jesus Angulo), Robert Morales (77′, Maximiliano Araujo), Brooklyn Raines (83′, Amine Bassi), Sebastian Ferreira (83′, Ezequiel Ponce), Ethan Bartlow (91′, Hector Herrera)

Goals

1-0, 37′: Griffin Dorsey1-1, 40′: Ezequiel Ponce1-2, 61′: Michael2-2, 95′: Edgar Lopez

Cards

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
VAR referee: Jose Carlos Rivero, Katja Koroleva
Jesus Gallardo (47′,Yellow), Artur (86′,Yellow)