Matias Rojas scored in each half and 10-man Inter Miami held on for a 4-3 victory over Toronto FC to continue their Leagues Cup title defense on Thursday night in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Jordi Alba assisted on all four Miami goals in the round-of-32 clash in the absence of Lionel Messi, who has an injured ankle and is yet to play in the 2024 tournament. Diego Gomez and Luis Suarez also scored to help Miami to an early 3-1 lead before David Martinez was sent off in the 28th minute for fouling Toronto’s Prince Owusu to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Rojas’ second goal made it 4-2 just inside an hour, and Miami survived a late own-goal to seal a round-of-16 meeting against defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew or Sporting Kansas City, who meet Friday.
Lorenzo Insigne scored two goals from the penalty spot before halftime for Toronto FC, who were eliminated at this stage after failing to get out of their group in 2023. Fellow Italian attacker Federico Bernardeschi departed in the 18th minute with an apparent injury.
Sounders 3, Galaxy 1
Yeimar Gomez and Jackson Ragen scored from corner kicks inside the opening 10 minutes and Seattle cruised past visiting Los Angeles.
Alex Roldan curled a third past goalkeeper John McCarthy from the edge of the penalty area in first-half stoppage time, on a shot set up by his brother Cristian. The Sounders will face Pumas UNAM in the round of 16 in a rematch of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League final. Seattle won that two-leg series 5-2 on total goals.
Gabriel Pec pulled an 83rd-minute goal back on the Galaxy’s first shot on goal to help his team avoid a fifth scoreless performance in 29 competitive fixtures this season.
Tigres UANL 1, Pachuca 0
Marcelo Flores hammered in a first-time finish in the 65th minute after reaching Nicolas Ibanez’s cross to the back post, and Tigres UANL advanced over Pachuca in a match played in Austin, Texas.
Nahuel Guzman made three saves to keep Tigres’ first clean sheet of the tournament and help his side match its round-of-16 finish from last season. UANL can better that by defeating the winner of Friday’s clash between the New England Revolution and New York City FC.
Pachuca exits the tournament without registering a 90-minute victory, just over two months after it defeated Columbus to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the continent’s top club honor.
Earthquakes 5, Necaxa 0
Jeremy Ebobisse scored his third and fourth goals of the tournament and San Jose struck four times inside the opening 35 minutes to romp past visiting Necaxa.
Jackson Yuiell and Hernan Lopez had the first two and San Jose scored its first three on shots from outside the area to help set up a trip to Los Angeles FC on Tuesday. Amahl Pellegrino assisted the Quakes’ second and third goals, and Lopez’s clever backheel set up San Jose’s fourth, Ebobisse’s second. Paul Marie added the final tally in the 88th minute.
It was already 4-0 when Necaxa was reduced to 10 men after referee Ismael Cornejo dismissed Alan Montes late in the first half for his foul on goalkeeper William Yarbrough. San Jose’s Rodrigues was also initially ejected during the sequence, but Cornejo revised that decision to a yellow card following a video review.
–Field Level Media