Ángel Correa shines in Tigres' win over Houston Dynamo in the Leagues Cup

(AFP) With two goals from Ángel Correa, Tigres thrashed Houston Dynamo 4-1 on Tuesday in the kickoff of the Leagues Cup, in which Puebla beat New York 3-0, Toluca beat champions Columbus and James Rodriguez's Leon lost on penalties to Montreal.

At Shell Energy Stadium, Correa made it 1-0 for Tigres with a shot from outside the area that he placed into the lower left corner at minute 45+3. This was the Argentine attacker's first goal with the Felinos.

In the 47th minute, Czech midfielder Ondrej Linger received a filtered pass in the area and made it 1-1 for Dynamo.

In front of an overwhelming support in the stands, Diego Lainez made it 2-1 for the felinos with a left-footed mid-range shot, at 63.

At 70, facing Houston's harassment, Correa pressed for the ball from the first third of the field and forced Brazilian midfielder José Artur to delay the play to goalkeeper Jonathan Bond; Angelito accelerated, gained possession in the last quarter of the field, entered the area, eluded the goalkeeper and calmly slotted home to make it 3-1.

Ozziel Herrera, at 90+7 with a shot inside the box, sealed the 4-1 final score and claimed the three points for Tigres.

"I know it's strange to say that after a 4-1 deficit, but I'm satisfied with the performance," said Ben Olsen, Dynamo coach. "My players gave it their all and created a lot of chances."

"We played a good game against a team that has quality of the highest level, but with the gifts we gave, they ended up punishing us," Olsen finished off.

Paulinho rescues Toluca

At Lower.com Field stadium, in Ohio, with a brace from Portuguese Paulinho, Toluca drew 2-2 with Columbus Crew and then won 4-2 on penalties.

Uruguayan forward Diego Rossi gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at the 11th minute with a penalty kick taken to the left of goalkeeper Luis García, who dove the wrong way.

Defender Maximilian Arfsten made it 2-0 with a finish in the box at the 48th minute of the game that kicked off the first day of the competition that pits 36 Mexican league and MLS teams in U.S. and Canadian stadiums.

But Paulinho brought Toluca, reigning league champion and newly crowned champions of Mexican soccer, closer by finishing a ball rejected by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. The Portuguese then made it 2-2 with a header in the 80th minute.

In the penalty shootout, Alexis Vega, Brazilians Luan Garcia and Helinho, and Jesús Gallardo scored for the Red Devils; only Uruguayan Bruno Méndez missed.

For the Crew, defending Leagues Cup champions, Taha Habroune and Finland's Lassi Lappalainen scored, while Rossi and Amar Sejdic missed the first two shots.

"For me, Columbus is one of the best teams in MLS along with Inter Miami and Cincinnati. We started both halves asleep, but we had the ability to recover and I think we were dominant for most of the match," considered Antonio Mohamed, coach of Toluca.

Unlike in most soccer competitions, a draw in the North American competition takes the contest to a penalty kick shootout, where the winner gets an extra point.

James provides an assist

At home in Montreal's Saputo Stadium, CF Montreal drew 1-1 with Leon, but then won 7-6 on penalties.

It was the 11th minute when James Rodríguez sent a left-footed cross from the right flank for Argentine Rogelio Funes Mori to score for the Mexicans and make it 1-0.

But Germany's Prince Osei Owusu equalized for the home side with a low cross inside the box in the 62nd minute.

In the penalty shootout, the only missed kick for La Fiera was that of Sebastián Santos.

Meanwhile, at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey, Puebla earned three points with a 3-0 win over New York.

Argentine defender Juan Manuel Fedorco scored the first goal with a close-range finish in the second minute.

Uruguayan playmaker Emiliano Gómez increased the lead with a front kick in the box in the 38th minute. And in the 88th minute, midfielder Owen González sealed the win by finishing off a long sequence that began in Puebla’s own half and ended in the New York box.

The Leagues Cup, which will give a ticket to the 2026 CONCACAF Champions League to the winner, runner-up and third-place finisher, runs through August 31.