Franklin scores from the bench as Toronto beat Mexico’s Pachuca in Leagues Cup

TORONTO — Substitute Kobe Franklin scored in the 78th minute on Sunday to give Toronto FC a 2-1 victory over Mexican side Pachuca and top spot in their Leagues Cup preliminary round.

Fellow sub Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty set up the goal, rounding a defender on the left flank before sending in a cross that Franklin acrobatically slotted past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno for the 21-year-old homegrown product’s first-ever TFC goal.

Derrick Etienne Jr. also scored for Toronto, which led 1-0 at halftime and appeared to be playing the ball all over the field until Moroccan international Oussama Idrissi passed the ball back to Pachuca in the 59th minute.

Pachuca pushed on in the closing stages but failed to equalise.

Winning East Group 6 does not give much advantage.

Toronto will play defending champion Inter Miami in the round of 16 on Thursday. Miami, which finished second in East Group 3 after losing 2-1 to Mexican team Tigres in Houston on Saturday, will host the match because it has qualified for the tournament.

Miami defeated Toronto 3-1 in a regular season match on July 20 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Pachuca will play Tigres in the round of 16.

The tournament will feature 47 teams, 29 from Major League Soccer and 18 from the Mexican Liga MX.

TFC and Pachuca had already secured a place in the round of 16 after both defeated New York Red Bulls on penalties in their first cup match.

Toronto was eliminated from its first Leagues Cup appearance last year after the group stage, after losses to New York City FC (5-0) and Atlas from Mexico (1-0).

Toronto took the lead in the 44th minute on Sunday when a beautiful pass from Lorenzo Insigne breached the Pachuca defense and found Etienne. Etienne teed up Moreno to complete a five-pass counterattack that began with Toronto goalkeeper Seas Johnson.

It was TFC’s first ever goal in a Leagues Cup match.

The home team, who had led the dance, deserved the goal — as did Etienne, who had an earlier goal overturned for offside. Toronto outscored Pachuca 10-3 (4-0 in shots on goal) in the first half.

Pachuca equalized in the 59th minute when defender Nicksoen Gomis was caught on the ball after a Toronto free kick hit the wall. Toronto’s defense was caught out and while Johnson stopped Salomon Rondon’s shot, he couldn’t reach Idrissi’s shot from the rebound.

TFC entered Sunday’s match with a 4-9-7 record against Liga MX clubs. Toronto had lost to Pachuca the only other time they met, in a 2008 friendly that was decided via penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

Pachuca currently sits 12th in Liga MX at 1-2-1, but made headlines in June when it defeated MLS champion Columbus 3-0 to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Pachuca also won CONCACAF’s elite club competition in 2002, ’07, ’08, ’10 and ’17.

Pachuca defender Bryan Gonzalez and midfielders Alan Bautista, Nelson Deossa, Idrissi and Rondon were all part of the Liga MX all-star team that defeated their MLS counterparts 4-1 in Columbus last month, with Idrissi among the goalscorers.

Only Rondon, Venezuela’s captain and top scorer, and Idrissi started Sunday, with the other three all-stars on the bench. Deossa and Bautista came on in the second half.

The Mexican team was missing defender Ari Contreras and midfielders Alexei Dominguez and Elias Montiel, who were in attendance at the Concacaf Men’s U-20 Championship, where Mexico defeated the USA 2-1 in extra time in the championship match earlier on Sunday in Leon, Mexico.

Toronto coach John Herdman made two changes to the team that beat the Red Bulls on July 27, with Matty Longstaff and Kosi Thompson replacing Deybi Flores and Prince Owusu.

It was 29 degrees Celsius and felt like 34 degrees Celsius when kickoff took place at 8 p.m. local time at BMO Field.

Toronto started well with Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi testing Moreno shortly after kick-off.

Etienne scored for Toronto in the ninth minute, tipping a pass from Insigne past Moreno. But the offside flag went out, much to Toronto’s anger, and the no-goal was confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee who ruled a first-time pass from Longstaff to Gomis to be offside.

Rondon attempted to hit Johnson from distance midway through the first half, as he successfully did against Canadian Maxime Crepeau at the Copa America last month, but this time he missed his target.

Laryea had a chance to shoot in the 31st minute after Etienne found him in space, but the wingback opted to pass to Bernardeschi, whose shot was saved by Moreno. Shortly after, Thompson’s header was intercepted by a Pachuca defender.

Pachuca’s Carlos Sanchez came close to scoring with a long-range shot in the 36th minute.

Defender Henry Wingo came on in the 67th minute to make his debut for Toronto. Pachuca coach Jorge Alamada was shown a yellow card shortly after for protesting a decision by referee Joe Dickerson.

Owusu, Flores, Marshall-Rutty and Franklin also came on for Toronto in the final third of the game, with Insigne and Bernardeschi also making substitutions.

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