We all go to the parties, but the wars are over the fingers of the hand and at the definitive moment of the international plane, the Toluca Red Devils reaffirmed their label of serious candidates for the Leagues Cup title by folding Austin FC by two to zero in a sharp commitment held in New Jersey.
With this result, the scarlet squad became the third Mexican team to install in the front of the grand final of the competition and practically be a step from rounding the Aztec weight in an authentic Aztec party in this competition.
Jorge Díaz Price scores second to seal the pass to the #LeaguesCup2026 semi-finals ????Live on @AppleTV ? https://t.co/9qBB1WaZra pic.twitter.com/l3Frw35YgL
The picture was extremely surprising during the second day of activities of the semi-finals in this power-to-power shock between the Major League Soccer franchises and the MX League clubs.
Previous statistics and the performance of the first phase of the tournament did not give him any weight that Mexican football could raise the hand with such authority in this edition, but as football gives and then takes now strongly embraced the Aztec squads.
With Rayados de Monterrey, Esmeraldas de León and Toluca themselves already qualified, the dominance of the MX League is more than evident in a competition that used to be crushed by the national clubs and that now seems to change the inertia of things completely waiting for what America can get to round the Mexican weight.
A red card that changed the course of the battle in New Jersey.
Toluca dedicated himself to monopolizing the ball with patience along and wide the green rectangle, seeking to open the holes in Austin's bag. The golden opportunity came in the sixteenth minute when Nico Castro received a large ball downhilled by Jesús Gallardo to take out a placed finish that scratched the right lap of the American bow, while Austin barely responded with a diverted shot from Uzuni that the defense ordered a corner shot.
The moment that broke the match occurred at minute thirty-seven, when Austin's attacker, Joseph Rosales, committed a very heavy offense on Federico Pereira's ankle. Although the swaying Filip Dujic initially showed a preventative card, the subsequent review in the VAR determined the direct expulsion, leaving the MLS with ten men just when they intended to bother the arch guarded by Hugo González.
The Payback from the Eleven Steps and the Show of the Archer Stuver
With the numerical advantage for the complement, the Mexicans harassed the rival area until they found the lock-key. At the forty-eighth minute, Helinho connected a lightning wall with Jesus Angulo, who was shattered inside the area by the U.S. rage, decreing the maximum sentence in favor of the Mexican cause.
Helino says GOL! ?@TolucaFC turns from the penalty point to get up in the quarter-finals of #LeaguesCup2026 ?Live on @AppleTV ? https://t.co/9qBB1WaZra pic.twitter.com/F4yZ3gDQwR
Helinho himself took responsibility from the eleven steps to the fifty-two minute to execute a potent, crossed left shot that defeated goalkeeper Brad Stuver’s stretch to place the one to zero in the scoring.
From that moment, Austin’s archer became the figure of the match by saving his fence on repeated occasions with consecutive shortages before the finishes of Jesús Gallardo, Alexis Vega and Helinho himself.
Scarlet agony and the final blow at the last suspect
In the final stretch of the compromise, Antonio Mohamed decided to close the game by reinforcing the lower zone and sending fast men to settle in the counter-strike. Those modifications caused Austin to advance lines desperately, touching Hugo Gonzalez's door with clear plays of Guilherme Biro and a deviated headshot of Brandon Vázquez.
Joseph Rosales is SENT OFF ? Austin FC goes down to 10 men in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinal. pic.twitter.com/K8yxtBTDRH
The final minutes turned into an authentic plight with a Toluca stabbed on his own ground, rejecting every air shipment and holding the pressure of the corner shots. When the rival was totally overwhelmed to the attack, Everardo López ordered a long track for Jorge Díaz Price, who calmly drove to the penalty area and fired to decree the final two to zero in compensation time, sealing a historic ticket for the Red Devils.
