By Canadian Press

CF Montreal wins Leagues Cup opener by beating Club Leon in penalty kicks

Jul 29, 2025 | 6:42 PM

MONTREAL — It took seven rounds of a penalty shootout to decide, but CF Montreal secured a dramatic 7-6 victory over LIGA MX side Club Leon in the first match of the 2025 Leagues Cup at Stade Saputo.

Rogelio Funes Mori opened the scoring for Club Leon in the 11th minute, while Montreal’s Prince Owusu scored in the 62nd minute to tie the match.

In the penalty shootout, Joel Waterman, Brendan Craig, Bryce Duke, Olger Escobar, Luca Petrasso, Tom Pearce and Owusu scored for Montreal.

James Rodriguez, Adonis Frias, Emiliano Rigoni, Ettson Ayon, Rodrigo Echeverria, Valentin Gauthier all scored for Club Leon, with Sebastian Santos hitting the bar and ending the game.

Montreal looked to set the tone physically from the opening kickoff, pressing a Leon side that has only played three competitive matches this season. This helped keep the danger in front of the Leon goal, but the Mexican side would be the first to score, against the run of play.

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Rodriguez was able to carve out enough room on the right flank to send in a perfect ball that was met by Funes Mori’s header. The shot was then mishandled by Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois, giving the visitors an early lead.

Montreal replied with an immediate increase in pressure, spending the rest of the first half firmly planted in the attacking third, but Leon’s low defensive block held.

That same pressure continued into the second half as Montreal created two more golden scoring opportunities, but missed the target on both, leading to a change in formation at the hour-mark that immediately paid off.

After breaking away from his defender, Dante Sealy was able to pick out a ball into space for Owusu, who was in flight behind the defensive line and finished into the bottom right corner. With momentum now on their side, Montreal nearly took the lead on several occasions in the 10 minutes following the goal but were frustrated repeatedly by Leon goalkeeper Oscar Jiminez.

With nothing to separate both teams after 90 minutes, penalties were needed, setting the stage for seven rounds of drama.

This year’s Leagues Cup features 36 teams — 18 from Major League Soccer, and 18 from LIGA MX. The tournament runs until the end of August.

UP NEXT

Montreal: Travel to New Jersey to face the 2024-2025 Liga MX Champions Deportivo Toluca F.C. on Friday.

Leon: Visits New York City FC on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press