Paulinho, building on his hat trick in the first leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series, added two goals in the second leg on Wednesday, leading Toluca FC to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson, Calif.
Toluca prevailed 7-2 on aggregate, earning a spot in the semifinals against Los Angeles FC.
Up 4-2 following the opening leg last week in Mexico, Toluca expanded the edge in the 10th minute on Wednesday when Jesus Gallardo blasted a 20-yard, left-footed shot past Galaxy goalie JT Marcinkowski.
In the 58th minute, Helinho slipped in a pass to an unmarked Paulinho, who entered the 18-yard box, and Paulinho rolled a left-footed shot inside the far post.
Paulinho’s second goal of the night was a deft chip over Marcinkowski as he entered the penalty area on his own on a counterattack.
The last quarterfinal series will conclude later Wednesday night when the Seattle Sounders play host to Tigres UANL, who were up 2-0 following the first leg.
Sounders 3 (3), Tigres 1 (3), Tigres advance on away goals
Tigres UANL got just Joaquim’s 31st-minute goal in a loss at Seattle, but that was enough for the Mexican side to advance after the teams played to a 3-3 aggregate draw.
The tiebreaker is goals in the away leg, on which Tigres had a 1-0 advantage.
Tigres won the series opener 2-0 last week in San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico. They move on to oppose Nashville SC in the semifinals.
Albert Rusnak scored twice for the Sounders, in the 11th minute from 11 yards out, and a then 20-yard right-footed blast in the 82nd minute to level the series score.
In between, Joaquim headed home a corner kick from Juan Brunetta in the 31st minute.
Danny Musovski turned in a Jordan Morris pass in the 48th minute, drawing Seattle within one on aggregate.
–Field Level Media
