Toronto FC III closed out its group stage at the 2018 Dallas Cup with a loss at the hands of Mexican side Tigres UANL.

The Reds came into the match needing a victory over Tigres to have any hopes of advancing out of the group.

TFC III did well early to control the play and came close a few times to scoring but was ultimately held out by Tigres.

On the other side of the pitch, Gianluca Catalano made a couple of big stops, including a great reaction save on a bicycle kick attempt, to keep the Reds level.

However, the Mexican side opened the scoring in the 22nd as a shot off the post ricocheted off Catalano and into the net. Tigres added another before the halftime whistle to take a 2-0 lead into the break.  

Head coach Danny Dichio made three changes at halftime switching the formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. It showed promise early as the new group was generating opportunities in the attack. However, Tigres added another goal just after the hour mark.

Toronto FC’s Ayo Akinola pulled one back for the Reds as he fired home his first goal in a Toronto uniform since 2016. The forward did well to create space for himself before slotting it past the Tigres keeper.

With the Reds needing four goals to advance, they started to push numbers forward. Tigres were able to hit the Reds on the counter. They added one goal from open play and were awarded a late penalty kick, which was converted to finish the match 5-1.

TFC III finished the group stage in third place after a victory over Higashi Fukuoka and a 1-0 loss to Manchester United. The Toronto FC Academy U-16 team was due to play Wednesday but their match was postponed and moved to Thursday at 6:00 PM ET.