After beating Pumas on penalties last time out, CF Montréal were unable to find the breakthrough in their second Leagues Cup match-up. Instead, it was D.C. United who soaked up the pressure and struck late in the second half to claim the three points. Despite some darting runs from Kwadwo Opoku and some impressive playmaking from Mathieu Choinière, the home side were constantly denied - D.C. United shot-stopper Alex Bono pulling out some impressive reflex saves.
Despite Montréal’s dominance going forward, the Black and Red would open the scoring against the run of play, with twenty minutes to go. Erik Hurtado would pounce on a header from Choinière back to his goalkeeper, reaching the ball before the onrushing Jonathan Sirois. The forward found himself facing an empty net, and duly swept home against his former club.
The result means D.C. United are now guaranteed to go through to the playoffs, as they now sit top of the East 2 group on three points with tonight’s win. CF Montréal, meanwhile, will hope that tonight’s opponents can avoid defeat against Pumas next Saturday. Any win, before or after penalties, for the Mexican side will see them out of the competition.
New York City FC bounced back following a poor showing in their first match with a 5-0 win over Toronto FC. The win doesn’t officially get them through to the knockout stages, but the club avoided elimination.
Santi Rodriguez led all scorers with a brace. He closed out the first half wiht his first goal two minutes into stoppage time. He then closed out the match’s scoring with a goal in the 75th minute. Defender Maxime Chanot opened the match’s scoring with a header off a corner in the 30th minute. Monsef Bakrar, in his first start with the club notched his first goal at the 45th minute to make it 2-0. Andres Jasson scored the 4th goal of the match between Rodriguez’s brace.
New York must now wait for the result of Atlas FC vs. Toronto FC to learn its final position in the group stage.
The MLS side marches on in this Leagues Cup and now has already secured their place in the next round after defeating their two Mexican group rivals.
Philadelphia Union showed no mercy today against the Gallos Blancos and won the match by a score of 5-1.
Philadelphia's goals were scored by Daniel Gazdag (3), Nathan Harriet and Jack McGlynn. The only goal for Club Querétaro was scored by Raúl Sandoval.
Daniel Gazdag was the star of the match scoring a hat trick. His goals came at the 30th, 39th and 63rd minute. The latter two were from the penalty spot
Club Querétaro will play against Xolos de Tijuana in the final match of the East 1 group on July 30.
New England Revolution bounced back from their opening PK defeat against Red Bull New York and opened the scoring in the 16th minute, with former Juventus man Giacomo Vrioni’s unstoppable finish topping off a well-worked move.
San Luis leveled up with a stunner through Mateo Klimowicz only several minutes later, when a looped ball following a corner was sweetly struck on the edge of the box by the Argentine past the goalkeeper.
Another rocket saw the MLS side go ahead again in the 28th minute through Gustavo Bou with a thunder-strike from the edge of the box. A third goal came as New England looked to run away with the scoreline, this time it was an OG from Julio César Domínguez.
A fourth then came in the 38th minute, with yet another well worked team goal started by Carlos Gil, and finished by Vrioni for his second of the game. The Italian made history for the New England Revolution, scoring the side’s first continental hat-trick in the 60th minute to make the game 5-1.
An own goal by Justen Glad and a brace by Germán Berterame were enough for Rayados de Monterrey to win their debut in this Leagues Cup.
The team coached by Tano Ortíz were balanced in all areas of the field and easily won the match. With this result, they top West 2 group with their fate in their own hands to qualify for the next round.
Club León clinched the top spot in Group West 3 and a spot in the knockout rounds following a 1-0 win over LA Galaxy. The Galaxy still have a chance to advance into the knockout rounds with a positive result against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Each club tested the goalkeepers early in the first half with Club León having the best opportunity in the 42nd minute when Brian Rubio’s centering shot was stopped by Galaxy goalkeeper Noval Mićović. Club León eventually broke through in the 58th minute. Forward Ángel Mena slipped in behind the LA defense while Osvaldo Rodriguez slipped a through ball into the box. Mena just needed a single tough to beat the keeper and net the game winner.
Galaxy had a final chance in the 86th minute when Riqui Puig sent a dangerous cross into the box for Kelvin Leerdam, who was open at the net, but miss hit his shot wide right.
The LIGA MX Clausura 2023 champions’ first match at Leagues Cup 2023 more than lived up to expectations, as Tigres edged out a dramatic encounter against the **Portland Timbers** at Providence Park.
The hosts would open the scoring after 20 minutes, as Evander doubled his Leagues Cup goal tally with a free-kick straight into the top right corner.
The night would turn sour for the Brazilian midfielder afterwards, though, as he gave the ball away for André-Pierre Gignac’s equaliser before being shown a second yellow card, all before half-time.
But even down a man, the Timbers were able to keep the LIGA MX team at bay, and even sought to hit their opponents on the counter several times. Eventually, though, a close-range header from Jesús Ángulo handed the Tigres their winning goal with ten minutes remaining.
Having kept the deficit down to just one goal, the home side were nevertheless able to book their place in the Round of 32. Tigres, meanwhile, will need to back up their win tonight with a result against San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday night in order to join them.
