Friday's soccer news has the Leagues Cup roundup with New England, the Red Bulls, Philadelphia, Queretaro, and Charlotte advancing.
Leagues Cup and Europa Conference League qualifying
Friday’s soccer news returns to the Leagues Cup round of 32 where new England drew 2-2 with Atlas at Gillette Stadium, advancing 8-7 on penalties. Trailing 2-0 from goals from Mateo Garcia in the 8th and Jordy Caicedo in the 11th, Gustavo Bou scored for the Revolution in the 30th and equalized in the 79th. Atlas’s Anderson Santamaria saw red eight minutes into stoppage time. Moving to penalties, Atlas failed to convert in the 8th round while New England went eight for eight.
The Red Bulls beat NYCFC 1-0 at home on a 31st minute Omir Fernandez penalty. Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel recorded the shutout with three saves.
Philadelphia and DC United finished 0-0 at Subaru Park with the Union winning 5-4 on penalties. Philadelphia failed to convert in the opening round and DC failed to convert in rounds 4 and 5.
Queretaro advanced with a 1-0 won over UNAM Pumas at Audi Field. Angel Sepulveda scored in the 74th minute and Queretaro goalkeeper Fernando Tapia kept the clean sheet with six saves.
Charlotte and Cruz Azul finished scoreless at Toyota Stadium with Charlotte advancing 4-3 on penalties. Charlotte failed to convert in the 1st and 5th rounds while Cruz Azul failed to convert in rounds 2, 3, and 6.
Moving to the USMNT players in Europa Conference League second round qualifying, Kenny Saief subbed out in the 90th minute of Neftchi’s 2-0 home win over Zeljeznicar Sarajevo to advance 4-2 on aggregate. Saief opened the scoring in the 19th and Eddy Silvestre made it 2-0 in the 68th minute. Neftchi plays Beskitas in the third round Main Path with all the next round of qualifiers on August 10 and 17.
Sam Rogers was on the bench for Rosenborg’s 3-2 home win over Crusaders to take that series 5-4 on aggregate after extra time. Jayden Nelson put Rosenborg up in the 33rd with Crusaders equalizing on the night and on aggregate in the 45th. With the series in extra time, Rosenborg’s Isak Thorvaldsson scored in the 102nd with Crusaders equalizing again in the 105th. Leo Cornic scored Rosenborg’s winner in the 108th minute. Rosenborg gets Hearts in the next round of qualifying.
Owen Otasowie wasn’t in the squad for Club Brugge’s 1-0 loss at AGF with Club Brugge advancing 3-1 on aggregate. AGF scored in the 3rd minute. Club Brugge plays KA in the third round.
An abbreviated preview with the start of the Scottish Premiership season this weekend. Cameron Carter-Vickers is the only USMNT player involved as the season begins, with defending champions Celtic the easily identifiable favorite under new manager Brendan Rodgers who was in charge for back-to-back triples in 2016-17 and 20-18. Once again, Carter-Vickers should be a regular in Celtic’s defense as he demonstrated over 29 Premiership games last season on the way to clinching the title early. Carter-Vickers has been a part of back-to-back Premiership and League Cup trophy winning squads, adding the Scottish Cup to complete last season’s triple.
Also in the soccer news, Matthew Hoppe has joined San Jose on loan from Championship club Middlesbrough.
