Thursday's soccer news has Champions League qualifying, Inter Miami and Houston advancing in the US Open Cup, and LAFC shutting out Colorado.
Panathinaikos trails in Champions League qualifying, Inter Miami and Houston win in US Open Cup semifinals, LAFC beats Colorado
Thursday’s soccer news once again starts in the Champions League. Erik Palmer-Brown wasn’t in the squad for Panathinaikos’s 2-1 loss at Braga in the League Path of the Champions League play-off round. Braga scored in the 51st and 73rd with Daniel Mancini pulling a goal back five minutes into stoppage time.
Moving to the US Open Cup semifinals, Inter Miami advanced 5-4 on penalties over FC Cincinnati after drawing 2-2 in regulation and 3-3 in extra time. Luciano Acosta put Cincinnati up in the 18th and Brandon Vazquez doubled the lead in the 53rd. Leonardo Campana scored for Miami in the 68th and seven minutes into stoppage time with Lionel Messi assisting on both goals. With the game in extra time, Miami’s Joseph Martinez scored in the 93rd and Yuya Kubo equalized for Cincinnati in the 114th minute. Cincinnati failed to convert in the 5th round of penalties with Inter Miami going five for five.
“This one hurts,” FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “We were in position to advance and lost momentum with the set piece, conceding. But even after that, I thought we had our moments to see out the game and get the third goal. Some of the decisions obviously in front of goal were poor. We opened the door for them to do something at the end of the game. Can’t fault the effort.”
Houston advanced in extra time 3-1 over Real Salt Lake with that game finishing 1-1 in regulation. Hector Herrera put the Dynamo up five minutes into first-half stoppage time and RSL’s Anderson Julio equalized in the 64th. In extra time, Adalberto Carrasquilla scored for Houston in the 105th and RSL’s Bryan Vera saw red in the 116th minute. Luis Caicedo added a Houston goal five minutes into stoppage time.
We talked about creating a winning culture,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “That is one of the three things we continue to speak about. That includes doing well in the US Open Cup. And, of course, getting into the postseason. This is just a really good step for this group, and the organization. To put ourselves in a situation to play in the finals.”
In MLS, LAFC beat Colorado 4-0 at home, taking the lead from a 19th minute Mateusz Bogusz goal. Carlos Vela doubled the LA lead in the 29th, Ryan Hollingshead scored in the 36th, and Cristian Olivera finished off the goals in the 83rd minute. LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy made four saves to keep the clean sheet.
I thought it was, from the start pretty much to finish, excluding the first ten minutes of the second-half, was a complete performance with and without the ball,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I was quite pleased with the way our players approached the game.”
Alex Zendejas subbed out in the 87th minute of Club America’s 3-2 home win over Necaxa in Liga MX. Falling behind in the 3rd minute, Diego Valdes equalized for Club America in the 24th and Brian Rodriguez put them ahead in the 31st. Necaxa equalized in the 56th with Club America’s Julian Quinones scoring in the 61st minute.
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