Atlanta, Dallas, and San Jose advance in the US Open Cup
The round of 32 began for the eight MLS teams participating in the US Open Cup, starting in Cobb County, Georgia, where Atlanta United shutout Charlotte Independence 3-0 at home. Nick Firmino scored for Atlanta in the 52nd and 71st with Daniel Ross finishing off the goals in the 85th minute. Miguel Ibarra wasn’t in the squad for Charlotte Independence.
“When you come to these type of games, you come with a group of players that has probably never played together. Never,” Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda said. “And the cohesion and these types of things is difficult. To play against a team, regardless of the level, they were eight games unbeaten, seven wins in a row, so it’s never easy. Against a team that is compact and willing to do the work, it’s never easy.”
Houston exited at home to Detroit City 10-9 on penalties after drawing 3-3 in regulation. Griffin Dorsey put the Dynamo up at home in the 6th with Latif Blessing doubling the lead in the 31st. Detroit pulled a goal back through Ryan Williams in the 41st and Yazeed Matthews equalized in the 75th. Adalberto Carrasquila returned the Houston lead in the 77th. Detroit City’s Maxi Rodriguez equalized in the 83rd to send the game to overtime. With that score holding, the game moved to penalties where Detroit City didn’t convert in the third round and Houston failed to convert in round five and 11.
FC Dallas shutout Memphis 901 1-0 at home with Logan Farrington scoring in the 73rd minute. “I think overall, we’re sticking together really well,” FC Dallas coach Gonzalo Pineda said. “We had some issues defending in the first half but we adjusted that at halftime. I think the adjustments we made at halftime, offensively and defensively, helped us to be more of a threat and aggressive.”
The San Jose Earthquakes advanced with a 1-0 home win over Oakland Roots. Ousseni Bouda scored the Earthquakes’ goal in the 76th. Oakland played a man down from the 82nd minute. “It’s a cup that that has evaded us historically in the club, and we want to win it for the first time,” San Jose coach Luchi Gonzalez said. It’s an avenue to be in an international game with Concacaf Champions League. We’re going to approach each game in the cup with respect.”
In the opening legs of the Canadian Championship quarterfinals, CF Montreal drew 1-1 at Forge. Trailing from the 31st, Bryce Duke equalized for Montreal in the 52nd minute. The Vancouver Whitecaps won 2-1 at Calvary, taking the lead from a Levonte Johnson goal two minutes into first-half stoppage time. Johnson doubled the lead in the 79th with Calvary pulling a goal back three minutes into stoppage time.
On Wednesday, Owen Otasowie wasn’t in the squad for Club Brugge’s 1-1 home draw with Fiorentina, with Club Brugge exiting the Europa Conference League semifinals 4-3 on aggregate. Maxim De Cuyper scored for Club Brugge in the 20th and Fiorentina equalized on the night from the penalty spot in the 85th. Club Brugge finished a man down with a red card to Denis Odoi four minutes into stoppage time.
In the US Open Cup round of 32, Juan Agudelo subbed out in the 61st minute of San Antonio FC’s 2-0 loss at Indy Eleven. San Antonio fell behind in the 2nd and Indy Eleven scored again in the 10th minute. “Although tonight’s result is not what we hoped for, I’m proud of the guys’ efforts and resilience in times of adversity,” San Antonio coach Alen Marcina said. “The first ten minutes were extremely difficult. We’ll learn and grow from this experience.”
Sporting KC won at Union Omaha 2-1 in extra time after drawing 1-1 in regulation. Falling behind to a Lagos Kunga goal in the 31st, Marinos Tzionis equalized for Sporting in the 48th. Alan Pulido scored for Sporting in the 120th minute.
“We won in the last moment in the game, but we’re happy because we needed this result,” Pulido said. “We need to advance in this cup. I think it was a hard game for us because we played on a synthetic field and they have players that played very good. We won. This is the most important thing and we need to work. We need to work because I think we can do better.”
New Mexico United knocked out Real Salt Lake 4-2 at home. United took the lead with Zico Bailey scoring in the 17th and 19th minutes. Fidel Barajas pulled a goal back for RSL in the 35th, but Nickey Hernandez made it 3-1 New Mexico four minutes into first-half stoppage time. Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna scored in the 49th minute. Jacobo Reyes extended the New Mexico lead in the 85th minute.
Seattle advanced 5-4 on penalties over Louisville City after drawing 2-2 in regulation in Tukwila, Washington. The Sounders took the lead in the 41st from a Paul Rothrock goal and Danny Musovski scored in the 63rd. Louisville City’s Sean Totsch converted a penalty in the 67th and Jorge Gonzalez equalized in the 89th minute. That score held through extra time with both teams failing to convert in the first round of penalties. Louisville City failed to convert in the second round, Seattle in the fourth, both in the sixth, and Louisville City in the eighth.
LAFC won 3-1 at the Las Vegas Lights. Kei Kamara scored for LAFC in the 47th and Shawn Smart equalized for Las Vegas in the 56th. Christian Olivera returned the LAFC lead in the 70th and scored again a minute into stoppage time. Joe Gyau wasn’t in the squad for Las Vegas.
Toronto won 3-0 at Saint Laurent in the first-leg of their Canadian Championship quarterfinal series. Matty Longstaff opened the scoring for Toronto in the 50th, Deandre Kerr doubled the lead in the 59th, and Federico Bernardeschi scored in the 76th minute.
In the opening legs of the quarterfinal round of the Liga MX playoffs, Cade Cowell subbed on in the 80th minute for Chivas’s 1-0 home win over Toluca. Victor Guzman scored the Chivas goal in the 86th minute. Alex Zendejas’s Club America drew 1-1 at Pachuca. Falling behind in the 21st, Henry Martin equalized for Club America a minute into first-half stoppage time.
On Thursday, Brandon Vazquez subbed out in the 62nd minute of Monterrey’s 2-1 win at Tigres in the first-leg of their Liga MX playoff quarterfinal series. Sergio Canales put Monterrey up in the 28th and Tigres equalized three minutes into stoppage time. Maximiliano Meza returned Monterrey’s lead in the 48th minute.
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
