Leagues Cup first round, New Zealand 1 – USA 4
The Leagues Cup first round opened with Atlanta and DC United drawing 3-3 in regulation and DC advancing 6-5 on penalties. Christian Benteke put DC up on the road in the 4th with Daniel Rios equalizing for Atlanta in the 20th. Jared Stroud returned the DC lead in the 25th and doubled it in the 32nd. Atlanta’s Saba Lobjanidze scored in the 38th and Rios converted a penalty in the 81st minute. Moving to penalties, DC failed to convert in the opening round and Atlanta failed to convert in rounds two and seven.
“Disappointing end result you could say, going into penalties,” Atlanta interim coach Rob Valentino said. “But I felt like we had enough second half to potentially win the game, although a rough start.”
Orlando beat Montreal 4-1 at home, going ahead from a Dagur Thorhallsson goal in the 7th. Facundo Torres doubled the Orlando lead in the 36th, Ramiro Enrique scored two minutes into first-half stoppage time, and Martin Ojeda added a fourth City goal in the 57th. Josef Martinez scored for Montreal in the 68th minute.
“Orlando wanted this game more than we did,” Montreal coach Laurent Courtois said. “We need to resolve some defensive shortcomings, get back into the right mindset and turn the page so we can start anew against San Luis. Now we’re going to get ready for the next game. The result was a disappointment tonight. I can see that we’re struggling in terms of execution and occupying space, as well as making certain decisions. That’s what we’re trying to solve.”
Austin beat UNAM Pumas 3-2 at Q2 Stadium, taking the lead from an 8th minute Alex Ring goal. Austin’s Osman Bukari saw red in the 34th and Gyasi Zardes made it 2-0 Austin in the 45th. Ali Aliva scored for Pumas four minutes into first-half stoppage time. Austin’s Sebastian Driussi scored in the 54th. Guillermo Martinez pulled a goal back for Tigres in the 72nd minute.
Seattle shutout Minnesota 2-0 at home, playing a man up from the 64th with a red card to United’s Hassani Dotson. Jordan Morris put the Sounders up in the 87th and Paul Rothrock scored four minutes into stoppage time.
“The end of the game in a situation like that, where you’re down to 10 men, it’s tough,” Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay said. “I said to the players at the end, in a situation like that, you have to be mistakeless. You have to be perfect, and unfortunately, we weren’t.”
LAFC shutout Tijuana 3-0 at home, going ahead from a Cristian Olivera goal in the 9th. Denis Bouanga added a goal in the 43rd and Olivera scored again in the 51st minute. “This game was three to zero, but every game you have to play at your best to keep winning because today we can score but tomorrow we don’t know what will happen,” LAFC defender Omar Campos said. “But it is always with the mentality of winning and always doing better.”
On Saturday, the USA picked up three points in group A at the Men’s Olympic soccer tournament, beating New Zealand 4-1 in Marseille. Djordje Mihailovic converted a 10th minute penalty, Walker Zimmerman scored in the 12th, and Gianluca Busio made it 3-0 in the 30th. Paxten Aaronson extended the USA lead in the 58th. Jesse Randall scored for New Zealand in the 78th minute. The USA plays Guinea on Tuesday in St Etienne (1pm ET – USA) to close out group A.
In the other group A game, France beat Guinea 1-0 in Nice. Kiliann Sildillia scored for France in the 75th minute. France enters the final matchday of group A in 1st-place on six points with a +4 goal difference. The USA is in 2nd-place on three points and an even goal difference. New Zealand is 3rd with three points and a -2 goal difference, with Guinea 4th with no points and a -2 goal difference.
In the Saturday Leagues Cup games, Houston lost 1-0 to Atlas with Jose Lozano scoring in the 83rd minute. “It wasn’t our best night, but there was enough there to win the game,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “We had plenty of opportunities to do exactly what Atlas did. We had enough looks, shots and opportunities to capitalize on a final ball. We defended well and limited a really good team to only a few good chances. It was an even match, and it was tough to lose, but they made the play that mattered.”
New England shutout Mazatlan 1-0 at home on a 69th minute Jack Panayotou goal. “Obviously, everybody knows who we have out in the attack,” New England coach Caleb Porter said. “So It’s not surpising that it was a tight game and we had trouble creating chances and scoring. But I was real proud of the guys that they found the goal and they got the win, and I was really pleased we got the clean sheet.”
The Red Bulls drew 0-0 with Toronto at home, with Toronto winning 5-4 on penalties. Toronto failed to convert in rounds one and six while New York didn’t convert in rounds five, six, and seven.
Philadelphia shutout Charlotte 1-0 at home on a 33rd minute Tai Baribo goal.
Inter Miami beat Puebla 2-0 in Fort Lauderdale, going ahead from a Matias Rojas goal in the 9th. Luis Suarez doubled the Miami lead in the 72nd minute.
St Louis beat FC Dallas 2-1 at home after falling behind to an 18th minute Samuel Junqua goal. Cedric Teuchert equalized for St Louis in the 26th. FC Dallas failed to convert a penalty in the 36th. Marcel Hartel converted a St Louis penalty in the 49th minute.
“We need to be more consistent and have better sequences with the ball,” Dallas interim coach Peter Luccin said. “We cannot have ten good minutes and ten bad minutes, we need to be more calm with the ball. We saw tonight that when we play in space we can score.”
The San Jose Earthquakes drew 1-1 in regulation with Chivas in Santa Clara, winning 4-3 on penalties. Jeremy Ebobisse put the Earthquakes up in the 6th and Roberto Alvarado equalized for Chivas eight minutes into stoppage time. Moving to penalties, the Earthquakes didn’t convert in the second round while Chivas failed to convert in rounds one and four.
Sunday’s Leagues Cup games started with NYCFC drawing 0-0 in regulation with Queretaro and winning 4-3 on penalties. After a goalless 90 minutes at Yankee Stadium, NYCFC converted all of its penalties while Queretaro failed to convert in rounds four and five.
Sporting Kansas City beat Chicago 2-1 at home after falling behind to a Georgios Koutsias goal in the 22nd. Sporting KC’s Robert Castellanos equalized in the 39th and William Agada scored in the 76th minute.
Round one of the Leagues Cup ended at Providence Park, with Portland beating Leon 2-1. Alan Medina put Leon up in the 12th, but Zac McGraw equalized for the Timbers in the 41st and scored again in the 90th minute.
In the roundup of USMNT players abroad, Bryan Reynolds’s Westerlo shutout Cercle Brugge 3-0 at home in the opening weekend of the Belgian Pro League. Lucas Stassin scored for Westerlo in the 18th and 55th with Allahyer Sayyadmanesh finishing off the scoring in the 64th minute.
Did Not Play: Mark McKenzie (KRC Genk 0 – Standard Liege 0), Aron Johannsson (Valur 1 – Fram 4), Alan Sonora (Hurucan 1 – Rosario Central 0)
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
