Credit: Atlanta United
Phase one of the 2025 Leagues Cup continued on Wednesday, starting with Orlando City beating Necaxa 5-1 at home. Martin Ojeda put Orlando up in the 14th with Luis Muriel adding goals in the 35, 37th, and a minute into first-half stoppage time. Ojeda added another Orlando goal in the 51st. Necaxa’s Alexis Pena scored in the 71st minute.
Inter Miami came back to beat UNAM Pumas 3-1 at home. UNAM Pumas took the lead from a Jorge Ruvalcaba goal in the 34th. Rodrigo De Paul equalized for Miami in the 45th, Luis Suarez converted a penalty in the 59th, and Tadeo Allende scored in the 69th minute.
Atlanta beat Atlas 4-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, taking the lead from a Jamal Thiare penalty in the 8th. Alexey Miranchuk doubled the Atlanta lead in the 33rd, Saba Lobjaidze added a goal in the 38th, and Cayman Togashi made it 4-0 United in the 68th. Diego Gonzalez scored for Atlas in the 83rd minute.
“Yeah, it’s great to get a win, especially back at home at the Benz,” Atlanta goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert said. “Very ecstatic for that and the guys. Wish we could keep the clean sheet obviously. It’s a tough deflection to give away at the end. We just need to carry it into Montreal on Saturday, to keep kicking for the last 10 matches of the season.”
Atletico San Luis won 2-0 at Minnesota United. Joao Pedro put San Luis up a minute into stoppage time and Sebastian Perez Bouquet doubled their lead in the 89th minute.
“Although we generated attacking threats against them, we didn’t have the intensity that we needed for this game,” Minnesota midfielder Joaquin Pereyra said. “We knew that we needed to win and score a lot of goals, but we weren’t able to do so today.”
Club America beat Portland 5-3 on penalties after drawing 1-1 in regulation at Q2 Stadium. Ariel Lassiter put Portland up in the 7th. The Timbers played a man down from the 51st when Jimer Fory saw red. Ramon Juarez equalized for Club America in the 53rd. Portland failed to convert in the third round of penalties while Club America went five-for-five from the spot. Alex Zendejas subbed on for Club America at halftime and saw yellow in the 86th minute.
Real Salt Lake beat Queretaro 1-0 at America First Field. Braiain Ojeda scored the game’s only goal in the 32nd minute.
Seattle beat Tijuana 2-1 at Lumen Field after falling behind to a Kevin Castaneda goal four minutes into first-half stoppage time. Osaze De Rosario equalized for the Sounders in the 56th and Daniel Musovski scored in the 88th. Tijuana’s Ramiro Franco saw red five minutes into stoppage time. Joe Corona subbed out in the 64th minute for Tijuana.
On the MLS side of the bracket, Seattle and Inter Miami have advanced to the quarterfinals while Orlando, Portland, the LA Galaxy, Cincinnati, and the Red Bulls remain in contention. For Liga MX, Toluca, Pachuca, and Tigres have advanced with Puebla and Juarez still in contention for the final spot in the quarterfinals.
THURSDAY’S SOCCER TV
African Nations Championship on beIN Sport: Congo DR vs Zambia at 9am and Angola vs Kenya at 12pm. Leagues Cup on FS1: Monterrey vs Charlotte at 7:30pm and LA Galaxy vs Santos Laguna at 11:15pm ET.
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
Photo by Atlanta United
