The Round of 16 is set
The Round of 32 is officially over and the next stage of Leagues Cup is on the way. Check out the bracket and full schedule here.
Real Salt Lake acquire Gonçalves from FC Copenhagen
Real Salt Lake have acquired attacking midfielder Diogo Gonçalves from Danish Superliga side FC Copenhagen. The 27-year-old former Portuguese youth international arrives as a Designated Player for reportedly around $3 million. He is signed through 2026 with options for 2027 and 2028. Gonçalves has tallied 58g/44a in 306 career appearances across Copenhagen and boyhood club Benfica, as well as loan stints at Nottingham Forest and Famalicão.
New York City FC loan Magno to Corinthians
New York City FC have loaned forward Talles Magno to Brazilian top-flight side Corinthians through June 2025. Corinthians have an option to extend the loan until December 2025. Additionally, Magno has signed a contract extension through December 2027. Magno initially signed a Young Designated Player deal with NYCFC in May 2021, arriving from Vasco da Gama in his native Brazil.
CF Montréal acquire Marshall-Rutty from Toronto FC
CF Montréal have acquired wingback Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty from Canadian Classique rival Toronto FC. In exchange for the 20-year-old, Toronto receive $850,000 in guaranteed General Allocation Money (GAM) split across this season and next season. Toronto could receive another $400k in conditional GAM and retain a sell-on fee of Marshall-Rutty’s next transfer.
Luca Orellano scored a stunner to equalize after an early goal from Santos Laguna, but Cincy couldn’t find a breakthrough the rest of the way. Fortunately for the Garys, they survived in penalties and kept their Leagues Cup dreams alive. They’ll face Philadelphia next with a potential heavyweight fight against Cruz Azul on the horizon.
While we’re here, it’s worth pointing out yet again what an incredible find Orellano has been. He has five goals and six assists in MLS play and his goal last night is about as good as it gets. He’s contributing at as high a level as you could ask for from a wingback and he’s doing it in his first year with a new team after replacing a player who also played at an extremely high level. Cincy have pulled off a roster-building miracle here.
Did you expect anything different? The Crew came into Leagues Cup fresh and ready to remind everyone yet again they’re one of the best teams in MLS, and maybe the best team in this competition. They even got new wingback DeJuan Jones and new midfield signing Dylan Chambost in on the act for the first time last night. Should we even be surprised they both scored in their first minutes of play with this team? The Crew, yet again, might have found players who can make an immediate impact in their system. They’re somehow getting better.
We’ll find out quickly how much better. They’ll take on Inter Miami in the next round.
Oof, D.C. There’s no way around it, that’s a tough loss. Jared Stroud’s 27th-minute red card derailed their plans and they couldn’t recover.
Bobby Wood and Santi Rodríguez traded first-half goals, but, in the end, New York City FC came out on top in penalties. They’ll need to be a little sharper when they take on Tigres in the Round of 16 next week. After that, they’d face the winner of Columbus and Inter Miami. It’s a gauntlet from here on out.
Neither team could find a breakthrough in this one, but Cruz Azul ended up on top in penalties. They’ll take on Mazatlán next week with the winner of Cincy-Philly waiting for them in the quarterfinals. So far it’s been an unimpressive performance from Cruz Azul.
The Union keep looking a little bit more like the Union. They’re undefeated in their last five and now they’re on to the Round of 16 thanks to a brace from Tai Baribo, who has turned into a critical contributor after the departure of Julian Carranza. In 10 starts in all competitions since June 19, Baribo has scored nine times. That includes his three goals in Leagues Cup so far. Not bad for a player who, before this run, had only made a couple of starts since arriving to the team last season.
Man, what?
Portland came into this one as one of the hottest teams in the league and a dark horse contender to make a run in this tournament. Well. I guess now not so much.
St. Louis took off late in this one with goals from new DP midfielder Marcel Hartel and new signing Simon Becher. I can’t say I expected it. But St. Louis were the better team here. Maybe some of the magic from last season has returned just in time for Leagues Cup?
They’ll certainly need it next week. Club América are up next.
Houston took Toluca to the wire here. They even got a goal from new DP Ezequiel Ponce. But a goal off a corner late into stoppage time ruined their shot at an upset bid. Toluca are on to face Colorado in the Round of 16.
Juárez did enough to give the Rapids a scare, but, in the end, goals from Jonathan Lewis, Djordje Mihailovic and Calvin Harris were enough to power Colorado to a win and a big test against Toluca next week. It will be their toughest matchup of the tournament so far.
América did América things and pulled out the win. They have an upstart St. Louis team to look forward to next week in the Round of 16 and the winner of Colorado-Toluca after that. Frankly, their path to a semifinal is looking pretty manageable right now.
- The Rapids took down another LIGA MX opponent.
- The Crew came into Leagues Cup and made sure everyone knew they had arrived.
- The Sounders secured a rematch with Pumas.
Good luck out there. Provide an introduction to remember.
