Well. That wraps it up for LIGA MX teams in this year’s Leagues Cup. Let’s talk it out.
It came down to the goalkeepers. Zack Steffen made his. América’s Luis Malagón did not. The Rapids, the 46th-seeded team of the 47 teams in this tournament, took down the first seed to advance to the quarterfinals.
Regardless of what happens in the semifinals, this is a legendary run. Colorado are basically LIGA MX champions after running through win-or-go-home games against Club Léon, FC Juárez, Toluca and, now, the biggest club on the continent. Whichever MLS side wins this thing owes the Rapids a gift basket.
Maybe the Rapids could end up getting a nice gift basket for themselves to go with a trophy? At this point, anything is plausible. They’ll be underdogs from here on out. They’ve been underdogs for their last couple of games too, and those have worked out just fine. They’re only two penalty shootouts away from an all-time great stretch. Like Chris Armas said last night, “Why not the Rapids?"
We mentioned yesterday morning that things could get interesting if New York City’s dynamic attack put them out in front early. We weren’t thinking they would do it 14 seconds into the game. Alonso Martínez took full advantage of a giveaway at the back just after kickoff and finished off the fastest goal in NYCFC history to put the visitors up one.
The problem with that, of course, is all it really did was make the Crew mad. They were in control the rest of the way and it didn’t come as a surprise when Cucho Hernández found an equalizer before halftime.
Full credit to NYCFC. They buckled down afterward (and maybe got a little lucky) and pushed this to penalties. They did everything they could here, but they lost a coin flip in the end. The Crew are moving on and may already be thinking about an MLS Cup rematch.
Things were leaking bleak for the Union after Tai Baribo picked up a red card for an off-ball foul. They didn’t stay down for long, though. Mikael Uhre almost immediately found the net and, suddenly, 10-man Philadelphia had the lead. It didn’t last too much longer after that, but a 1-1 scoreline lasted long enough for them to push this to a penalty shootout win via an outstanding performance from Andre Blake.
Blake will need to be even better against the Crew in the semifinals. It’s been great to see the Union back among the best teams in the league for a few weeks here, but an uphill battle against the Crew got even steeper with Baribo’s red card. He’s been the main catalyst behind the Union’s resurgent form. Without him (and with José Martínez reportedly on his way to Corinthians), the rest of the group will need to come together for a special performance to make the final.
Speaking of special performances, this one… well, it’s kind of hard to call it special if it keeps happening, right? LAFC pushed their unbeaten run against Seattle to nine games after coming out in a back three and rolling over the Sounders straight from the jump. LAFC have won seven of their last nine against Seattle.
The Sounders still have a long way to go before they can compete with the best of the best again. LAFC are more than prepared to do it, but they likely won’t have to until the final of this tournament. They’ll be favored against the Rapids and wouldn’t be favored in an MLS Cup rematch with the Crew. They have to get there first. Let’s see if they get caught looking ahead.
- The Crew had another comeback in them.
- LAFC just keep beating Seattle.
- Marco Reus is eyeing MLS Cup.
Good luck out there. Let folks know how you’re feeling.
