The Leagues Cup round-of-32 is behind us as simply 16 groups stay. Here’s what went down a jam-packed Friday night time across the grounds.
What occurred
FC Cincinnati ahead Corey Baird (11) reacts as FC Cincinnati wins in penalty kicks after regulation of the Leagues Cup match at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. FC Cincinnati defeated Santos Laguna in penalty kicks.
There was continuous motion across the match Friday night, and we’ll begin in Columbus the place the MLS champs joined the fray with a powerful 4-0 win over Sporting Kansas Metropolis in entrance of a raucous crowd.
It was a night for penalty shootouts, as NYCFC, Cincinnati, Toluca and Cruz Azul all booked their tickets to the following spherical, sending New England, Santos Laguna, Houston and Orlando Metropolis packing on penalties respectively.
After the dramatic opening slate of video games, issues out west started to take form when St. Louis Metropolis scored two late objectives to beat the red-hot Portland Timbers.
In the meantime, Colorado and Juárez placed on a present in Commerce Metropolis, because the Rapids gained a five-goal thriller to arrange a showdown with Toluca.
Lastly, Membership América confirmed why they’re potential match favorites with gutsy win over Liga MX rivals Atlas. A late Henry Martín purpose from close-range was sufficient to ship Las Águilas via.
Objective of the night time
There have been a few stunners on this sport, however Claudio Bravo’s sensational effort from the sting of the field will go down as the most effective of the night time, regardless of it being in a defeat.
Stat of the night time
The knockout spherical seeding leaves loads to be desired…
Groups that gained teams however needed to play away at the moment are 0-4 within the knockouts of Leagues Cup.
I am not one of many licensed geniuses who modified Leagues Cup guidelines this yr, but it surely positive does appear fairly dumb to make group stage success meaningless.
What this implies
The bracket is about for the round-of-16 with some big-time clashes to go away you wanting extra. Most notably, arguably the 2 finest groups in MLS, Columbus and Miami, will sq. off in a mouth-watering tie.
America vs St. Louis Metropolis
Toluca vs Colorado Rapids
Seattle Sounders vs Pumas
LAFC vs SJ Earthquakes
FC Cincinnati vs Philadelphia
Mazatlan vs Cruz Azul
UANL Tigres vs New York Metropolis
Columbus Crew vs Inter Miami
10/21 MLS and 6/11 Liga MX golf equipment from Spherical of 32 survived.
What comes subsequent
The round-of-16 is just a few days away, because the eight video games will play out throughout August 12/13 to determine who will head to the last-eight.
Picture: © Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports activities