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Time of India
04-08-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Leagues Cup: Guadalajara edge Charlotte on penalties, Cruz Azul outlast LA Galaxy in thrilling shootout
Richy Ledezma and Bryan González each netted their first goals for CD Guadalajara , helping the visitors earn a 4-2 penalty shootout win after a 2-2 draw with Charlotte FC on Matchday 2 of Leagues Cup group play. Chivas (0-1-1, 2 points) stayed in knockout contention thanks to goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, who redeemed himself in the shootout by saving Tyger Smalls' effort - after conceding a soft equaliser to Kerwin Vargas in the 90th minute off a near-post free kick. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Digital Marketing MCA Product Management Degree Technology Finance healthcare Cybersecurity Data Science MBA Public Policy Leadership Data Science others Operations Management Design Thinking CXO Others Project Management Healthcare Management Data Analytics Artificial Intelligence PGDM Skills you'll gain: Digital Marketing Strategies Customer Journey Mapping Paid Advertising Campaign Management Emerging Technologies in Digital Marketing Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business Digital Marketing and Analytics Starts on May 14, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Digital Marketing Strategy Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Content Marketing Social Media Marketing & Advertising Data Analytics & Measurement Duration: 24 Weeks Indian School of Business Professional Certificate Programme in Digital Marketing Starts on Jun 26, 2024 Get Details Charlotte (0-1-1, 1 point), later eliminated by other results, had taken an early lead via an own goal from Guadalajara's Gilberto Sepúlveda in the 11th minute. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo Chivas responded with a crisp strike from Ledezma in the 24th minute and a powerful header from González in the 66th. Charlotte's hopes took a further hit when top scorer Pep Biel exited with an injury in the 32nd minute. The draw and shootout win gave Chivas a vital two points. Cruz Azul beat LA Galaxy 8-7 on penalties Live Events Kevin Mier emerged as the hero for Cruz Azul, saving consecutive penalty kicks on the LA Galaxy's eighth and ninth attempts to secure a dramatic shootout victory after a 1-1 draw in Leagues Cup group play. Charly Rodríguez opened the scoring for Cruz Azul (0-1-1, 2 points) in the 21st minute, finishing off a sharp cross from Carlos Rotondi for his first goal of the tournament and third in the Liga MX Apertura. LA Galaxy found their equaliser late, with Gabriel Pec sliding in Mauricio Cuevas' cross in the 81st minute for his second goal of the competition. In the shootout, both teams were flawless through seven rounds, before Galaxy's Edwin Cerillo and Emil Garces had their spot kicks denied by Mier - clinching the extra point for Cruz Azul and keeping their knockout stage hopes alive. Monterrey overcome New York Red Bulls 5-3 in shootout CF Monterrey (0-1-1, 2 points) kept their knockout stage hopes alive by converting all five penalties in a shootout victory following a 1-1 draw against the New York Red Bulls in Cincinnati. Goalkeeper Luis Cárdenas made a crucial save during the shootout, while controversy struck when Carlos Coronel initially appeared to stop Luis Reyes' spot-kick. However, the Red Bulls keeper was ruled to have moved off his line early, and Reyes converted on the retake. New York took the lead in the 19th minute through Julian Hall, who latched onto Daniel Edelman's long through ball and fired a clinical finish past Cárdenas. Monterrey equalized in the 38th minute when Sergio Canales - scoring his second goal of the tournament - pounced on a rebound after Coronel saved Ricardo Chávez's header. With the 1-1 draw, Rayados secured an extra point through the shootout, keeping their Leagues Cup campaign alive. FC Juarez edge FC Cincinnati 4-3 in tie-breaker Sebastián Jurado came up clutch with two penalty saves to help Juárez claim a shootout victory after surrendering a two-goal lead in the second half against FC Cincinnati. Juárez (1-0-1, 5 points) appeared to be in control after Ricardinho opened the scoring with a header assisted by Guilherme Castilho, who later added a goal of his own in the second half. But Cincinnati (1-0-1, 4 points) mounted a comeback, with Evander pulling one back in the 72nd minute before delivering the corner that led to a Juárez own goal just five minutes later. The match ended 2-2, sending it to penalties. After Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano denied Jairo Torres, Evander had a chance to extend the shootout - but Jurado made the decisive save, sealing the win for Juárez, who remained well-positioned to reach the knockout stage. Sounders blank Santos Laguna 2-0 Georgi Minoungou scored his first goal of the season to help Seattle secure a 2-1 win over Santos Laguna, but his night ended early after an unusual red card. The forward struck in the 72nd minute, lifting his shirt to reveal a message underneath - a celebration that earned him a second yellow card and an immediate ejection, just seven minutes after coming off the bench. He had already been booked for a foul in the 65th minute. Seattle (2-0-0, 6 points) had earlier taken the lead through an own goal forced by Paul Rothrock's dangerous cross. Despite playing with 10 men, they held firm, even after Cristian Dájome pulled one back in stoppage time for Santos Laguna (0-2-0, 0 points), who were eliminated from Leagues Cup contention with the loss. Club Tijuana beat Rapids 2-1 Ramiro Arciga's second goal of the Liga MX Apertura helped Tijuana secure a crucial 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, keeping their Leagues Cup hopes alive. Tijuana (1-1-0, 3 points) struck first in the 39th minute when Jackson Porozo tapped in a rebound after Unai Bilbao's header hit the post following a corner. Arciga doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, reacting quickly to slot home the rebound from Alejandro Gómez's shot that was parried by Colorado keeper Zack Steffen. Just two minutes later, Porozo accidentally redirected the ball into his own net, giving Colorado (1-1-0, 3 points) hope. But despite late pressure from the hosts, Tijuana held firm to claim all three points.
Reuters
04-08-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Leagues Cup roundup: Guadalajara wins PKs after draw with Charlotte
August 4 - Richy Ledezma and Bryan Gonzalez scored their first goals for their new club and visiting CD Guadalajara earned a 4-2 shootout victory following a 2-2 draw against host Charlotte FC on Matchday 2 of Leagues Cup Phase One play on Sunday night. Raul Rangel saved Tyger Smalls during the shootout to help Chivas (0-1-1, 2 points) remain in contention for the knockout phase after he reacted poorly to concede Kerwin Vargas' free-kick equalizer at the near post in the 90th minute. That sent the game to penalties after Chivas had outplayed Charlotte for a long stretch, pulling level through Ledezma's strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 24th minute and going in front on Gonzalez's powerful 66th-minute header. Charlotte (0-1-1, 1 point), which sank to the brink of elimination, benefitted from an own goal from Guadalajara's Gilberto Sepulveda in the 11th minute. But Pep Biel, Charlotte's leading scorer in MLS regular-season play, was forced out with an injury in the 32nd minute. CF Monterrey 1 (5), New York Red Bulls 1 (3) CF Monterrey (0-1-1, 2 points) converted all five of their penalties to keep their knockout phase hopes alive following a 1-1 draw. Luis Cardenas made one save in the shootout following a match played in Cincinnati. Carlos Coronel thought he had saved Luis Reyes' penalty to prolong the tiebreaker, but it was ordered to be retaken for Coronel leaving the goal line early, and Reyes converted the second attempt. Julian Hall put the Red Bulls (1-0-1, 4 points) in front in the 19th minute when he ran onto Daniel Edelman's long throughball up the middle and drove an emphatic finish on the run past Cardenas. Rayados drew level 19 minutes later when Sergio Canales scored his second of the tournament, dispatching a rebound attempt from about 10 yards after Coronel saved Ricardo Chavez's header. FC Juarez 2 (4), FC CIncinnati 2 (3) Sebastian Jurado saved two penalties and visiting Juarez settled for a shootout win after giving back a two-goal lead in the second half. Guilherme Castilho scored in the second half after setting up Ricardo Antonio's header in the first for Juarez (1-0-1, 5 points), which is still in strong position to advance to the knockout phase. Evander pulled the first goal back in the 72nd minute for Cincinnati (1-0-1, 4 points), then delivered the corner kick that resulted in an own-goal equalizer five minutes later. But Evander saw his penalty saved with a chance to extend the shootout beyond five kicks after Cincy's Roman Celentano had saved Jairo Torres. --Field Level Media
New York Times
20-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Promising Champions League for USMNT stars turns dire in a flash
A once-promising UEFA Champions League campaign for Americans took a gruesome turn in the playoff knockout phase of the new-look competition after AC Milan, Juventus and Celtic's eliminations took out a half dozen U.S. internationals in the process. Although Borussia Dortmund have two U.S. players on their squad and PSV have four, both Dortmund players are late-game options at best, while PSV's three-high profile Americans are all injured. The fourth at PSV, Richy Ledezma, started again at right back in Wednesday's extra-time ouster of Juventus, but the 24-year-old earned his only call-up to the senior national team in 2020 and maintains eligibility for Mexico. Advertisement In the meantime, high-profile core stars Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Tim Weah and Weston McKennie are done with European competition this season, while Celtic center backs and U.S. hopefuls Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty also won't be tested by the continent's finest anymore following last-gasp elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich (and Canadian goal-scoring hero Alphonso Davies). The final blow came Wednesday, when PSV outlasted Juventus, 4-3 on aggregate. This was the second consecutive day in which an Eredivisie side knocked off a team from Serie A in dramatic fashion, following Feyenoord's surprising triumph over Milan. It appeared Juventus were on their way through in the 63rd minute, when Weah, playing as a right back as he often does for the club, ran onto a cleared corner kick and connected with power and precision from 25 yards out. The linesman initially called the sequence off, spotting an offside Juventus teammate on the initial corner kick, but VAR intervened and left the center official to deem that Kelly did not influence the play in any phase. The awarded goal allowed Weah to become the fifth USMNT player to score in this season's Champions League. Weah was impactful throughout his shift, but a 74th-minute goal from Ismael Saibari forced extra time, while Ryan Flamingo put the tie away in the 98th minute on a scramble in front of goal following a well-executed free kick. The result sees PSV through to the round of 16 instead of Juve and another abrupt ending for Americans in Europe following a largely prolific run through the league phase. With comparatively little laying ahead for marquee USMNT members in the Champions League now – Dortmund's Gio Reyna and Cole Campbell join the PSV quartet in the last 16 – it's worth examining how the full contingent fared up until the playoff round, digging into the numbers and finding a relative standing. GO DEEPER The USMNT wild card with a penchant for the unpredictable Through Wednesday's knockout playoff second legs, USMNT-eligible players have logged 5,009 minutes across 82 games, with 53 of those shifts coming as starts. When they played, every American player had a record of at least .500 – meaning their teams won at least as many games as they lost when they were involved. Advertisement Entering the round of 16, USMNT-eligible players' involvement ranged from Trusty, who logged 815 minutes with Celtic, to Dortmund's latest Yankee youngster, Cole Campbell, who made one 13-minute cameo. Extra time in Eindhoven helped the group exceed 5,000 minutes of play, comfortably eclipsing the previous high of 3,985 minutes logged in 2021-22. A year earlier, Pulisic became the first American man to play in a Champions League final, helping Chelsea beat Manchester City in Porto. Barring a surprising run to the final by either PSV or Dortmund, he's likely to retain that distinction into 2025-26. Understandably, an uptick in playing time helped the group set another record for goals scored in the Champions League by Americans (13; Pulisic led all U.S. scorers with four), an impressive feat reached well before the competition's final four rounds. These haven't been garbage-time scoreline-padders, either. Three goals proved to be game-winners, with Pepi swinging matches for PSV with both of his successful strikes and McKennie making the difference for Juventus on one occasion. Tillman, who keyed a comeback vs. Shakhtar Donetsk that Pepi finished off, also swung a result, playing a needed assist to Flamingo during the league phase. Weah's strike on Wednesday was undoubtedly meaningful, even if its impact was short-lived. So where does that baker's dozen place the U.S. in the national golden boot race? Unfortunately, quite far from the podium places — but in impressive standing when given proper context. Through the tournament's playoff round, players from the U.S. are tied for the 13th-highest goal return, at level standing with Norway. Ten contingents above them are UEFA-affiliated nations, while the other two (Brazil and Argentina) have long been assimilated into the European game's highest levels. As such, the U.S. has provided the third-most goals to this year's Champions League of any non-UEFA nation, while they've chipped in more than any country outside of Europe and South America. Japan is next with 12 goals, while Guinea, Nigeria and Morocco are tied at 10. Advertisement The fellow 2026 World Cup cohosts are a little further down the hierarchy. Canada is tied for 22nd with nine, most recently Davies' late decider against Celtic, while all six of Mexico's goals came from Santiago Giménez. The only other goal scored by a Concacaf player came from César Blackman, with the Panama right back scoring once for ŠK Slovan Bratislava. Some rationale for the Americans' success this year is the inevitable result of the game's globalization – an increase in opportunities from players who hail from beyond UEFA's nations. The new Champions League format also increases the number of paths into the competition. Teams operating a rung below their nation's title favorites can still claim one of a healthy number of berths into the tournament field — teams of Dortmund, Juventus and Milan's caliber at present. There is also more consistent access to the tournament for the best teams of perceived second-tier competitions, like the ones often dominated by Celtic and PSV. Any team that reaches the league phase is guaranteed more games than they enjoyed in the old group-stage format, with every participant playing eight games before the first wave of elimination. Still, none of this makes this week's trio of eliminations any easier to digest. Milan will feel especially disappointed, having nearly finished high enough in the league phase standings to skip the playoff altogether. Ultimately, a tumultuous season that necessitated a December coaching change extended into Europe. Juventus will also rue its missed chances on Wednesday, having been just over a quarter of an hour away from reaching the round of 16. And while Celtic was a mighty underdog in its clash with Bayern, the Scottish giant performed admirably and nearly forced extra time at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. As such, the USMNT's best player (Pulisic), one of its most consistent attackers (Weah), two vital midfielders (McKennie and Musah) and two World Cup hopefuls at center back (Carter-Vickers and Trusty) are all left to watch the knockout bracket transpire like the rest of us. Perhaps Reyna has one last star contribution to make for Dortmund. Maybe Ledezma's shifts at right back will work him into Mauricio Pochettino's plans. After a week like this, however, those silver linings are hard to spot. The U.S.'s best chances to have another prominent player reach the Champions League final have all failed to materialize.
