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Mexican giants Club America were unexpectedly knocked out of the League Cup by Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, leaving the Mexican Football League without a team in the top four.
In the semifinals of the Liga MX-MLS joint tournament, defending champions Columbus Crew will face Philadelphia Union, while the Rapids will face Los Angeles Football Club.
The United States is the most respected team in Mexico and was playing a “home” game in Carson, California, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, attracting thousands of Mexican-American supporters.
But the game ended in a 0-0 draw with neither side taking any of their chances, much to their disappointment, and the Rapids eventually won 9-8 on penalties.
The marathon shootout ended in sudden death as the two goalkeepers fired shots, with Colorado’s Zack Steffen scoring and Luis Malagon’s shot going wide.
Another Mexican team that reached the quarterfinals, Mazatlan, also lost to Philadelphia Union in a penalty shootout and was eliminated.
Philadelphia was down a player just before halftime when forward Ty Baribo was harshly sent off for his second yellow card.
But two minutes later, Danish forward Mikael Uhre broke through from the left, cut inside and deftly lobbed the ball over Mazatlan goalkeeper Ricardo Gutierrez to give Union the lead.
In the 59th minute, Liga MX’s Alonso Escoboza headed in a cross from Ramiro Arciga to equalize the score.
However, despite Mazatlan’s numerical superiority and possession, they were unable to find a winning goal, and the game went to penalties after Facundo Almada’s header was saved by Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake.
Jamaican Blake was the hero in the penalty shootout, making two superb saves as Jim Curtin’s side won 4-3 and reached the last four for the second consecutive season.
In the end, Columbus defeated New York City 4-3 in a penalty shootout and advanced to the semi-finals. Earlier, the ten-man United team also defeated the Mexican team Mazatlan in a penalty shootout.
Just 14 seconds into the game in Columbus, visiting New York took the lead when Alonso Martinez stole a shot from Crew defender Rudy Camacho, raced into the box and slammed the ball into the net.
– Cool Free Throws –
Striker Cucho Hernandez had a great chance to equalise but his shot from inside the box went wide and the Colombian’s shot was brilliantly saved by Matt Freese.
But four minutes before halftime, Columbus, which had knocked out the cup’s defending champions Inter Miami in the previous round, equalized.
Max Arfsten crossed from the right and Hernandez headed the ball into the bottom corner at a perfect angle.
Chances were scarce in the second half, and despite plenty of pressure from Columbus in the closing minutes, the game went to penalties.
Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte saved a shot from Maxi Morales, but then Diego Rossi’s shot was saved by Manchester City’s Freese.
New York’s Santiago Rodriguez fired a shot over the crossbar, but DeJuan Jones sealed the win with a cool penalty kick.
The only team to win in the regular season was Los Angeles Football Club, who advanced after a stunning 3-0 away win over the Seattle Sounders.
Ryan Hollingshead put LAFC ahead in the 14th minute of the match, and veteran Kei Kamara doubled the lead 11 minutes later.
In the 53rd minute, Denis Bouanga sealed the victory with a precise shot after receiving a high ball from French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
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