The first day of the 2023 Leagues Cup knockout round has been played seeing, two teams that did not have to play in the Group Stages. The soccer world also got to see four teams move on and four teams play their last match in this tournament.
In the 2023 Leagues Cup, the soccer world has seen teams come behind to win and unforgettable moments of bad luck. On this first day, we all watched a star player compete in his first rival match, along with three other MLS vs. Liga MX matches. Let's see if your team has the power to make it to the Round of 16.
Inter Miami vs. Orlando City
Soccer fans were interested to see this match and to watch Lionel Messi play in his first rival match and what a rival match this was. After a 95-minute rain delay that held off the start of the match until 9:35 p.m. ET. Once everything was ready and kick-off occurred, Inter Miami did not wait to show why they are a team not to mess with.
Lionel Messi was playing his first match against another MLS team, and he did not wait that long to score a goal in the seventh minute. Robert Taylor put up a beautiful pass that was positioned perfectly for Messi to achieve his fourth goal in the Leagues Cup.
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Orlando City would not just sit around and let Inter Miami run over them. Orlando had a corner kick that was brought in for Ivan Angulo. Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender made a fantastic save but had the ball fall right to Orlando's Cesar Araujo at the far post for the shot through bodies, finding the back of the net for the equalizer in the 16th minute.
In the 48th minute, Josef Martinez chases a through ball but then is clipped by Antonio Carlos from Orlando causing a penalty and a penalty shot for Martinez. There was very little contact on the play but the biggest question is, would have Martinez been able to reach the through ball if he was not clipped. There was a VAR check that confirmed the call and a penalty shot will occur.
Martinez places the ball and positions himself. He takes a stutter step as he approaches the ball which does not cause Orlando's goalkeeper, Pedro Gallese to move, but then Martinez causes Gallese to move the wrong way with the shot. Martinez scores on the penalty kick giving Inter Miami a 2-1 lead.
Messi was not done yet. In the 72 minute, Messi passes the ball down to Robert Taylor down the left of the pitch, where the ball is then passed to Josef Martinez. Martinez then clips it back to the center of the goal area for Messi to take the volley past Orlando's goalkeeper for his fifth goal in three matches and bring Inter Miami out with a 3-1 lead.
This match, for sure, was a fun one to watch, and Inter Miami is starting to show that they are a team that you can not sleep on. The Robert Taylor and Lionel Messi duo might be something to watch coming into the Round of 16. Inter Miami wins this one and moves on with a final of 3-1.
FC Dallas vs. Mazatlan
The first half of this match, it was a back-and-forth defense match. The match was very physical; two yellow cards were handed out in the first 45 minutes. One yellow card to J. Intriago of Mazatlan in the 31st minute and one to S. Junaqua of FC Dallas in the 42nd minute.
At halftime, the score was still 0-0. Both teams started the 2nd half looking for the opening goal, but instead, L. Merolla of Mazatlan pulled a yellow card in the 46th minute. While going after an open ball that entered the box, Merolla grabs FC Dallas player Bernard by the arm and brings him down to secure a penalty kick for FC Dallas.
In the 48th minute, the penalty kick was taken to the left side of the goal, Mazatlan goalkeeper Ricardo Gutierrez picked the right side, but the ball went right over his hand. FC Dallas leads 1-0.
In the 57th minute, the ball was played from Mazatlan's goalkeeper and headed up most of the field until it reached L. Amarilla. Amarilla dribbled it up and passed it over to A. Montano who took the shot, bouncing it off an FC Dallas player and into the goal for the equalizer. Score 1-1.
In the 75th minute, the ball was played down the left side of the field to J. Ferreira, who crossed the ball through the middle, finding E. Ansah, who kicked it toward the goal. Mazatlan's goalkeeper could get a hand on it, but not enough to keep it out of the goal. FC Dallas takes the lead 2-1.
Mazatlan went into attack mode for the rest of the match but could not find another goal to send it to penalty kicks. FC Dallas wins and moves on to the Round of 16 with a final score of 2-1.
Houston Dynamo vs. Pachuca
This match was one for the ages. It saw a lot of back and forth, a lot of defense, and many yellow cards flying around. Seven yellow cards were given out in this match, all coming in the second half. Both sides were handed yellow cards in an 18-minute span.
Even though all the yellow cards were handed, this match ended in a 0-0 draw, causing the first penalty kick showdown of the Round of 32.
Houston Dynamo started the penalty kicks by scoring on the first one by Ulfarsson. Club Pachuca answered back with their own goal by Cabral. Club Pachuca and Houston kept going back and forth with penalty kicks until Figueroa, on the 4th kick, took a shot at the left bottom corner and was saved by the Dynamo goalkeeper. Caicedo stepped up for Houston, looking to seal the win. The Houston Dynamo played stepped forward and took a shot to the top left corner scoring past the Pachuca goalkeeper and helping the Dynamo move on to the Round of 16.
This was a great match to watch with all the action you were looking for. Houston just showed that they could take better penalty kicks. The final score of this match was 0-0 (5-3 PKs)
LAFC vs. FC Juarez
Now if you were looking for a match with many goals, this was the one for you. LAFC came out swinging hard and fast. The first goal came in the 31st minute of the match. LAFC put the ball in with a corner kick, and Kellyn Acosta took the shot and bounced it off the back of Ryan Hollingshead, scoring the goal and giving LAFC a 1-0 lead.
In the 33rd minute, the ball was down in the defensive end of FC Juarez, which was being kicked around. The ball came up to the goal high, where Juarez's goalkeeper could bat it away, but it fell right to LAFC's Carlos Vela, who popped it high over the goalie's head and into the goal, giving LAFC a 2-0 lead.
In the 47th minute, FC Juarez was given a corner kick. The corner was placed into the center of the box. It was headed around a little until it fell right to the feet of FC Juarez player Amaury Escoto, who shot past the LAFC goalkeeper into the back of the net—giving FC Juarez a fighting chance and bringing them within one, making the score LAFC leading 2-1.
At the 52nd minute, LAFC could answer back again when Denis Bouanga took a shot at the goalkeeper that was blocked but bounced right back out to him. Bouanaga took another shot through the legs of an FC Juarez defender, this time finding the back of the net in the high center of the goal and giving LAFC a 3-1 lead.
In the 61st minute, the ball was being played on the right side of the field when it was passed over to LAFC player Ilie Sanchez and then to Carlos Vela outside of the box. Vela then put some power into his kick and sent it into the top left corner for his second goal of the night. This goal expanded LAFC's lead to three and made it 4-1.
In the 66th minute, Carlos Vela passed a through ball up to Denis Bouanga, who lined up with the defense until the ball came off Vela's foot, setting Bouanga up with a difficult shot to the left bottom of the goal. After scoring the goal, the lineman had the offside flag up, causing a VAR review. After the review, it was discovered that Bouanga was on side, and the goal was good. This gave Bouanga his second goal of the night and extended LAFC's lead to 5-1.
In the 78th minute, a pass was completed into the penalty area where then FC Juarez player Luis Rodriguez was fighting for the ball and tried to slide tackle the ball out, causing a penalty giving LAFC a penalty kick. Denis Bouagna lined up at the spot and fired the ball into the lower left of the goal for his third goal and the hat trick. LAFC extends the lead to a score of 6-1.
In the 90th minute, Denis Bouagna tossed up a through ball to Nathan Ordaz, that was running up the field, placing it right at the feet of Ordaz. Ordez moved the ball up, causing the goalkeeper to start coming out, and set the beautiful shot to the bottom left corner of the goal and bringing the final score line to 7-1.
LAFC showed why they were the MLS champions last year and deserved a bye coming into this Leagues Cup, but can they continue that power and momentum when they play in the Round of 16?
