Four of the eight sides that have qualified into the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup are from the MLS with some high-scoring matchups in the Round of 16.
Here’s a look at who has made it through.
Round Up
LAFC came into their match against Columbus Crew with a 3-0 lead on aggregate but were behind early on the night when Diego Rossi’s cross found Jacen Russell-Rowe who had managed to get off his man and have an easy tap home.
The deficit was cut down to one just before the break when Eddie Segura gave away a penalty for a handball and Rossi slotted the ball calmly into the bottom right corner. Columbus looked to take the game to extra time at the death but ultimately LAFC broke and Cengiz Under played through Denis Bouanga who clinched the victory.
Also on Tuesday, Seattle Sounders made the trip to Mexico with their tie against Cruz Azul in the balance at 0-0. The only goal in the first half went to the home side who had dominated the proceedings by that point as Gonzalo Piovi cross from a tight angle was met by Carlos Rodriguez and he headed in off the post.
It took until the 70th minute for the next goal in the match and once again it went to Cruz Azul, this time it was Angel Sepulveda’s penalty which easily beat Stefan Frei. Straight down the other end a scramble in the box allowed Daniel Musovski an all important away goal for the Sounders, but late goals from Luka Romero and Jorge Sanchez secured Cruz Azul a 4-1 victory.
Tigres held the advantage over FC Cincinnati thanks their away goal in America, but it was the MLS side that went in front on the night and in the tie when some great work from Luca Orellano set up Evander on the edge of the box and he placed his shot into the roof of the net.
That was how the tie remained until the 64th minute, when three goals in eight minutes completely shifted the direction of the match. First Ozziel Herrera nodded home Juan Brunetta’s whipped ball into the box, then an incredible one-two between Brunetta and Herrera was fired into the bottom corner by the former. The tie was finished off as a powerful cross by Fernando Gorriaran found Nicolas Ibanez for Tigres’ third.
On Wednesday, another match which was level going into the second leg was Monterrey versus Vancouver. Luis Reyes’ cross early on met Sergio Canales for the opener and some quick footwork allowed him to produce the finish that was necessary. 10 minutes after the break the Canadian side levelled as Pedro Vite set up Edier Ocampo who steamed in and smashed his strike into the net.
Vancouver then got the big away goal of the night as a missed clearance hit Andres Cubas and fell perfectly into the path of Brian White, and he slotted into the net. Monterrey did manage to get a penalty late on which Sergio Ramos converted but they exited the competition on away goals.
LA Galaxy were looking to avoid being the second MLS side to be knocked out by Herediano in this year’s competition. The home side got two goals in the first half to turn the tie on it’s head as Julian Aude and Miguel Berry struck.
The 2-1 lead became 4-1 in the second half after Gabriel Pec tapped home Harbor Miller’s cutback and a low cross from Carlos Garces was flicked in by Christian Ramirez. The Costa Rican side did pull one back late on through a Jose de Jesus Gonzalez header, but it was too late.
Inter Miami put in a strong 2-0 performance in the first leg against Cavalier and it would be more off the same In the second leg. They took the lead from the spot as Luis Suarez’s penalty sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. In added time that lead was extended to four on aggregate as Lionel Messi tapped home.
The other two matches saw Club America dominate against Guadalajara in a 4-0 victory which turned over the one goal deficit that they had, and Pumas drew 1-1 against Alajuelense which was enough for them to win 3-1.
