Leagues Cup roundup: Four Mexican teams win on PKs

Richy Ledezma and Bryan Gonzalez each scored their first goal 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’ attempt during the shootout to help Chivas (0-1-1, 2 points) remain in contention for the knockout phase. The Guadalajara goalie had 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 was eliminated by other results later, 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.

Cruz Azul 1 (8), Galaxy 1 (7)

Kevin Mier saved back-to-back penalty kicks on Los Angeles’ eighth and ninth attempts to keep Cruz Azul’s hopes faintly alive with a shootout win following their draw.

Charly Rodriguez scored his first goal of the tournament and third since the beginning of the Liga MX Apertura to give visiting Cruz Azul (0-1-1, 2 points) a first-half lead, providing the finish from Carlos Rotondi’s 21st-minute cross.

Gabriel Pec pulled the Galaxy level in the 81st minute with his second Leagues Cup goal, delivering a sliding finish of Mauricio Cuevas’ cross.

The Galaxy’s Edwin Cerillo and Emil Garces had their penalty kicks saved after both sides converted their first seven.

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 Ricardinho’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 just after Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano saved an attempt by Jairo Torres.

Sounders 2, Santos Laguna 0

Georgi Minoungou scored his first goal of Seattle’s season and the hosts held on despite his ejection for picking up a second yellow card with his goal celebration.

Minoungou lifted up his shirt to reveal a message on his undershirt following the 72nd-minute strike, giving referee Steffon Dewar no choice but to produce a second yellow card. Minoungou received his first for a foul in the 65th minute, only two minutes after his introduction off the bench.

Cristian Dajome scored deep in second-half stoppage time for visiting Santos Laguna (0-2-0, 0 points), which was eliminated from contention with the defeat.

Seattle (2-0-0, 6 points) took a first-half lead through an own-goal created by Paul Rothrock’s cross into the box.

Club Tijuana 2, Rapids 1

Ramiro Arciga’s second goal since the beginning of the Liga MX Apertura helped Tijuana beat Colorado in Commerce City, Colo., a victory the visitors needed to remain in realistic contention.

Both goals for Tijuana (1-1-0, 3 points) came from rebounds, with Jackson Porozo guiding home the first after Unai Bilbao struck the post following a corner in the 39th minute.

Arciga made it 2-0 in the 72nd when he showed up to guide in the rebound of Alejandro Gomez’s effort that forced Zack Steffen’s save.

Porozo turned the ball accidentally into his own net only two minutes later. However, late pressure from Colorado (1-1-0, 3 points) failed to produce an equalizer.

–Field Level Media