There’s no shame in Liga MX being a superior league to Major League Soccer, but it would be nice to get more showings of strength from the rapidly improving top flight for Canada and the United States.
The Leagues Cup provided that chance for four teams of MLS, who could make a statement with three quick victories over the next two months. In at least one of Tuesday’s cases, a side’s backups and reserves gave its club the chance to take it more seriously in the semifinals.
[ MORE: Rodgers talks down Maguire sale ]
The Mexican sides, by and large, spend more money deeper into their squad, and most of the clubs were established well before still relatively young MLS.
Throw in both MLS sides clearly ignoring the tournament in favor of weekend league outings, and what could’ve been a really cool tournament could’ve also wasted a lot of peoples’ time on Wednesday despite MLS having the distinct advantage of being hosts for all four quarterfinals.
Godspeed, LA Galaxy.
Chicago Fire 0-2 Cruz Azul
Chicago opted to keep many of its first-choice players on the bench or out of the 18, and it showed in an easy win for away side.
Cruz Azul out-attempted the Fire by a 14-5 margin, and held 69 percent of possession. Fire backstop Richard Sanchez was forced to make six saves, but Roberto Alvarado and Elias Hernandez scored late in each half to plug a couple of away goals onto the board.
Alvarado’s goal was simply magical.
LA Galaxy 2-2 (3-1 pens) Club Tijuana
The resilient hosts took the favored visitors to penalties, where
Servando Carrasco gave LA a lead, and Matt Lampson stopped Erick “Cubo” Torres only to see Efrain Alvarez clanked the next effort off the post. Ariel Nahuelpán then leveled the score before Gibran Lajud made a save for Tijuana
But Lampson answered the bell, and it was 1-1 after three rounds each. He made another save on Angel Sepulveda’s poor penalty, and Giancarlo Gonzalez sent the Galaxy into the semifinals.
Tijuana had most of the ball, nearly doubled LA’s passes, and out-attempted the Galaxy 20-7.
Emmanuel Boateng turned a Kai Koreniuk shot past Gibran Lajud for a 27th minute lead, but TJ tied the score within six minutes and took the lead just before halftime.
Dave Romney had an answer after halftime with a thundering header off an Efrain Alvarez corner kick, and LA was back in business with 37 minutes to play.
Tijuana’s Miller Bolanos hit the post in the 70th, but the danger was largely non-existent the rest of the way aside from wasted free kicks.
LA’s Julian Araujo was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.
Get in, Dave Romney! 💥
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 24, 2019
Game on—it's 2-2. #LeaguesCup pic.twitter.com/BafUeXK3Ph