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 sank to the brink of elimination, 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.
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.
–Field Level Media
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