Anything Can Happen

The round of 16 is over. A decent amount happened this round.

In the Miami v. Dallas game, Miami trailed 2:1 at halftime. After halftime, Miami added a little drama to the game when they made Dallas wait on the field for two minutes prior to restarting the game. Miami almost sealed their fate with an own goal in minute 69 made by Robert Taylor. Somehow their goalkeeper missed the ball, ending up in an own goal. If I were Taylor, I would’ve been livid. Thankfully, Dallas returned the favor with an own goal of their own in minute 81, making it 4:3. Messi delivered an incredible free kick, tying the game at 4:4, sending them into penalty kicks. During which, Dallas sabotaged themselves when one player kicked the ball into space.

 During the Houston vs. Charlotte game, it looked like Houston was going to win. In the 79th and 80th minutes, Charlotte came back to equalize. Due to an own goal, Houston eliminated themselves with a 2:1 win for Charlotte.

 The weather just keeps interfering. The Philadelphia vs. Red Bull game got postponed for 24 hours. Apparently, the extra time to prepare didn’t help Red Bull because they lost 4:3 in penalty kicks.

 In the Club America vs. Nashville game, a spectator ran onto the field and started taking selfies with the players. Security was letting them. Of course, eventually, they were removed.

 You would have thought Club America was going to win the America vs. Nashville match in regulation time. In the last minute of stoppage time, a Nashville player, Sam Surridge, came back with an equalizer to send them to penalty kicks. This was also his debut for the team. In the end, Club America did win 5:4 in the penalty shootout.

 LAFC stayed strong in this competition overcoming Real Salt Lake 4:0. An interesting thing to note was that Carlos Vela was neither in the starting lineup nor in the substitutions. In fact, it was noted that after he was substituted off the field due to an injury, he wasn’t in the post-game photo. It’s unclear at this time exactly why he left so abruptly, wasn’t in this round, or even if he’s going to be in the quarterfinals.

 As one of the commentators stated, you truly never know what’s going to happen in these Leagues Cup matches.

As always, the following teams will advance to the quarterfinals:

 LAFC vs. Monterrey (West)

Nashville vs. Minnesota (Central)

Philadelphia vs. Queretaro (East)

Miami vs. Charlotte (South)

 Let’s see who will forge ahead to the next round.