Luis Suarez scored from the penalty spot and registered two assists as Inter Miami defeated Pumas 3-1 without injured Lionel Messi on Matchday 3 of Leagues Cup opening-phase play on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The result made Miami (2-0-1, 8 points) the first MLS side to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals, despite seeing Messi depart with a hamstring issue in a 2-2 draw against Necaxa on Saturday. The top four teams from MLS and the top four teams from Liga MX will earn quarterfinal berths.
The Herons are guaranteed the second MLS spot after the Seattle Sounders’ win later Wednesday, and they will face the third-place Liga MX finisher.
Rodrigo de Paul produced his first goal in a Miami jersey to pull the Herons level just before halftime, and Tadeo Allende followed Suarez’s 59th-minute penalty kick with a 69th-minute strike that effectively sealed the outcome.
Jorge Ruvalcaba scored in the 34th minute for Pumas (1-1-1, 5 points), which needed a win in regulation or penalty kicks to stay alive.
Sounders 2, Club Tijuana 1
Danny Musovski’s 87th-minute header lifted host Seattle to the top of the MLS standings and into the quarterfinals as the only team to complete a perfect league phase.
Osaze De Rosario leveled with another header for the Sounders 31 minutes earlier, his second goal of the tournament. That was enough to ensure a deserved win after Seattle (3-0-0, 9 points) outshot Tijuana 26-11 overall and 10-5 in efforts on target.
The Sounders will face the fourth-place Liga MX finisher later this month.
Kevin Castaneda scored at the end of the first half on a powerful half-volley from the edge of the penalty for Tijuana (1-2-0, 3 points), which was eliminated with the defeat. The visitors finished with 10 men after Ramiro Franco’s dismissal for a very late foul that denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Club America 1 (5), Timbers 1 (3)
Visiting Club America converted all five of their spot kicks after coming from behind to split the points and put 10-man Portland’s quarterfinal hopes in question.
The Timbers’ Kamal Miller missed the target, leaving Portland (2-0-1, 7 points) in fourth among MLS teams at the end of the night. Three teams playing on Thursday could tie Portland’s point total, but they would also have to overcome deficits on the goal-difference tiebreak. The Timbers finished with a plus-5 differential.
Ariel Lassiter put Portland in front in the seventh minute, but the Timbers saw their ranks reduced when Jimer Fory received his second yellow card in the 51st minute.
America (0-0-3, 5 points) leveled only two minutes later on Ramon Juarez’s header off a corner kick. However, they lacked urgency in seeking a winner, having been eliminated before the match began.
Atletico de San Luis 2, Minnesota United 0
Joao Pedro scored his second of the tournament on a header off a corner kick just before halftime as already eliminated San Luis dumped the Loons out of contention in Saint Paul, Minn.
Substitute Sebastian Perez Bouquet added a second in the 89th minute to seal the victory for Atletico de San Luis (1-1-1, 5 points), their first in any competition since a 1-0 win over Club Leon to open the Liga MX Apertura on July 13.
Andres Sanchez made three stops to keep a first clean sheet of the tournament, blanking Minnesota (1-1-1, 4 points), a team that scored seven times in its first two tournament matches.
The Loons were eliminated despite outshooting San Luis 20-9 overall.
Orlando City 5, Necaxa 1
Luis Muriel scored a hat trick to snap a 14-match scoreless streak in all competitions and the host Lions moved into third place on the MLS side of the tournament standings.
Martin Ojeda added his second and third goals of the competition for Orlando (2-0-1, 7 points), who used the rout to build a plus-6 goal differential through three matches.
Total regulation wins is the first tiebreak in deciding the tournament’s quarterfinalists, with goal differential utilized second.
Alexis Pena scored a late consolation goal for Necaxa (1-1-1, 4 points), which was eliminated with the defeat.
Real Salt Lake 1, Queretaro 0
Braian Ojeda scored on an excellent long-range effort and Salt Lake earned a consolation victory to close their tournament campaign.
Salt Lake (1-0-2, 6 points) outshot already eliminated Queretaro (0-3-0, 0 points) on a night that began with the Claret and Cobalt still holding a slim chance of advancing. That possibility ended when Portland forced its match to a penalty shootout.
Rafael Cabral needed only one save to keep the clean sheet and preserve RSL’s third 1-0 victory in all competitions since July 12.
Queretaro finished the tournament still looking for its first win or draw in six matches since the start of the Liga MX Apertura.
Atlanta United 4, Atlas 1
Atlanta produced its most lopsided win in any match this season during a meeting of teams that had already been eliminated.
Jamal Thiare opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute. Aleksei Miranchuk added his second of the tournament, and Saba Lobjanidze made it 3-0 in the 38th minute.
Cayman Togashi completed the scoring after halftime for Atlanta (1-2-0, 3 points), which snapped a 10-match winless run in all competitions.
Diego Gonzalez’s late free kick goal helped Atlas (0-3-0, 0 points) avoid being shut out for the first time in six matches since the start of Liga MX Apertura play last month.
–Field Level Media
