After surrendering a late equalizer, Queretaro put together a flawless shootout to beat the New England Revolution on penalties in Foxborough, Mass., on Monday night to advance to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.
Queretaro went 4-for-4 on PKs, as Angel Sepulveda, Kevin Escamilla, Jonathan Torres and Federico Letora each converted their attempts. Goalkeeper Fernando Tapia did the rest of the work, stopping penalty tries from Nacho Gil and Ian Harkes to oust New England.
Jaime Valencia gave Queretaro a 1-0 lead with his goal in the 46th minute, but the Revolution tied things when Esmir Bajraktarevic found the back of the net in the 78th. New England’s Matt Polster nearly scored nine minutes after Bajraktarevic’s tally, but his right-footed shot was saved by Tapia.
Queretaro will face the winner of Tuesday’s match between the Philadelphia Union and New York Red Bulls in the next round.
Charlotte FC 2, Dynamo 1
Visiting Charlotte got two goals in a one-minute span late in the second half to stun Houston in a second-round match.
With his team trailing 1-0, Patrick Agyemang got Charlotte FC on the board in the 80th minute when he found space between Dynamo goalie Steve Clark and a pair of defenders to blast a left-footed shot into the back of the net. Disaster then struck for Houston, which saw Micael score an own goal in the 81st minute to give Charlotte a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Corey Baird’s goal in the 10th minute provided the Dynamo with the early lead. Charlotte finished with 14 shots against Houston’s seven to set up a meeting with Inter Miami in the quarterfinals.
–Field Level Media