Columbus win Leagues Cup 2024
The Columbus Crew are Leagues Cup champions. Cucho Hernández scored twice, including a second half stoppage-time winner, as Columbus found a way past LAFC in a 3-1 win.
Colorado secure Champions Cup berth
Zack Steffen's penalty-shootout heroics led the Colorado Rapids past the Philadelphia Union in Sunday's Leagues Cup Third Place Match, clinching a spot in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup
We have a new Leagues Cup champion. Some other stuff happened over the weekend, too. Let’s talk it out.
No surprises here. The Crew have another trophy (Leagues Cup edition) to add to their collection thanks to a Cucho Hernández brace.
His first came after he skyed to reach an outstanding cross from Mohamed Farsi and the second came on a Cucho cross that suddenly became a shot before LAFC keeper Hugo Lloris could realize what happened. After that, the Crew and Jacen Russell-Rowe went ahead and killed this one off.
The Crew are champions… again. The Crew were the far better side than LAFC… again. And we’ve genuinely run out of things to say. To avoid repeating ourselves too much, let’s just bullet point our typical conversation each time the Crew pull off another huge win…
- Best run in MLS history? Probably!
- Cucho the best No. 9 in the league? Probably!
- Nancy the best manager we’ve seen in MLS? Almost definitely!
- Darlington Nagbe the best midfielder in MLS history? Probably!
- A brief interlude to give credit to Tim Bezbatchenko and now Issa Tall for their roster construction.
- Going to stop anytime soon? Not as long as Wilfried Nancy is here.
- Going to see them back in MLS Cup in a few months? Probably!
I think that mostly covers it. I’ll add that I know we’re running out of things to say, but don’t take this for granted while it’s happening. It’s highly likely we won’t see a run like this from a team like this ever again. The Crew are as special as they come.
Tai Baribo continued his absurd Leagues Cup run, but goals from Calvin Harris and Oliver Larraz gave Zack Steffen a chance to continue his Leagues Cup run, too. Steffen won his third penalty shootout of the tournament and the Rapids clinched a spot in next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup. It’s a well-earned reward for a side that suffered through a miserable (and unlucky) 2023 and got a facelift this offseason. They’ve turned into a genuinely good team and were excellent in this tournament.
As always, they can and will keep getting away with this. Luis Suárez scored twice in the very first moments of the match and that’s all Inter Miami needed to pull off a 2-0, playoff-berth-clinching win despite creating next to nothing besides those two chances and being second-best to FC Cincinnati the rest of the game. Final xG tally: 0.6 for Miami to Cincy’s 2.0. That’s just how this works. You should be used to it by now.
A couple of quick notes on the Cincy side. First, they didn’t have Lucho Acosta in the starting lineup. With the Shield out of reach now, objective No. 1 from here on out is giving him as much time off the field as he needs to get healthy. Second, they weren’t sharp enough at the back at the start of the game. It’s going to take time for new center back Chidozie Awaziem to gel with this group and it’s clear it’s just not going to be the same without Matt Miazga.
Miami probably wrapped up the Supporters’ Shield with this one. The rest of their schedule is manageable and the gaps between them and everyone else are starting to feel too big to overcome unless the Herons faceplant down the stretch. The only real hopes to challenge them at this point – LAFC and Columbus – are about to have very congested post-Leagues Cup schedules. Oh, and Lionel Messi should be back soon. I think we can call it.
Marco Reus came onto the pitch and Atlanta immediately looked overwhelmed. They were already fading as the game went along, and adding Reus into the mix as basically a duel No. 10 next to Riqui Puig tilted the scales for good. This is going to be a nightmare for teams that can’t match LA’s talent level.
When LAFC return to MLS play, they’ll be looking up at the Galaxy from five points behind with three games in hand. A Sept. 14 El Tráfico is looming large.
Oof, RSL. Two first-half goals for the Quakes and an injury to Chicho Arango made this about the worst possible start to RSL’s post-Leagues Cup run anyone could have come up with. Arango exited the game in the first half with a hamstring injury.
The Sounders stayed hot against non-LAFC teams and picked up a big road win despite a brace from Minnesota’s new DP Kelvin Yeboah.
These two teams have basically swapped roles since the start of June. Seattle have won nearly every game they’ve played to jump up to fifth in the West with a genuine shot at finishing third, while Minnesota have lost nearly every game they’ve played to fall to 11th in the West with a genuine shot at missing the playoffs entirely.
Charlotte went up early with a chance to make a serious dent in New York’s hold on fourth place in the East, but The Crown couldn’t see out the result. The Red Bulls stayed in fourth, three points ahead of NYCFC and four ahead of Charlotte. Other than meetings with NYCFC and Columbus, the Red Bulls have a gentle schedule the rest of the year. They may have secured a home playoff spot with this draw and a little help from Chicago.
Alonso Martínez scored twice in the first half, but NYCFC collapsed late as the Fire came back from a 2-0 deficit to steal a point in stoppage time. NYCFC could have moved within one point of the Red Bulls for fourth place with a win. Instead, they failed to capitalize on an early goal from Martínez for the second-straight game. Martínez, who’s currently second in MLS in goals per 90, deserves a little more help.
It’s a big road point for the Fire. They’re just two points out of a playoff spot. The dream is alive.
Oof, Houston. They didn’t get the post-Leagues Cup bump in attack they wanted and Prince Owusu sent home a header from a corner to seal a 1-0 win for Toronto. The Reds are now six points above the playoff line and are looking more and more like they’ll end up finding a way into the postseason. Houston are now as close to being out of the playoffs as they are to having a home playoff spot.
Y’all have really got to start watching more Portland games.
Their DP trio all found the net (and Felipe Mora even found a red card) in a wild match that ended with Evander slamming home a stoppage-time free-kick to earn the Timbers a point. Yeah, it would have been better if they had just gone out and beat a St. Louis side that seems to have their number, but at least they didn’t go home empty-handed.
The draw puts them in the same spot as Houston: Four points out of a home playoff spot and four points away from being out of the playoffs. My gut call is their attack will keep them above the line in the end. Evander is on pace for 30+ goal contributions, and teams with that kind of player typically don’t come up short down the stretch.
Oof, Orlando.
Bad… just, bad. The Lions are still seventh in the East, but any chance at a home playoff spot is all but gone now.
Two not-so-great teams delivered whatever this all was. Both are still below the playoff line.
The Revs aren’t going away. Full credit to a reworked roster for getting off to a hot start post-Leagues Cup. Luca Langoni, their new $7 million signing, even got on the board. New England are two points out of a playoff spot… along with four other teams at the bottom of the East, but still.
Montréal are still one point below the line, but this weekend didn’t inspire much confidence.
New DP Osman Bukari grabbed his first goal as Austin held on to the final Wild Card spot in the West. Austin will need him to carry them over the line the rest of the way.
- Cucho Hernández’s magic led the Crew to a Leagues Cup title.
- Olivier Giroud scored his first goal with LAFC.
- Matt Doyle’s Sunday column is up and good.
Good luck out there. Collect shiny things.
