Tag: Leagues Cup

LAFC forward Olivier Giroud takes the pitch in his debut with the team in the 71st minute during LAFC’s 4-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes in the Leagues Cup Round of 16 match at BMO Stadium on Tuesday AUG 13, 2024. (LAFC)

by Marko Ukalovic

Denis Bouanga is making a case for MLS MVP.

The native French striker scored two goals as LAFC routed The San Jose Earthquakes 4-1 in a Leagues Cup Round of 16 match on Tuesday evening at BMO Stadium.

San Jose’s Leagues Cup Cinderella run came to an end as this is the farthest the Earthquakes have gone in the two years of the tournament that features MLS clubs against Liga MX clubs. LAFC advanced to its second straight Leagues Cup quarterfinals where they will take on the Seattle Sounders who beat Liga MX club Pumas 4-0 on Monday night.

Olivier Giroud made his LAFC debut when he came in as a substitute for Christian Olivera in 71st minute. LAFC signed the 37-year-old French striker on back on May 14th as an international roster spot through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. Giroud is the all-timer leading goal scorer for the French National Team with 57 goals.

LAFC drew first blood in the 17th minute. Ryan Hollingshead won a 50-50 ball against Benji Kikanovic that led to a breakaway for Olivera. The Uruguayan striker raced down the left wing, made a move around Daniel Munie before beating Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough with a right footed shot into the lower right corner of the net.

San Jose had a chance for an immediate response a minute later when Cristian Espinoza fired a shot from just outside the box, but it was knocked away from danger by LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

The Earthquakes were denied once again Lloris trying to even the match. Jeremy Ebobisse threaded a long ball between two LAFC defenders out to Amahl Pellegrino, but the French goalie made a diving one-handed save on Pellegrino’s strike in the 25th minute.

San Jose scored the equalizer late in the first half. Cristian Espinoza led an attack inside LAFC’s zone. Espinoza found Kikanovic along the right wing. Kikanovic sent a cross into the middle of the box where Hernán López beat Lloris with a sliding one-timer with the left foot in the 41st minute.

LAFC regained the lead just before the halftime. Eduard Atuesta was able to get inside the box unmarked in the second minute of stoppage time. Yarbrough tripped up Atuesta trying to get the ball away from him that resulted in a penalty kick. Three minutes later LAFC leading goal scorer Denis Bouanga finished off the penalty kick as he beat Yarbrough high to the right corner of the net.

The Earthquakes had a quality chance in the 57th minute to score the second equalizer of the game. Espinoza sent in a chip pass over to Jackson Yueill inside the box, but the Quakes captain’s shot just sailed wide left of the net.

LAFC went up 3-1 on a fluke goal in the 61st minute. Ilie Sanchez fed a pass over to Mateusz Bogusz who dribbled up the pitch unmarked before firing a shot from the right half-space off of the hand of Yarbrough, who was in position to make the save, and into the back of the net.

Bouanga recorded his brace five minutes later in the 66th minute. LAFC used a counterattack after a Quakes turnover. Olivera sent a long ball out to a wide open Bouanga on the right wing. Bouanga cut back toward the middle past Rodrigues before burying the ball into the lower left corner of the net.

Lloris made two saves on three shots on goal to earn the victory. Yarbrough, who had a rough night between the pipes, made two saves on six shots on net in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with no corner kicks in the match. LAFC had two.

Bouanga has 10 goals over the last seven Leagues Cup matches.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns to MLS action when they take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday 8/24 at 6:30pm at America First Field.

The Man of the Match San Jose Earthquakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse celebrates with the crowd after his team’s 5-0 win over Liga MX Club Necaxa at Pay Pal Park on Wednesday AUG 8, 2024. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — It was an August evening to remember at the Triple P.

Jeremy Ebobisse scored two goals in the first half as the San Jose Earthquakes dominated in a 5-0 shutout thrashing of Liga MX’s Club Necaxa in a Leagues Cup Round of 32 match on Friday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose advanced to the Leagues Cup Round of 16 where they will clash with the LAFC who beat Austin FC in its Round of 32 match on Thursday. Club Necaxa go back home to Mexico with its tail between its legs in humiliation fashion with a couple of weeks off before returning to Liga MX action against Juarez on August 24th.

The Earthquakes dominated ‘from start to finish in what was their best match of this season. Necaxa was outplayed by San Jose in every facet of the match and played like they underestimated their opponent that is ranked last in the MLS.

“You probably look at the table and where we’re at in the league, they may have done that,” said ‘Quakes interim head coach Ian Russell if Necaxa had took them lightly going into the match. ” I think Chivas did that. But we know we have a good team here. We know we can compete with anybody. Not to make excuses but we haven’t had a lot of luck this year. We finally got that with Galaxy beating Chivas, and I think things are turning.”

San Jose drew first blood in the fifth minute. Captain Jackson Yueill was on the receiving end of a nice give and go with Cristian Espinoza. Yueill dribbled into the box uncontested and beat Necaxa goalkeeper Unsain Luis with a left footed shot into the lower left corner of the net for his first goal of the tournament.

The Earthquakes doubled its lead thanks to a spectacular individual effort by Hernán López in the 17th minute. Amahl Pellegrino found López just beyond midfield in the Necaxa zone. López dribbled down the middle before changing direction back to the left wing, deked out two Necaxa defenders along the way and then fired a rocket of shot into the lower right corner for his first goal of the tournament.

San Jose kept the pedal to the metal in the 29th minute. Fullback Rodrigues found Pellegrino along the left sideline. Pellegrino sent a cross into the center of the box where Ebobisse beat Luis with a one-timer from just inside the D for his first goal of the contest.

The Earthquakes scored its fourth unanswered goal in the 35th minute off a counterattack. Vitor Costa led a rush up the left wing. Costa sent the ball down Lopez who flicked a one-touch backdoor pass over to an unmarked Ebobisse who buried the ball into the upper left corner of the net for his brace and fourth goal of the tournament.

“It’s been coming. We’ve been unfortunate, but I think the difference tonight was we didn’t score and then sit back and defend. We scored and kept on pressing. Scored again and kept on pressing. We actually kept on ramping it up, and that’s the mentality you have to have. … You have to keep on doing all the little things that make you win a game,” Russell said.

Club Necaxa had a chance to get on the board in the 39th when Diber Cambindo has a point-blank chance to cash in a rebound attempt that leaked out of the hands of Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough, but Cambindo chipped the ball high and wide over the net.

Things got chippy just before halftime. Alan Montes slammed into Yarbrough going for a ball up in the air. Benji Kinkanovic and Rodrigues stuck up for their goalkeeper as pushing and shoving ensued inside the box. Montes and Rodrigues were initially given red cards. However, after a review, referee Ismael Melendez downgraded Rodrigues’ red to a yellow card as Necaxa went down a man the rest of the match.

Preston Judd and Nico Tsakiris, who both came on as substitutions in the 65th minute, each had back-to-back chances inside the box to tack on another goal in the 71st minute, but Luis came up big on three of the chances as Judd’s second attempt went wide left.

Necaxa’s three best players in Cambindo, Arce Fernando and Jose Paradela contributed next to nothing for its club, that is currently in 11th place in Liga MX, during the match.

Paul Marie put the icing on the cake in the 89th minute when he intercepted a back pass inside the Necaxa box and chipped a shot past Luis for his first goal of the tournament.

Yarbrough stopped all four shots on target to earn his first clean sheet of the tournament. Luis made fives on 10 shots on goal in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with three corner kicks. Club Necaxa had two.

Ebobisse scored his third and fourth goals of Leagues Cup in three total games, giving him the current tournament Golden Boot lead.

Pellegrino had his first two career assists and also his first multi-assist game for San Jose.

Yueill scored his first goal of the season in all competitions.

The last time the Quakes scored four goals in any half of an MLS or Leagues Cup match took place vs. Austin FC on Oct. 20, 2021, when they netted four in the second half. The last time they did it in the first half was on Oct. 22, 2011 vs. FC Dallas . Both occurred during the MLS regular season.

With the 5-0 win, the Quakes scored their most goals in a game all season. Their previous high in one match this campaign was three goals, which the team achieved four times across all competitions prior to tonight.

Tonight’s 5-0 result matched the 5-0 win over Bay Cities FC in the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Second Round as the largest margin in a home victory since PayPal Park opened in 2015.

Yarbrough, who was born and raised in Aguascalientes, Mexico, where Necaxa is located. kept his second clean sheet of the season across all competitions.

UP NEXT: San Jose takes on LAFC in the Round of 16 of the Leagues Cup on Tuesday 8/13 at BMO Stadium. Time TBD.

Portland Timbers Felipe Mora celebrates his goal with his teammates during his team’s 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at Providence Park on Saturday July 22, 2023. (Portland Timbers)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Portland Timbers took advantage of their scoring opportunities in a 2-0 shutout victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in both team’s opening match of the League’s Cup competition on Saturday evening at Providence Park.

‘Quakes Head coach Luchi Gonzalez welcomed back forward Cade Cowell and his captain Jackson Yueill back into the lineup after being away during their Gold Cup duty with the United State Men’s National Team.

Portland (1-0–3 points) drew first blood in the 33rd minute. Jaroslaw Niezgoda set up Evander in the middle of the pitch. The Brazilian midfielder then curled in a blast from 20 yards out into the upper left corner of the net, far out of the reach of ‘Quakes goalkeeper Daniel for his first goal of the competition.

Despite controlling the possession for the majority of the first half, San Jose (0-1–0 points) went into the intermission down by a goal.

“On the road you have to have that extra (killer instinct),” said Gonzalez regarding his team’s lack of scoring. “We were lacking that; we didn’t get on the score sheet. Even though we created in terms of volume, XG-shots and crosses. But we gotta put the shot on target, we gotta get the shot off. We need to put it away.”

The Timbers came flying out of the gate to start the second half with three quick scoring shots on target in the first three minutes, including a shot off the crossbar by Cristhian Paredes in the 48th minute.

“Those adjustments, I think that the guys understood very well, how to do them. And I felt we played really well in the second half. I really felt that the guys who also came in (the second half) with a good mentality and refresh the game as well,” Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese said.

Portland had a chance to double its lead in the 57th minute when Yimmi Chara made a move around a Quakes defender deep inside the box and centered a ball to unmarked Niezgoda whose shot attempt was blocked by ‘Quakes fullback Tanner Beason.

The Earthquakes best scoring chance came three minutes later when Cowell made an impressive run with the ball dribbling through multiple Timber defenders with lots of contact throughout the run. His pass for Cristian Espinoza was too far to handle to create a scoring chance.

The Timbers iced the game in the 86th minute. Marvin Loría led a pass up the middle to Felipe Mora who beat Beason to the ball inside the box. The Chilean striker chipped the ball past Daniel for his first goal of the competition.

Timbers goalkeeper David Bingham finished with a clean sheet stopping all three shots on target. Daniel made two saves on five shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose had five corner kicks. Portland had zero.

Portland leads the all-time series 19-6-10.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts Tigres UANL in its second League’s Cup match on Sunday 7/30 at 8:00pm at Pay Pal Park.