Uhre, Gazdag extend Union lead in East as Austin claim Copa Tejas

By Sports Desk July 17, 2022

The Philadelphia Union extended their lead atop the Eastern Conference in the MLS, defeating the New England Revolution 2-1 on Saturday.

The best defence in the MLS had to chase the result this time after Gustavo Bou's well-taken opener for the Revolution in the 61st minute, with goals from Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag handing the Union the three points.

The Union still created little from open play but they were gifted goals to turn the result around via the dead ball. Uhre equalized in the 75th minute, heading into what was effectively an open goal after Revolution keeper Djordje Petrovic failed to claimed the ball after coming off his line at a corner.

Gazdag then scored the eventual winner in the 79th minute, converting from the penalty spot after he was clumsily shoved by Henry Kessler.

Jim Curtin's side moved to 39 points, building a four-point lead from New York City, whose derby against New York RB on Sunday is one of two games they have in hand.

CF Montreal also moved to outright fourth in the East on Saturday, with Lukas McNaughton's own-goal handing them a 1-0 win over Toronto FC.

Chad Ahston momentarily remains in charge of D.C. United until Wayne's Rooney's work visa is finalized and Minnesota United took full advantage, earning a 2-0 win at home.

The Chicago Fire claimed an upset 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders, while Emerson Rodriguez's 93rd-minute goal gave Inter Miami a 3-2 victory over Charlotte FC.

Gonzalo Higuain bagged his second goal of the week for Inter, scoring the equaliser after Yordy Reina's first-half brace gave Charlotte a 2-0 load.

In the Western Conference meanwhile, Austin FC claimed the Copa Tejas with a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas, but now only hold a two-point lead over Los Angeles FC, who have two games in hand.

The race for the last playoff spot in the conference tightened up, with the Colorado Rapids defeating Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0.

Along with the Sounders' loss, only three points now separate the seventh-placed Galaxy from the Rapids, moved to 11th with the win.

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  • Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final Rodgers delighted as Celtic rout Aberdeen in semi-final

    Celtic booked their place in the Scottish League Cup final after hammering Aberdeen 6-0 at Hampden Park on Saturday.

    The 21-time winners of the tournament were inspired by a Daizen Maeda hat-trick in a near-perfect performance against the Scottish Premiership's second-placed side.

    Manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the result and performance from his side.

    "It was a testament to our players and the demands they have. They play every week in big games. We have to manage this group through every game," he told Premier Sports.

    "It was up to us to decide the game and the players did that. They were brilliant today. We were more aggressive in the second half.

    "Aberdeen have had an excellent season, they will continue to work well I'm sure."

    The result was Aberdeen's first defeat in 17 matches in all competitions this season, with a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park last month the only time they had previously failed to win.

    Cameron Carter-Vickers got the scoring under way with a header 29 minutes in, before the brilliant Maeda sat down goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to set up Kyogo Furuhashi for a second three minutes later.

    Maeda then got in on the act himself on 40 minutes before the game briefly descended into farce on the stroke of half-time, with Rodgers shown a yellow card for kicking away a ball that had gone out before slipping over.

    "To be fair, I was raging because we had given the ball away," he said.

    "I have my moments, like every manager. It was just the game, even though we were comfortable at 3-0.

    "It was a deserved yellow card. The speed of the ball [was the issue]. I just wanted to keep the tempo of the game."

    Celtic and Maeda picked up where they left off in the second half to make it 4-0 in the 50th minute before Nicolas Kuhn hammered in a fifth on the hour.

    The rout was complete when Maeda wrapped up his hat-trick as he finished off a flowing attacking move with five minutes to go.

    After the match, Rodgers continued to be effusive about his team, who will face either Rangers or Motherwell in the final.

    "An outstanding team performance. You come up against a team that has been so, so good. We knew it would be a challenge," he told BBC Scotland.

    "We had to bring our A-game and the players did that, in particular during the second half.

    "We were ruthless. We worked the ball really well to create the space and made good runs.

    "It's a beautiful pitch here at Hampden. It's perfect for the football we want to play."

  • Puig brace sends Galaxy through, Charlotte level series on penalties Puig brace sends Galaxy through, Charlotte level series on penalties

    LA Galaxy were the first team to book their place in the MLS Cup playoff semi-finals after sweeping aside the Colorado Rapids 4-1 to seal their best-of-three series. 

    Gabriel Pec handed the Galaxy the lead in unusual fashion when Zack Steffen's clearance deflected off the Brazilian and into the net with just eight minutes on the clock. 

    But parity was restored in stunning fashion when Oliver Larraz took aim from distance and fired home the leveller with a curled effort beyond the grasp of John McCarthy. 

    Greg Vanney's side would, however, restore their advantage in the third minute of first-half stoppage time with another fine strike, this time Joseph Paintsil curled a strike in off the post.

    The Galaxy's passage was sealed late on with a brace from Riqui Puig, his second double against the Rapids in their two games in the postseason.

    Puig poked the ball through Steffen's legs, before racing through from the halfway line and rounding the Rapids goalkeeper to seal a memorable win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. 

    The visitors' display shows they mean business in the playoffs. They had 13 shots to Colorado's eight, ending the contest with a 1.76 expected goals (xG), limiting their opponents to just a 0.52 xG in the process. 

    In the other playoff game, Kristijan Kahlina's heroics helped Charlotte FC to a 3-1 victory in a penalty shootout against Orlando City. 

    Kahlina saved two spot-kicks to deny Nicolas Lodeiro and Duncan McGuire in the shootout, levelling up their best-of-three series heading into the final game. 

    In a game that lacked clear-cut chances, Charlotte's Adilson Malanda came closest to opening the scoring, seeing his effort strike the woodwork in the 19th minute.

    The Crown were ultimately worthy winners, though, given they had 12 shots to Orlando's three, with the visitors mustering just 0.29 expected goals (xG) before penalties were required. 

    And Charlotte held their nerve in the shootout, converting all three of their penalties and helped by Kahlina, who kept a division-high 13 clean sheets in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. 

    “It was a wonderful game for me,” Kahlina said. “I didn’t have so much to do in 90 minutes, but I showed myself in penalties and helped my team.”

  • Sounders in control of their playoff destiny but must find ruthless edge, says Schmetzer Sounders in control of their playoff destiny but must find ruthless edge, says Schmetzer

    Brian Schmetzer believes the Seattle Sounders are in control of their playoff destiny after edging out the Houston Dynamo in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

    After a goalless encounter, the Sounders held their nerve in the shootout, scoring all five spot-kicks before Erik Sviatchenko's miss proved costly.

    They also stopped their opponents from registering a single shot on target, marking the fourth time the Sounders have achieved that milestone in a playoff match, and will be looking to do the same in their second encounter.

    "Right now it doesn't matter how we played, really. We're in control and we won,” Schmetzer said. "This was going to be a tight series because the two teams are very good defensively.

    "We've had our challenges this year sometimes scoring goals. Did we create enough? Those are all valid questions. Again, I would just repeat that those guys put the effort in. We were close on a couple of occasions."

    Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei is also on the verge of history, with his shutout in the first game his 14th playoff clean sheet, needing one more to go level with LA Galaxy’s Kevin Hartman for the MLS record.

    "Stef has an opportunity in Houston to tie for number one [all-time]," Schmetzer pointed out.

    "So that's a goal that he can reach, he can attain, and let's see if he can do that. Because that would give us the best chance of ending the series in Houston."

    For Houston, meanwhile, their cruel defeat in Game 1 was partly down to their own doing, so says head coach Ben Olsen.

    The Dynamo boss acknowledged his side did not do enough in the final third, not helped by Adalberto Carrasquilla’s red card, which will see him miss the upcoming encounter.

    Though the performance did not come as a surprise to Olsen, given the two sides’ defensive record in the regular season, he wants to see improvements at the Shell Energy Stadium this time around.

    “It was hardly surprising. They are the best defensive team in the league. We are also one of the better defensive teams in the league, but then you add the playoffs to it,” Olsen said.

    “It’s a heightened game of being alert defensively. You have these kind of games in the playoffs. We didn’t do enough to create better opportunities for ourselves to win that game.

    “Some of that is our doing, some of it is that we’re playing a good defensive team. I said this leading up to the game, we are not going to get a lot of chances.

    “We may get a few big ones and you have to finish them. It will be a similar situation at home, they are not going to turn into a bad defensive team overnight.”

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Houston Dynamo – Amine Bassi

    In a team that is not filled with goals, Bassi has impressed for Houston, with his 10 goal involvements (three goals, six assists) in the regular season, a total only bettered by Ibrahim Aliyu (10) for the Dynamo.

    The Moroccan also created more chances (79) than any of his team-mates, and his creative flair will be needed to unlock the Sounders’ defence.

    Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak

    Rusnak has played a starring role for Seattle this term, with only Jordan Morris (17) scoring more goals in the regular season for the Sounders than the Slovakian.

    Despite not hitting the back of the net in Game 1, Rusnak notched four goal involvements (two goals, two assists) in three games heading into the postseason.

    MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN

    The Dynamo have lost only two of their 18 all-time home playoff matches (W12 D4), though one of those defeats was against Seattle in the 2017 Conference Finals. Houston won nine of their first 10 home playoff matches but have won just three of eight since (D4 L1).

    Seattle, however, have won six of their last seven away matches, including the last three in a row, all with clean sheets. This is the second time they have kept three straight away clean sheets in all competitions since joining MLS in 2009, also doing so between June and July 2011.

    They have also lost only two of their last 23 matches against the Dynamo in all competitions, including securing a shootout win after a scoreless draw at home in Game 1. Houston have also failed to score in 12 of their last 18 meetings with the Sounders.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Houston Dynamo – 42.1%

    Draw – 26.7%

    Seattle Sounders – 31.2%

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