Blue Cross defeated Philaldephia Union in his second match of Leagues Cup by the dramatic route of penalties to advance to the next round.
La Máquina dedicated itself to searching for the first goal from the opening whistle and in the 8th minute they gave a warning with a left-footed shot from Alexis Gutiérrez from three-quarters of the field that went slightly over the goal of Jamaican Andre Blake.
Just over 10 minutes later, Gutiérrez had another great opportunity up front and with the inside of his privileged left foot he crashed his shot into the far post to make the Cruz Azul fans sigh at the Subaru Park in Pennsylvania.
Around the half-hour mark, Cruz Azul wasted a great opportunity when Rotondi stole the ball as Philadelphia came out, but he failed to define in front of Blake and instead passed the ball to Giakoumakis, who also failed to define, generating a dramatic and clumsy carom that ended with the ball in the hands of the Jamaican goalkeeper.
The game came within inches of changing its narrative drastically shortly after the carom play, as for the first time in the match, Philadelphia created danger down the flank with a great cross from Baribo to the far post that Mikael Uhre headed wide of the far post despite an open goal.
Five minutes before the break, La Máquina finally received its reward when Romo dared to go forward down the wing, leaning on Giakoumakis, who went wide to goal and left it for Alexis to arrive, but he feinted with a shot that filtered through to Rotondi, who crossed the left-footed shot for the goal.
Tempers flared in the second half after a series of harsh fouls on both sides and even a possible penalty in favor of Philadelphia that the referee did not review with the VAR.
However, the ‘Cruzazuleada’ appeared three minutes from the end. Goalkeeper Kevin Mier went out badly looking for Piovi, the ball was recovered by Union and after a series of rebounds in the area, Daniel Gazdag woke up and put the ball in after the Colombian goalkeeper left it alive. Everything would be decided in penalties.
Luck and confidence were on Cruz Azul’s side from the 11th. Kevin Mier made the save in his first turn and that was enough to prevent Philadelphia from regaining the lead. La Máquina will face Orlando City in the next round of the 2024 Leagues Cup.
