Luis Suarez scored from the penalty spot and registered two assists as Inter Miami defeated Pumas 3-1 without injured Lionel Messi on Matchday 3 of Leagues Cup opening-phase play on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The result made Miami (2-0-1, 8 points) the first MLS side to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals, despite seeing Messi depart with a hamstring issue in a 2-2 draw against Necaxa on Saturday. The top four teams from MLS and the top four teams from Liga MX will earn quarterfinal berths.
Rodrigo de Paul produced his first goal in a Miami jersey to pull the Herons level just before halftime, and Tadeo Allende followed Suarez’s 59th-minute penalty kick with a 69th-minute strike that effectively sealed the outcome.
The Herons are currently atop the event’s standings among MLS teams, but they could finish as low as the third MLS seed based on later results.
Jorge Ruvalcaba scored in the 34th minute for Pumas (1-1-1, 5 points), which needed a win in regulation or penalty kicks to stay alive.
Atletico de San Luis 2, Minnesota United 0
Joao Pedro scored his second of the tournament on a header off a corner kick just before halftime as already eliminated San Luis dumped the Loons out of contention in Saint Paul, Minn.
Substitute Sebastian Perez Bouquet added a second in the 89th minute to seal victory for Atletico de San Luis (1-1-1, 5 points), their first in any competition since a 1-0 win over Club Leon to open the Liga MX Apertura on July 13.
Andres Sanchez made three stops to keep a first clean sheet of the tournament, blanking Minnesota (1-1-1, 4 points), a team that scored seven times in its first two tournament matches.
The Loons were eliminated despite outshooting San Luis 20-9 overall.
Orlando City 5, Necaxa 1
Luis Muriel scored a hat trick to snap a 14-match scoreless streak in all competitions and the host Lions moved into second place on the MLS side of the tournament standings.
Martin Ojeda added his second and third goals of the competition for Orlando (2-0-1, 7 points), who used the rout to build a plus-6 goal differential through three matches.
Total regulation wins is the first tiebreak in deciding the tournament’s quarterfinalists, with goal differential utilized second.
Alexis Pena scored a late consolation goal for Necaxa (1-1-1, 4 points), which was eliminated with the defeat.
Atlanta United 4, Atlas 1
Atlanta produced its most lopsided win in any match this season during a meeting of teams that had already been eliminated.
Jamal Thiare opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the eighth minute. Aleksei Miranchuk added his second of the tournament, and Saba Lobjanidze made it 3-0 in the 38th minute.
Cayman Togashi completed the scoring after halftime for Atlanta (1-2-0, 3 points), which snapped a 10-match winless run in all competitions.
Diego Gonzalez’s late free kick goal helped Atlas (0-3-0, 0 points) avoid being shut out for the first time in six matches since the start of Liga MX Apertura play last month.
–Field Level Media
