The fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is now complete, and there are still some Cinderella stories left as it moves to the quarterfinals.
The most recent round wasn’t fully complete until this afternoon when the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew played after kickoff Wednesday was postponed 16-1/2 hours due to inclement weather.
Now, the quarterfinals are set without last year’s defending champions, and with two lower division teams still in the mix, it’s sure to give us an intriguing finish.
Sporting KC 0-1 Orlando FC
With their second straight MLS upset, the Lions have officially burst onto the scene in the U.S. Open Cup. They shocked their MLS affiliate and defending Cup champions Sporting KC with a quick-fire 2nd minute goal by Chinese striker Long Tan.
The goal, conceded after a turnover in their own half by Kansas City, was dubbed by KC manager Peter Vermes as “a terrible mistake.”
After going 1 up, Orlando dropped back and played solely on the counter-attack. Despite just two shots in the first half, Orlando was actually unlucky not to be up 2-0 at halftime. Tan had a close-range effort agonizingly saved by Eric Kronberg.
Orlando, currently sitting in first place in the USL Pro, will look to be just the second non-MLS team to win the Cup since MLS teams entered in 1996. They were also the only away side to win in this round of play.
D.C. United 3-1 Philadelphia Union
Dwayne de Rosario decided he’d seen enough of the MLS standings. Despite sitting in last place, a hat-trick from de Rosario sent the Black-and-Red on to the quarterfinals.
A goal from red-hot youngster Jack McInerney wasn’t nearly enough for Philadelphia as they get a taste of their own medicine. The Union defeated D.C. United in the same round and venue during the competition last season. Unfortunately for United, they did lose Chris Pontius in the process, after he took two blows to the head in the span of a few minutes and was subbed off at halftime.
You can watch de Rosario’s hat trick, plus a horribly awkward postgame interview, here.
Chicago Fire 2-1 Columbus Crew
It was a horror night for Columbus, as not only were they knocked out of the Cup despite leading 1-0 early, but they also may have lost Brazilian central defender Glauber for an extended period of time.
The 29-year-old, who was only recently acquired in January, left in just the 9th minute with a knee injury. The extent of the injury is not known, but with Eddie Gaven already having blown out his ACL in the previous Cup match, it’s fingers crossed for Crew fans.
The one positive for Columbus is Konrad Warzycha’s header goal in the 22nd minute marks the first time father and son have scored in the U.S. Open Cup, following in the footsteps of Crew head coach Robert Warzycha. Unfortunately, the red-hot Mike Magee responded just six minutes later to equalize, and then Patrick Nyarko provided the winner for Chicago in the 78th minute.
Real Salt Lake 5-2 Charleston Battery
You wouldn’t know it by the scoreline, but this match actually went to extra time. Having already defeated San Jose in the previous round, Charleston found themselves 2-0 up on Real Salt Lake just 18 minutes in and could taste another upset. Unfortunately, the #2 team in the West realized what was happening and turned on the afterburners.
Devon Sandoval opened the scoring for the MLS side in the 66th minute, and Joao Plata converted a penalty 12 minutes later to equalize. Extra time saw Sandoval’s second 7 minutes in for the winner, and Salt Lake added two more for insurance against the exhausted Battery.
Carolina Railhawks 3-1 Chivas USA
Things are going from bad to worse for Chivas USA, as extra time proved deadly to the MLS side and gave Carolina their second straight upset win, having already slid past L.A. Galaxy in the competition.
Cesar Elizondo and Brian Ackley both netted in the extra period to give the NASL club the quarterfinals berth. It was hot in North Carolina, but the sides were hot-headed as well, as seven yellow cards were handed out in the match.
In an odd bit of news, new Chivas manager Jose Luis Real was in attendance for the match, but did not coach. Instead, Sascha van der Most continued his interim coaching duties.
New England Revolution 4-2 New York Red Bulls
The Revs continued their season revival by thrashing the Red Bulls in their first home match in the Cup in four years. New England went ahead after just four minutes as Kelyn Rowe scored the first of his brace, and they kept scoring all the way until their fourth in the 87th minute.
New England are on a vicious run, unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions, and they’ve outscored their opponents 19-4 during that span.
Dallas FC 3-0 Houston Dynamo
The “Texas Derby” found its way into the U.S. Open Cup, and MLS leaders in points didn’t disappoint. Kenny Cooper’s brace gives him five goals on the year for Dallas in all competitions, and they both came off set pieces taken by Brazilian midfielder Michel.
That sounds really familiar….oh right, that’s exactly what happened when the two clubs met in the league back in March. Dallas have an MLS match on Saturday, but played a pretty full-strength lineup anyways, only missing international call-ups Raul Fernandez and Blas Perez, plus David Ferreira sat.
Portland Timbers 2-0 Tampa Bay Rowdies
Portland proved the only MLS team to easily put away their lower division opponents in the fourth round. Tampa Bay had already defeated Seattle in the previous round, but Portland went ahead early in the ninth minute via Michael Nanchoff and never looked back.
It’s Portland’s first ever visit to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
Quarterfinal matchups:
New England Revolution at D.C. United
Orlando City at Chicago Fire
Carolina Railhawks at Real Salt Lake
Portland Timbers at FC Dallas
