Canada-born T&T goalkeeper, Gregory Ranjitsingh was not among his team’s roster but US Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union still punched their ticket to the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League semifinals with a 1-1 draw versus Atlanta United in their quarterfinal second leg on Tuesday night at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.
The scoreline resulted in a 4-1 aggregate victory for Philadelphia, who are through to the final four of the tournament in their first-ever SCCL after a 3-0 win on the road last week.
The Union came out very strong and created early scoring chances for Olivier Mbaizo, Kacper Przybylko and Leon Flach, but were unable to find a way past Atlanta United GK Brad Guzan.
Just when it looked like the two teams would retreat to the halftime dressing rooms scoreless, the visitors struck to take a 1-0 lead when Santiago Sosa received a pass, spun off a defender and fired a right-footed shot into the net.
The Sosa goal set the stage for an interesting start to the second half, with Atlanta United just two scores away from evening the series.
The action was end-to-end, making for a wide-open affair. Atlanta United was committing numbers forward in hopes of pulling another goal back, leaving space in the back, but Philadelphia could not take advantage of the counterattack like in the first leg, the best chance an Alejandro Bedoya header that glanced off the crossbar.
Atlanta United continued to push, but in the end, Philadelphia GK Andre Blake stood tall, allowing Przybylko to score his 2021 SCCL-leading fifth goal in the 88’ to complete the 1-1 scoreline and wrap up the result for his side.
Also on Tuesday night, USA-born T&T hopeful, Nick De Leon, the son of ex-T&T standout Leroy De Leon featured for Toronto FC as they exited the competition.
This after a sensational strike from Bryan Angulo earned Cruz Azul a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC in their second leg quarterfinals at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Mexico.
With the result, Cruz Azul claimed a 4-1 victory on aggregate and advance to their first SCCL semifinal since the 2013-14 edition when they lifted the trophy. La Maquina will face the winner of the Monterrey-Columbus Crew SC series in the semifinals.
Toronto FC who had former Canada-born T&T youth defender Luke Singh on the bench enjoyed a strong start and made for some early nervy moments in defense for the home side, including a right-footed shot from Ayo Akinola and a long header from Omar Gonzalez that grazed the top of the crossbar.
Cruz Azul also had some looks, including a Luis Romo shot that forced Toronto FC GK Alex Bono into a diving save.
Angulo had seen enough and took matters into his own hands, and with a majestic right-footed strike in the 28’, he caught Bono off his line and scored from 30 meters out to hand Cruz Azul a 1-0 lead.
It was Angulo’s fourth goal of the tournament, lifting him to second in the 2021 SCCL scoring table, one goal behind Kacper Przybylko of the Philadelphia Union.
La Maquina was keen to put the finishing touches on the tie to begin the second half and a trio of chances that narrowly missed was a sign of things to come, the best being a Romo shot that Bono blocked.
The chances kept coming for Cruz Azul, notably a Jonathan Rodriguez shot that flashed wide, but in the end, the game’s lone score would come off the boot of Angulo, sealing Cruz Azul’s place in the next round.