90min
·23 August 2024
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Yahoo sports90min
·23 August 2024
Columbus Crew and LAFC are all set to square off in the Leagues Cup final, and both Major League Soccer clubs scored a handful of excellent goals in the semi-finals of the competition.
The Leagues Cup final and third place match are nearly upon us as LAFC hit the road to take on the Crew in a rematch of last season's MLS Cup at Lower.com Field. In the third place match, Philadelphia Union take on Colorado Rapids at Subaru Park to determine who will join both semi-final winners in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Although the Union and the Rapids were semi-finalists, Philadelphia weren't able to crack the top five through Daniel Gazdag while Colorado were unable to score in their heavy defeat on the West Coast -- which means the top five is full of goals scored exclusively by Columbus and LAFC.
Here are the five best goals from the Leagues Cup semi-finals.
At first glance, this goal might not seem all that impressive as Diego Rossi headed home from close range in a relatively simple finish. However, Rossi managed to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of Andre Blake's parry that fell right into his path -- which shows his incredible reaction as he didn't have time to think before putting the ball in the back of the net.
This was just a beautiful team move by LAFC.Steve Cherundolo's side were stymied for most of the first half against the Rapids, but the floodgates opened up after Bogusz's curling effort. This move demonstrated just how effective LAFC can be on the counter-attack as Kei Kamara finished off a quick move by sending Zack Steffen the wrong way.
Rossi managed to bag a brace and put Columbus back in front after this swift team move around the Philadelphia penalty area. The ex-LAFC player laid it off for Christian Ramirez, who then quickly returned the favor with a lovely chipped pass that Rossi got on the end of before smahing it home past Blake.
The Black and Gold were frustrated for nearly all of the first 45 until Mateusz Bogusz stepped up to curl in a strike from outside the box. Not only did it break the deadlock, but it also helped open up the Rapids defense after the Poland international's first-time effort from distance.
Take a bow, Denis Bouanga. The reigning MLS Golden Boot winner picked the ball in his own half and took on two would-be Rapids defenders before picking out a shot into the far bottom corner with his weak foot to add to his side's advantage.