The U.S. Open Cup round of 16 saw two upsets, with USL League One’s Union Omaha and USL Championship side Sacramento Republic taking down MLS opponents Wednesday night.
Elsewhere the LA Galaxy knocked LAFC out in another edition of El Tráfico, and wins by the New York Red Bulls and NYCFC set up a Hudson River Derby clash in the quarterfinal round.
Louisville City nearly made it three-for-three for the lower division teams still alive, taking a 1-0 lead over Nashville SC, but the Tennessee-based side got level before Hany Mukhtar delivered an 89th-minute winner.
Sporting Kansas City saw off the Houston Dynamo in a 2-1 win, while Orlando City needed penalties to eliminate Inter Miami at home.
Cupsets!
Minnesota United—starting two Designated Player attackers in Luis Amarilla and Adrien Hunou—fell 2-1 at home to Omaha, squandering Hunou’s sixth-minute opener. Hugo Kametani equalized for Omaha in first-half stoppage time, and Joseph Brito smashed the eventual winner home early in the second half.
🎬 A volley like THIS to put us on top???
Put some respect on @josephbrito08's name immediately. 😱#OneMeansAll | @opencup pic.twitter.com/Z4cNnjIqOc
— ⭐️ Union Omaha (@Union_Omaha) May 26, 2022
Minnesota head coach Adrian Heath aired his team out afterward, saying Omaha “played like it might be a huge game for them. And we didn’t. So many of ours just coasted through the game and thought that will be enough. It’s not.”
For Omaha, it’s the second time they’ve gone on the road, fallen behind, and still knocked an MLS foe out. In the third round, they scored an equalizer deep in extra-time stoppage time to force penalties before eliminating the Chicago Fire.
In Sacramento, the Republic—who have only been eliminated from the Open Cup at home once in 17 games now—beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0. Midfielder Luis Felipe, who played for San Jose from 2018 to 2020, gave Sacramento a 28th minute lead, and Republic talisman Rodrigo López added a late second with a thunderous shot from outside the box.
RoRo Row your 🚣♂️ into the Quarterfinals?! #cupset alert 🚨
RoRo Lopez gives @SacRepublicFC an insurance goal late in match against @mls foe @SJEarthquakes
2-0 | #USOC2022 pic.twitter.com/j3r5qXY3oq
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) May 26, 2022
U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals
June 21: LA Galaxy vs. Sacramento Republic – 10:30 p.m. ET
June 22: New York Red Bulls vs. New York City FC – 8 p.m. ET
June 22: Sporting Kansas City vs. Union Omaha – 8:30 p.m. ET
June 29: Orlando City vs. Nashville SC – 7 p.m. ET
(home teams listed first)
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