– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
HARRISON, NEW JERSEY — After being crowned the undisputed champions of Mexico earlier this year, Cruz Azul might as well try and pull off a similar feat north of the border, and their class showed once more on Sunday night for a United States audience to witness in person.
Cruz Azul scored goals each side of halftime as it defeated New York City FC 2-1 in the second round of Leagues Cup play inside Sports Illustrated Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The victory was Cruz Azul’s second in as many games in the competition after defeating Philadelphia 1-0 on Thursday.
A case can be made that Cruz Azul, the first-ever winners of the Leagues Cup in 2019, is currently the best club team in North America, given their title-winning run in Liga MX’s Clausura that culminated in a 98th-minute winner in the second leg of the championship series against Pumas in May, their 10th league title in club history. Against the one-time MLS Cup champions in NYCFC, Cruz Azul went ahead in the 35th minute as Agustín Palavecino was given room at the top of the box and unleashed a left-footed strike the rocketed into the bottom corner and past United States Men’s National Team goalkeeper Matt Freese.
Right before halftime, New York evened things up as defender Max Murray rose highest to head home an inch-perfect free kick by Fernández Mercau in first-half stoppage time.
“La Maquina” (common nickname for Cruz Azul, translated to “The Machine”) reclaimed the lead in the 78th minute as José Paradela’s shot from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection off James Sands before flying past Freese and just inside the top corner of the goal.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Dale Horton. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 38 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
