CCC: LAFC oust Inter Miami; Pumas leave it late in draw against Vancouver | OneFootball

The quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup continued tonight with two huge fixtures on the docket in the wake of a pair of entertaining nil-nil draws yesterday.

Here is how things first went down in SoCal and Vancouver.

LAFC 1-0 Inter Miami

Scorers: Ordaz 57'

LAFC earned their stripes tonight after a 1-0 Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal first-leg win against visiting Inter Miami.

In what was the first loss in nine matches across the 2025 campaign in all competitions for the Herons, Lionel Messi and company faced a determined home side at BMO Stadium who expertly kept the diminutive Argentine shackled.

Much of the post-match discussion will be dominated by the potential missed sending-off by head official Oshane Nation after Black and Gold winger Nathan Ordaz was lucky to escape a red card after striking Maximiliano Falcón in the face.

Beyond the key talking point, Messi could barely get out of first gear on the night apart from two free-kick opportunities that fell short of his lofty expectations.

Suárez, too, was relatively invisible, with LAFC doing well to sit deep and look to break on the counter.

Ordaz would then make good on his second chance at life on the night when he opened the scoring in the 57th minute with a pin-point strike to beat Oscar Ustari at his near post from outside the box, giving the club academy graduate the chance to become the villain once again.

With LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo looking for a huge result to finally kick-start their season, there was no better time to put in a performance against one of the top sides in all of North America.

Inter Miami began to spring to life in the final ten minutes in a desperate bid to bag an all-important equalizer, one would not present itself.

Mascherano and company will fancy their chances in the return leg, however, at a ground they have turned into a fortress of late.

Vancouver 1-1 Pumas UNAM

Scorers: White 71'; Carrasquilla 87'

Vancouver Whitecaps were denied a first-leg win in front of home support during a 1-1 draw against Pumas UNAM.

The two sides could only play out a stalemate across the opening 45 minutes of action at BC Place, though Whitecaps headmaster Jesper Sørensen was no doubt pleased with how little Pumas could muster from an attacking standpoint.

Pumas slowly began to work their way into the match after the break, but concerns surrounding potential electrical issues began to steal much of the show as the hour mark approached.

Vancouver finally broke the deadlock in the 71st minute through leading scorer Brian White after a goal-line scramble was poorly dealt with before White bungled home his fourth Champions Cup goal.

But just like their away clash against Alajuelense in the round of 16, Pumas found an away goal, but this time, in stunning fashion in the 87th minute through a lovely volley from Panamanian international Adalberto Carrasquilla, who beat Yohei Takaoka low at the near post from a tight angle.

It was the first shot on target of the night for Efraín Juárez's Universitarios before shot-stopper Alex Padilla would come up with a massive save in stoppage time to deny Vancouver a stoppage-time winner.

Vancouver now has it all to do in the second leg, with Pumas now enjoying a huge advantage ahead of their clash next week at Estadio Olímpico Universitario.

📸 Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images