Upsets were the story in the quarterfinals as Real Salt Lake, Philadelphia and Chicago all advanced in a wild round of play. Here's a rundown of all four matches. The semis will pit Philadelphia against Chicago and Sporting against Real Salt Lake.
Real Salt Lake 1 LA Galaxy 0
Steven Gerrard's insertion in to the LA lineup wasn't enough to stop Real Salt Lake from pulling off a narrow victory and knock the Galaxy out of the 2015 US Open Cup. Aaron Maund's 87th minute header, his first professional goal, was the difference in the match as the Galaxy couldn't overcome the absences of Gyasi Zardes, Omar Gonzalez and Jaime Penedo. Real Salt Lake outshot the Galaxy 15-6 while maintaining possession for 60% of the match.
Philadelphia Union 1 New York Red Bulls 1, Philadelphia wins 4-3 in Shootout
Philadelphia survived a first half red card for the second match in a row in the tournament and against all odds, have advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals. Conor Casey, who got the start because C.J. Sapong was red carded in Philadelphia's 5th Round win over DC United, was sent off 40 minutes in with the score tied at 0-0. Philadelphia took the lead in the 56th minute but then watched New York tie the match 4 minutes into stoppage time. Still, the Union persevered winning the shootout 4-3. The Red Bulls outshot the Union 34-8 and John McCarthy made nine saves for Philadelphia.
Sporting Kansas City 3 Houston Dynamo 1
Luis Garrido suffered an early ejection, and while Houston was able to take a lead behind a Will Bruin goal, Sporting roared back with goals of their own from Benny Feilhaber, Dom Dwyer and Krisztián Németh as they advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 win. Erick 'Cubo' Torres made his 2015 debut for Houston, and while he wasn't a factor in this match, the hope for Houston is that he'll add some punch to a struggling offense.
Chicago Fire 3 Orlando City SC 1
Kennedy Igboananike came off the bench to score twice in the closing minutes as the Chicago Fire stunned Orlando City 3-1. The Fire, who have struggled for much of the year, outshot Orlando 20-8 despite losing the possession battle and eventually broke through when Igboananike found the back of the net late. Orlando got a goal from rookie of the year candidate Cyle Larin in a losing effort.
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