US OPEN CUP
Who are the US Open Cup top scorers? Can Messi overtake the leaders?
After a two-month hiatus the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup returns for the semi-finals, with Inter Miami looking to follow up on their Leagues Cup triumph.
The 108th edition of the US Open Cup returns on Wednesday night with two finely poised all-MLS ties.
FC Cincinnati will host Leagues Cup winners Inter Miami, before Real Salt Lake travel to Houston Dynamo. The winners will meet in the final on 27 September. The Open Cup is the country’s oldest national soccer competition and this year brings together 100 teams from across the United States.
With two games to go the race to be crowned Open Cup top goal scorer is still on with seven players within one goal of each other in the standings.
US Open Cup - Top scorers
1= Damir Kreilach, Real Salt Lake - 4
Josh Dolling, New Mexico United - 4
3= Jonathan Lewis, Colorado Rapids - 3
Corey Baird, Houston Dynamo FC - 3
Ibrahim Aliyu, Houston Dynamo FC - 3
Milan Iloski, Orange County SC - 3
Elvis Amoh, Hartford Athletic - 3
Of the seven players to have scored three or more goals, only Real Salt Lake’s Damir Kreilach and Houston duo Corey Baird and Ibrahim Aliyu remain in the tournament. Kreilach is currently joint-top, alongside Englishman Josh Dolling of the Las Vegas Lights.
Dolling joined USL Championship side New Mexico United last December and struck four goals in two Open Cup victories in April. His side were eliminated by Austin in the fourth round but he could still finish with the Golden Boot.
Can Lionel Messi finish as Leagues Cup top scorer?
It would take an astonishing run of form, but Messi could in theory finish the tournament as top scorer.
During Inter Miami’s victorious Leagues Cup campaign Messi struck ten goals in seven matches. He will need to score at least four times to level with the current Open Cup top scorers, and has a maximum of two games in which to do so.
Furthermore Kreilach, Baird and Aliyu are still in the competition, meaning that they could add to their own tallies in the remaining fixtures. With Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo meeting in the semi-final, at least one of those players will have another two matches in the 2023 US Open Cup.
Messi would likely need to score multiple goals in both the semi-final and the final to have a chance of finishing the tournament as top scorer. But after the Argentine struck a brace in three consecutive Leagues Cup games recently, you can’t rule it out.