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Another Saturday come and gone. Let’s talk it out.
PHILADELPHIA UNION - 2 | MINNESOTA UNITED FC - 0
D. Gazdag (16'), J. Carranza (84')
Minnesota let the ball bounce through to Daniel Gazdag on an early corner kick and the Union were in control from there. Julian Carranza sealed the match in the second half to earn Philly their second win in as many matches. “DKO Player To Watch” Bongokuhle Hlongwane did in fact score, but a “technically correct” offside call got in the way of my happiness.
The Union are still undefeated in MLS play and the Loons now have one loss on the season. Gut call here, but I’m going to guess we’ll see your regularly scheduled Union point gathering from here on out now that Concacaf Champions Cup is behind them.
COLORADO RAPIDS - 3 | LAFC - 2
M. Bombito (38'), D. Mihailovic (83', 89’) | E. Atuesta (8'), D. Martínez (76', Red Card 85')
Phew. Well, 18-year-old David Martinez had a day. After coming into the game at the 63-minute mark, Martinez put LAFC up 2-1 in the 76th, earned a yellow in the 78th and got sent to the locker room in the 85th. His second yellow immediately followed an outstanding free kick from Djordje Mihailovic that knotted things up at 2-2 and preceded an excellent team goal that Mihailoivc sent home to make it 3-2 just before stoppage time.
I don’t know what any of this means and I think we mostly chalk this up to “That’s MLS, baby”… but the Rapids have to be flying high after that. It admittedly felt like a bit of cosmic justice for last week’s tough loss to Houston. Colorado have eight points through their first six games and are at least going to avoid a second straight last-place finish in the West. They may even have enough to earn a playoff spot. Early days, but things are going just fine at the start of the Chris Armas era.
LAFC have two wins, one draw and three losses through seven games. I’m still worried that Olivier Giroud may not be the only answer LAFC need.
CHARLOTTE FC - 1 | FC CINCINNATI - 1
D. Diani (60') | A. Boupendza (90+2')
Charlotte put out a DP-less starting lineup, played phenomenally and still couldn’t end up with three points because FC Cincinnati just know how to win. Their outstanding late passage of play that ended with the ball at Aaron Boupendza’s feet in the middle of the 18 ruined the night for Charlotte. Still, there’s a lot to like from the Crown under Dean Smith. Striker Patrick Agyemang continues to be a bright spot and new DP Liel Abada debuted in this one. One new DP could make this team a genuine threat in the East.
D.C. UNITED - 1 | CF MONTRÉAL - 0
P. Santos (85')
Pedro Santos sent his foot through the ball and then some to give D.C. a well-earned win over CF Montréal. D.C. generated 3.1 xG to Montréal’s 0.9 on the night. It’s not a given in the East, but the Black & Red look like a team that’s good enough to earn a playoff spot.
INTER MIAMI CF - 1 | NEW YORK CITY FC - 1
L. Suárez (15') | A. Martínez (34')
Inter Miami’s long injury list had them playing Sergio Busquets at center back and coming up short at home against a beatable NYCFC team. Full credit to Nick Cushing’s side for fighting back and earning a solid road point, but Miami are hitting a wall here. With CF Monterrey arriving on Wednesday for the first leg of a CCC quarterfinal, it’s not going to get easier.
ORLANDO CITY SC - 1 | NEW YORK RED BULLS - 1
N. Eile (89' OG) | L. Morgan (21')
“DKO Player To Watch” Lewis Morgan found the net again, this time from the penalty spot, but Orlando didn’t let the game unravel and eventually forced their way to an own goal and a 1-1 draw. That’s a bummer for New York, but it’s still a road point.
For the Lions, it’s more of a mixed bag. They ran out a 4-4-2 setup with strikers Duncan McGuire and Luis Muriel up top again and struggled to create chances. It’s tough to leave talent on the bench, but it’s fair to wonder if having the two cohabitate is ideal. McGuire’s frustrating transfer saga over the winter may have created a logjam.
TORONTO FC - 1 | SPORTING KANSAS CITY - 3
J. Osorio (90+7') | R. Walter (57'), J. Davis (64'), A. Vargas (83')
A wild game went south for Toronto after Remi Walter slammed a shot into the net from 25 yards out. It didn’t help matters when Jake Davis did the same thing minutes later. At that point, SKC were rolling to a big road win. Toronto’s life without Lorenzo Insigne will be hard for the next couple of months.
AUSTIN FC - 2 | FC DALLAS - 1
J. Cascante (54') , D. Rubio (70') | E. Ansah (51')
Julio Cascante and Austin immediately responded to Dallas’ opener and Diego Rubio finished off the comeback as Austin earned a big Copa Tejas win. Austin are averaging a point per game and are continuing to stay out of the bottom of the West. Dallas… man, the list of teams more disappointing than Dallas so far is very short. They’ve lost four straight.
HOUSTON DYNAMO FC - 2 | SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES - 1
S. Ferreira (81') , F. Escobar (85') | B. Wilson (1'), P. Judd (Red Card 34'), J. Yueill (Red Card 90+5')
The Quakes jumped to an early lead, but Preston Judd’s first-half red card put them on a collision course for dropped points. Houston took over the match and piled on chances until they broke through and then broke away thanks to Sebas Ferreira and Franco Escobar.
Ferreira made his first start in over a month in this one as Houston earned their third straight win. After a tough start to the season, Houston have steadied the ship.
NASHVILLE SC - 2 | COLUMBUS CREW - 2
H. Mukhtar (45+3'), A. Godoy (45+9') | S. Zawadzki (17'), M. Hinestroza (79')
Anibal Godoy stole the show with an absurd overhead kick goal, but U22 midfielder Marino Hinestroza had the deciding goal in this one as the Crew earned a solid road point. “DKO Player To Watch” Jacob Shaffelburg picked up two assists.
REAL SALT LAKE - 3 | ST. LOUIS CITY SC - 1
C. Arango (70', 84', 90+1') | I. Vassilev (3')
Chicho Arango took over the match. That’s all you really need to know. The dude just scores.
On a related note, RSL are third in the West with 10 points after six games. St. Louis have seven points through their first six games and have allowed more goals than everyone in the West but San Jose.
LA GALAXY - 1 | SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC - 0
G. Pec (4')
Gabriel Pec opened up his MLS account early on and the Galaxy held onto the lead the rest of the way on a rain-soaked pitch.
I don’t know whether to steer this toward celebrating the Galaxy’s fantastic start or swerve toward the bleak existence of the 2024 Seattle Sounders. We’ll start with the good and say there were two fantastic signs for the Galaxy last night. They finally got Pec involved and they finally kept a clean sheet. This is the Supporters’ Shield-capable team blowing through a dilute West that I thought Seattle might be.
Then again, how impressive is keeping a clean sheet against Seattle these days? The Sounders have two (2) points more than you and I do this year. It’s been rough through five games. I keep expecting it to improve, but there’s not much proof suggesting it will other than the familiar brand name.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC - 3 | PORTLAND TIMBERS - 2
R. Gauld (2'), F. Picault (29'), R. Raposo (87') | Evander (52'), F. Mora (77')
The Whitecaps nearly blew a lead at home for the second straight week, but Ryan Raposo forced a loose ball in the box over the line and the Whitecaps earned their 10th point of the season. They’re one of three teams in the league averaging two points per game right now and could easily find themselves near the top of the West for most of the season.
Meanwhile, Portland have crashed down to Earth. That’s three straight losses for the Timbers.
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