We had one of the wildest Rocky Mountain Cups ever, a Canadian Classique rout and a massive Hudson River Derby meeting. Let’s talk it out.
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Hany Muhktar won and converted a first-half penalty and Bartosz Slisz found the net from distance in the second half. Not much more to report from this one. Neither fan base left Geodis Park all that happy or completely disappointed.
Both teams had some decent chances, but Charlotte still kept their sixth clean sheet of the season. That’s an MLS-best mark.
Other than Matt Miazga kicking the ball into his own net, Cincinnati handled St. Louis about as well as you can. Lucho Acosta scored to make it 150 goal contributions in his MLS career, delivered assists on the next two goals to make it 152 goal contributions, and the Garys rolled. They were so, so close to taking the lead in the Supporters’ Shield standings, but…
Hey, you won’t believe this but D.C. United had multiple chances to go ahead of Inter Miami, didn’t, and then got punished for it out of nowhere. Leo Campana subbed into the match as an emergency sub and, 17 seconds later, scored with his first touch. With the win, the Herons stayed one point ahead of FC Cincinnati in the Shield race.
A Ryan Spaulding DOGSO red card sealed the Rev’s fate early. The Union cruised from there. The Revs still have a single-digit point total. The Union got their first win since April 6.
Hannes Wolf kicked off one of the most hyped Hudson River Derbies in years with one of the coldest goals you’ll ever see, but Cameron Harper cut out NYCFC’s advantage by pinging a shot off the underside of the crossbar just before the half. That left things up to… New York City striker Mounsef Bakrar?
Bakrar has been, statistically, the worst/unluckiest finisher in MLS since he arrived. He’s been finding plenty of good chances, he just hasn’t been able to finish. But in the biggest game of the year, he got the yips out and put NYCFC up for good. NYCFC have won six of seven and are sitting third (!) in the Eastern Conference. It sure doesn’t seem like Nick Cushing is on the hot seat anymore, does it?
Uhh. Sheesh.
Only one team showed up to this edition of the Canadian Classique. It was not CF Montréal.
Toronto mollywhopped a disinterested Montréal side and cruised to a huge win. Toronto weren’t at full strength but got Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi back into the starting lineup for the first time in a couple of months. This one might have been a rout either way though. The Reds have seven wins in 14 games after winning four all of last season.
Sporting KC were in yet another incredibly Sporting KC game as Austin put three on the board to roll to their third win in five games thanks to Jáder Obrian’s first-half brace. SKC are winless in seven games. They’ve allowed 17 goals in that span. They’re one point away from sitting at the bottom of the West.
This went exactly how you think it did. The Crew have won two straight.
Petar Musa scored for the fourth time in five games to rescue a road point for FC Dallas. They haven’t completely pulled themselves out of the basement, but Musa finding his groove is a sign they might get there. They’ve earned seven points from their last four games.
Houston have shown their biggest flaws and a little more in the last few weeks. They have one win in their last six games and aren’t creating chances. I think it’s time to genuinely worry about this group. They’ll need to make moves in the summer window.
The Loons aren’t slowing down. Despite an early Portland lead, Robin Lod and Jeong Sang-Bin led the way back to a 2-1 home win. After winning just four home games last year, they’ve already won at home three times this season. On a related note, they’re averaging 2.00 points per game through 12 games.
The Timbers are averaging less than a point per game.
Cole Basset scored from distance on a bizarre play and we were off and running from there in one of the wildest games of the season and the highest-scoring meeting in the history of this rivalry. RSL brought things back to 2-2 then 3-3 before finally taking the lead in the 88th minute and adding one extra in stoppage time to earn a 5-3 win and even up the Rocky Mountain Cup at one win apiece.
Chicho Arango will deservedly get the brunt of the attention here for scoring goals 12 and 13 of the season, but it’s worth noting again how good Andres Gómez has been. His brace gave him seven goals and four assists this year. Chicho hasn’t been carrying this team to the top of the West and a 2.00 points per game pace entirely by himself.
Typical Orlando things here. After losing Duncan McGuire to injury earlier in the game, backup striker Jack Lynn found the net in the 89th minute to give Orlando a late lead and three road points. The Lions earned yet another late win and earned their seventh point in three games. Things might be starting to turn around.
Seattle looked to be on their way to a 1-0 home win, thanks to an early goal from Jordan Morris, HOWEVER…
A late handball from Nouhou in the box sent Ryan Gauld to the spot and Nouhou to the showers as the ‘Caps took a point from a Seattle side that really could have used all three. The Sounders can’t catch a break this year. At least Pedro de la Vega made his return in this one.
Meanwhile, Vancouver haven’t won an MLS game in five tries. The good news is that they’ll head back home next week and get a chance to reset against…[checking]...Inter Miami.
- Real Salt Lake had an "X factor" in their epic Rocky Mountain Cup win.
- New York City FC found "liftoff" to reclaim the Hudson River Derby.
- Inter Miami were saved by an unplanned super-sub.
- Federico Bernardeschi powered a Canadian Classique rout.
- Lucho Acosta joined an elite crowd of MLS legends.
Good luck out there. Turn things around.
