New England and Toronto close out the weekend
The New England Revolution host Toronto FC at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 pm ET on MLS Season Pass.
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Inter Miami CF rolled, LA Galaxy cruised and Real Salt Lake got hot in a blizzard. Among other things. Let’s talk it out.
Tani Oluwaseyi, a 2022 SuperDraft pick making his fourth-ever MLS appearance, found the net in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to steal a point for Minnesota United and take two away from the Columbus Crew.
Cucho Hernández scored from just outside the 18 to get the Crew on the board first and the Crew outcreated Minnesota by a significant margin in this one. But some demons are hard to shake off. The Crew have to be feeling a level of PTSD after allowing yet another late lead to evaporate. It’s just a part of the brand at this point. They survived a late push from Atlanta last week. They didn’t survive this time. They’ll be fine (and they can cry on the shoulder of MLS Cup if they need to), but it’s still got to be a little frustrating.
Anyway, full credit to Minnesota here. They’ve survived their first two games of the season despite missing key players for both. Emanuel Reynoso, Robin Lod, Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Franco Fragapane were unavailable for this one. They looked up for the fight anyway. It makes you start to wonder how good they might be once their best players are back in the lineup.
Well, we’re all in danger.
Unless you’re associated with Inter Miami, then you are the danger. The Herons bulldozed Orlando in the first half thanks to a Luis Suárez brace and three assists from Julian Gressel. They were steps ahead of the Lions at every point and were off and running from the jump. They didn’t slow down in the second half.
When Inter Miami are playing that well, there are very, very few teams in MLS who can compete. You’re still allowed to have some concerns about their ability to do this week in and week out, but no one’s ceiling comes remotely close to Inter Miami’s.
I would tell you what happened, but I couldn’t see any of it through all the snow. Somehow, RSL pushed the ball into the goal many more times than LAFC, a team that looked very cold.
Iuri Tavares scored his first MLS goal and Ryan Raposo sent home a recycled set-piece ball to cancel it out. Charlotte have started the Dean Smith era with a home win and a road point. Not bad at all.
[sigh]
Chicago were playing just fine and had things knotted at 1-1 against the reigning Supporters’ Shield winners. Then they let a low-driven corner kick slip through a crowd of defenders and Miles Robinson redirected the ball in for his first goal with his new team. Chicago gonna Chicago.
Josef Martínez!
The legendary striker has now scored goals for three MLS teams. This one delivered a road win for CF Montréal and new manager Laurent Courtois. Montréal have started the year with two road games and four points. That’s as good as it gets.
Dallas will be happy to see new striker Petar Musa get on the board, but that’s the biggest positive here. At least Jesús Ferreira, Paxton Pomykal and Sebastian Lletget all made substitute appearances in this one. Dallas should be fully healthy soon.
Lewis Morgan!
Morgan sent home a stunning strike to get back on the board for the first time since the 2022 postseason. It’s good for us to see one of the league’s most underrated players get up and running again after injury troubles, and it’s scary for the rest of the league to see. A healthy Morgan plus Emil Forsberg could elevate this Red Bulls attack to the most dangerous spot it's been in years.
Alejandro Bedoya!
Deep into second-half stoppage time, Tim Melia punched away a (controversially awarded) corner kick. But the punch lacked oomph and the ball fell right to Bedoya, who immediately sent it into the net to steal a road point in Kansas City. Bedoya’s goal delivered an outstanding point for a heavily rotated Union side and an incredibly frustrating moment for SKC.
Célio Pompeu and Sam Adeniran found the net as St. Louis rolled over NYCFC. Adeniran is turning into one of the best stories of this new season. He picked up his second goal in as many games and continues to impress each time out. After scoring eight goals in 950 minutes last year, he could be set for a breakout season in 2024.
On the other side of this… NYCFC have face-planted out of the gate. The optimistic view here is they haven’t played a home game yet and they’re still working new pieces in. The not-optimistic view is it’s been a struggle for this team for a while now. And the frustration from that is starting to show on the field. James Sands’ red card to close this one out embodies that.
Shaq Moore accidentally sent home a header, but Teal Bunbury went to the spot and equalized late to give Nashville a point on the road. It definitely didn’t look pretty, but Nashville found a way to get the job done despite missing Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge yet again. They were the better team for the majority of this one. Some of the optimism from Colorado’s offseason feels like it’s already starting to trickle away.
Well, it seemed for a moment like we were about to write all about how the Timbers were having as good a start as any team in the league. Then Mateusz Klich converted a penalty and Kristian Fletcher found the net to cancel out a 2-0 Portland advantage. Oops.
It’s a huge point for D.C., especially after Christian Benteke got scratched from this one during warmups.
All the goals the Galaxy should have scored last week carried over to this week. The Galaxy didn’t create nearly as many chances as they did against Miami, but still found the net three times. Joseph Paintsil led the way with his first MLS goal and continues to look like one of the most exciting signings of the new season. Which means the Galaxy attack looks like one of the best in the league right now. The hype is going to build here, and for good reason.
Austin should be very happy with a point. They at least looked slightly better than they did against Minnesota last week. But only slightly. This is probably a loss more often than not. Seattle just couldn’t find the net despite attempting 22 shots with 1.3 expected goals.
- Lionel Messi said Inter Miami put together a "complete performance" in their rivalry rout of Orlando.
- Real Salt Lake focused on "mentality" in their wintry win over LAFC.
- Luis Suárez answered critics as Inter Miami thrashed Orlando City.
- FC Dallas’ club-record signing, Petar Musa, scored in his debut.
- Joseph Paintsil proved his "game-changer" status for the LA Galaxy.
Good luck out there. Feel comfortable at home.
