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St. Louis, Galaxy draw
Nicholas Gioacchini’s outstanding go-ahead goal was canceled out by a late transition goal from Daniel Aguirre in a 1-1 draw.
Portland top Dallas
Franck Boli scored in the first half and the Timbers defense suffocated Dallas in a 1-0 win for Portland.
It was supposed to be a nice, average weekend of regular season matches without big marquee matchups… then everyone decided to score their own personal AT&T 5G Goal of the Year candidate. What a blessing this league is.
Tons of interesting results. Let’s talk it out.
We have to start by making sure we praise Houston. They’re not the main story here, but it feels rude for a team to win 4-0 only for us to pretend like they accidentally scored four times while keeping a clean sheet, or that LAFC played so poorly they threw the ball into the net a bunch and called it a day. Houston did the dang thing here.
This is a signature win for Ben Olsen and company in a year one that’s going as well as anyone could have expected. The Dynamo jumped to seventh in the West with the win and are currently sixth in the conference on points per game. As rough as this conference is, there’s a legitimate chance they could be in the process of making an Audi MLS Cup Playoff run. Either way, things feel somewhat ahead of schedule for an organization that’s undergone a total revamp over the last few years. From afar, it seems like they’re doing a lot right when it comes to building out their soft infrastructure (scouting, analytics, etc.) and it’s not all that surprising it’s starting to pay off this season. There’s still a lot of work to do. But at least it’s progress.
Ok, is that officially enough nice words about Houston? Everyone cool? Good…
Because woooooffff LAFC. We’ve talked about it before, but they seem deep enough to avoid the post-CCL blues in a way other teams that made it to the final haven’t. Early returns haven’t been good though. They were by far the better team against Atlanta on Wednesday, but only came away with a 0-0 draw. They were absolutely not the better team against Houston on Saturday and got thumped. With a whole handful of double-game weeks on the way, this stretch is suddenly feeling kind of daunting for a team that probably won’t feel all that inclined to push for a second-straight Supporters’ Shield. The talent will obviously still be there. But what if the juice isn’t?
It’s fair to wonder at least. And it’s not like they’re suddenly going to spiral and miss the playoffs or anything. However, we could potentially be looking at a world where this incredible LAFC team comes up short on every possible trophy this season. It feels like it might come down to Leagues Cup and MLS Cup, and those don’t come easy. Even when you have a roster like LAFC’s.
Two games immediately after the end of the competition doesn't tell us everything, of course. It’s fair to start wondering though. At least until they show up next week and start a 10-game winning streak or whatever. Look, it’s important to imagine what’s possible before crushing reality sets in.
They still struggle on the road, but the Quakes picked up another huge win against one of the best teams in the league this weekend. They’ve now taken down both of last year’s MLS Cup participants this season, and that’s an excellent summation of their whole “We’re not perfect, but we can compete with anybody” vibe they’ve been putting out all year. They’re fourth in the West in points per game and hot on Seattle’s heels for third place. This Quakes team in a home playoff spot could be very, very dangerous down the line.
Atlanta came out against D.C. United with Caleb Wiley back on the left wing, Derrick Etienne Jr. shifted out on the right and homegrown Jay Fortune in midfield. It looked sharp. At least sharp enough to give the Five Stripes a 3-1 win over a good D.C. United team. That’s a great sign as the team moves into the first summer transfer window under Garth Lagerwey. If Wiley and Etienne on the wings can make up for the loss of Luiz Araújo (and maybe just outright make the team better), Atlanta won’t have to worry about a like-for-like replacement on the wing. If Fortune can put in solid enough shifts and continue to develop, he can be a stop-gap until the summer window allows Atlanta to fill Araújo’s DP spot with a do-it-all No. 8. At that point, the Best XI version of this roster might just be good enough to be a serious trophy contender. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
They lost badly to New England and lost Corentin Jean to a non-contact injury. The gap between Miami and the playoff line is seven points. Five games to go until he possibly arrives with Philadelphia up next. At some point I’m going to unironically say “the biggest test of his career!” and I’m not sure how much I’ll be kidding.
No one goes on a streak like Lucas Zelarayán. At least once a year, Zelarayán turns into pretty much the best player on the planet. This one, for some reason, feels a little more sustainable though? The Crew feel so cohesive right now and Wilfried Nancy has given him the keys. That’s resulted in a seven-game stretch where he’s piled up four goals and five assists. If he can finally put that together over a full season, the Crew just might be on track for a home playoff spot in a stacked Eastern Conference and maybe more once they get there. Oh, and Zelarayán might just have enough to challenge for Landon Donovan MLS MVP. He’ll at least win Goal of the Year.
No home wins and they’re on pace for the worst season in team history. Just a total bummer.
If you’re counting three total points as a win then technically, yeah, they collectively have one “win” over the last eight games.
After they spent Saturday whomping Minnesota 4-0, CF Montréal are now tied for the second most home wins in MLS this season. That’s good enough to bring them up to… ninth place in the East. They’d probably be a lot higher, but they also lead MLS in road losses.
They’ve lost eight times away from home this season. The next-closest team has six road losses and it happens to be the same Minnesota team they just beat. Something incredibly MLS is happening in Montréal and I just wanted to make sure y’all were paying attention to it.
- Chicho Arango can be a "transformational piece" for Real Salt Lake.
- Ruidíaz and Roldan goals offered a "silver lining" for Seattle in a disappointing draw against Charlotte.
Good luck out there. Even a little change of direction can make a big difference.
