Philadelphia thump D.C. United
Daniel Gazdag’s brace led the way for the Union as they rolled to a 4-0 win over D.C. on Sunday night. They’re up to ninth in the East, equal on points with eighth-place Toronto FC. They’re in the driver’s seat for a Wild Card spot. D.C. are now three points below the line.
Inter Miami didn’t have a good week. The Herons blew two separate leads in Atlanta and another in The Bronx to earn two points against two struggling teams. They’re only slightly in danger of anything dramatic happening - we’ll get there in a second - but this is Inter Miami. We’re assessing them on a different scale. Anything short of being an all-time great team while they have the all-time great player is going to be seen as coming up short.
As of now, they’re 10 points away from breaking the record for points in a single MLS season (73, set by the 2021 New England Revolution). Breaking that record may not be remembered particularly well if they don’t pair it with an MLS Cup, but let’s take the major milestones one at a time. And let’s take the first big one a game at a time. Here’s who the Herons have to close out the season.
Inter Miami CF vs. Charlotte FC
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Sept 28 (7:30 pm ET)
So here’s the thing. If Lionel Messi is playing, it hasn’t really mattered who the opponent is. Inter Miami have lost once in 15 regular season games when Messi plays. The only loss came, inexplicably, against Atlanta. Even hinting at a loss is going against a strong precedent.
That’s the thing though. Inter Miami only get one draw here before they’re out of luck on the points record. If they get two wins and two draws, they’ll be short of tying the record by a point. And Charlotte are a team, like Atlanta and New York City FC, that could sneak up on the Herons and steal a point.
Charlotte had a bad stretch for a bit there, but took full advantage of a get right game against New England over the weekend in a 4-0 win. New DP Pep Biel even got on the board as The Crown looked like they actually wanted to be in the playoffs for the first time in a while.
Everyone should be well aware of how effective they are defensively. In the first meeting of the year between these two, Miami put up just seven shots in what turned into a 2-1 win. That’s extremely typical of this year’s Miami side, but still difficult to maintain. Another game with seven shots could easily turn into a 1-1 or 0-0 draw. The Herons will be favored at home here, but they have to be careful.
Columbus Crew vs. Inter Miami CF
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass; FS1
- WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 2 (7:45 pm ET)
The Crew are the Crew. I know we talked about Miami never losing with Messi on the field, but, let’s be real, if there’s any team that’s going to have the juice to hang with them, it’s Columbus. Especially a Columbus side with something extra to play for…
Actually, wait, I want to talk about that more. Let’s hustle through the rest of these.
Toronto FC vs. Inter Miami CF
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 5 (4 pm ET)
MLS is weird and dumb things happen all the time. This kind of feels like it could be a game where Toronto steal a point and no one, including Toronto, knows how it happened. But let’s be real here. We know how this goes in 95% of timelines.
Inter Miami CF vs. New England Revolution
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 19 (6 pm ET)
Let’s be real here. We know how this goes in 99.99% percent of timelines.
So, yeah, basically it comes down to the next two games for Inter Miami. Four points in both of those games would put some pressure on them, but they’d probably be able to pull it out. Six points and this is a wrap.
But, stay with me here. What if it’s one point? And what if things start to get uncomfortable in ways we haven’t really imagined in a while.
It does seem something close to impossible. But Wilfried Nancy freaking hates that word, and the Crew have made their reputation on outmaneuvering the odds.
So let’s lay it out. Miami have left the window open just enough to consider it.
Columbus are currently eight points behind the Herons. They have five games left while Inter Miami only have four. The highest point total they can reach is 71. The highest point total Inter Miami can reach is 76. The Crew need to close what’s essentially a five-point gap over the next few weeks.
Here’s the thing though…
D.C United vs. Columbus Crew
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 28 (7:30 pm ET)
D.C. are not a great team. The Crew may be a bit spent from their midweek Campeones Cup matchup with Club América, but this is winnable.
Columbus Crew vs. Inter Miami CF
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass; FS1
- WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 2 (7:45 pm ET)
Oh, hey, look at this, a home game that could instantly reduce the gap by three points. The Crew won the last one here against Miami and that one had even more on the line.
Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 5 (7:45 pm ET)
The Union are one of the hottest teams in the league and the Crew will be coming off yet another midweek game. They might be exhausted and rotated here. It’s going to be tough.
Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 12 (7:30 pm ET)
A nice break in between a couple of tough games.
New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew
- WATCH: MLS Season Pass
- WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 19 (6 pm ET)
The Red Bulls have been atrocious since the start of June. That coincided with an injury to Emil Forsberg. He’ll be back by this one, but will he be himself?
Fifteen points is a ton to ask for over this stretch. The fixture congestion ramps the difficulty level up even more. But it doesn’t even need to be 15 points. If the Crew beat Miami on their way to 13 points, the Herons would need two wins to claim the Shield. A win and two draws from Miami would put them tied on points and wins with the Crew. At that point, Columbus would likely have the edge on goal differential. Doesn’t sound all that far fetched does it?
Miami are on the verge of history. They’ll either earn the points record, win the Shield, or watch it slip out of their grasp in a way we’ll remember forever. It’s all in play. Odds are this is straightforward in the end. But don’t doubt the Crew and don’t doubt MLS’s ability to drag teams back toward the rest of the pack. This could be fun.
- Matt Doyle’s Sunday column is up and good.
Good luck out there. Here’s a picture of a baby hippo.
