Your Sunday Kickoff: Columbus, LAFC & Portland win big during MLS is Back

Three games conclude opening weekend

• FC Cincinnati host Toronto FC (2:30 pm ET | Apple TV - Free)
• Nashville SC welcome New York Red Bulls (5 pm ET | Apple TV - MLS Season Pass)
• LA Galaxy clash with Inter Miami CF (9 pm ET | Apple TV - MLS Season Pass).

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Eleven games. Saturday soccer. Here's what happened.

Cucho did as Cucho does and got things rolling for the Crew early in this one. The defending champs thumped Atlanta for the better part of the first half and looked set to do the same in the second after winning a penalty. Brad Guzan stepped up and made the save for Atlanta and the half suddenly became about survival for Columbus. The Five Stripes outplayed them over the final 40-plus minutes, but came short of finding an equalizer.

Overall, the Crew picked up right where they left off after next to no turnover from the offseason. Atlanta looked like a team that needed a moment to thaw out. Once they got going in attack, they started to look a bit more like what we expected. They started moving too late for it to matter, though.

Timothy Tillman sent home an excellent volley to close the first half and Mateusz Bogusz one-upped him to open the second half. Bogusz’s curling strike to the top right corner gave LAFC a 2-0 lead and sealed a win. Bogusz started as LAFC’s No. 9 and put in a much-needed shift for the Black & Gold.

Seattle fought back after Bogusz’s goal, though. In a game where they were missing a handful of starters (yes, already), they didn’t look totally overmatched by LAFC. Once the Sounders brought on new DP Pedro de la Vega, they started to look a little more lively. You can instantly see de la Vega’s talent on the ball. For him to have the guts to take and bury a penalty moments after arriving on the pitch is a great sign. He’s got an ‘It Factor’ to him.

Adilson Malanda pushed the ball over the line for Charlotte after Iuri Tavares sent a header off the bottom of the crossbar. That’s all The Crown needed to handle an NYCFC side that joined the list of road teams struggling to find the net. NYCFC created just 0.6 xG here. It’s tough to be too concerned after the first game, but NYCFC are only going to get so much leeway this year before we start worrying about their attack. Last year didn’t inspire much confidence. 

Charlotte will feel a little more confident in new manager Dean Smith’s game model after this. They were effective and stout defensively.

Giacomo Vrioni’s inadvisable second yellow card just 25 minutes in flipped this one on its head. D.C. United took control of the match and kept sending the ball toward Christian Benteke. Do that enough and it’s going to go pretty well for you. Benteke’s hat trick powered D.C. past New England despite Carles Gil’s best efforts to salvage things. 

In the end, no one should be too high or too low from this one. Vrioni’s mistake defined the game. Good on D.C. for capitalizing, though.

Montréal started strong, but couldn’t break through against Orlando. At that point, it turned into a typical Orlando game. The Lions tend to grind, especially early in the year, and fought their way to a point here. After a midweek Concacaf Champions Cup match, that’s probably fine by them. Not ideal. But fine. 

One thing of note: Nico Lodeiro started in attack after Martín Ojeda started midweek. It will be fascinating to see when Orlando settle on their best XI.

Philadelphia and Chicago delivered one of the most delightfully chaotic games of the night. Chicago homegrown star Brian Gutiérrez kicked off what could be a breakout season with an absolute dart of a strike from distance. Mikael Uhre brought the Union level in the second half, but Chicago didn’t buckle. Fabian Herbers put the Fire up late… for a moment. However, the Union scored minutes later to tie the game at two… for a moment. Video Review ruled a Union player offside and things went back to 2-1… for a moment. Dániel Gazdag headed the ball home from close range in stoppage time to make it 2-2 for good. And that’s really kind of just scratching the surface.

There are a couple of big takeaways here. The first is it’s really hard to beat the Union at Subaru Park. They just don’t lose at home. The second is Chicago were very much up for the fight. But, for now, they’re still potatoes and not eggs when it comes to finishing games out. They had good moments against a Union side fresh off a midweek Concacaf Champions Cup matchup, but came up short in a way that will feel far too familiar to Fire fans.

By the way, Union goalkeeper Andre Blake missed the match after an adductor strain kept him off the teamsheet.

Austin pulled a goal back late, but don’t be fooled. Minnesota boat-raced them here. The final xG tally ended up at 2.6 to 1.0 in favor of the Loons. That feels a bit flattering for Austin, too. No full-time manager, no problem for Minnesota so far. There are much tougher tests on the way. They face Columbus next week.

Dante! Sealy! The young wingback has been getting a lot of buzz this offseason after returning from a loan to PSV Eindhoven’s reserve squad. That hype is going to go into overdrive after his late winner against the Earthquakes. 

Overall, both teams found plenty of chances in this one. Benji Kikanovic got the Quakes on the board early and Asier Illarramendi responded with an outstanding half-volley. Sealy ultimately made the difference.

Erik Thommy and Gabriel Segal traded goals as Sporting KC escaped Hell In The Shell with a point. Houston had a handful of chances, but couldn’t find a go-ahead goal. I think they’ll take whatever they can get after the injuries to Héctor Herrera and Sebastián Ferreira to start the year.

A gorgeous team goal (Diego Luna to Matt Crooks to Cristian Arango) put RSL up late, but Samuel Adeniran answered with an outstanding solo goal for St. Louis. 

There’s not much to add for either team after starting the year with a double match week. Getting Crooks into the team early on feels big for RSL and his first appearance seems like a great starting point. Adeniran has an outstanding physical skillset and could be set to take a step forward in 2024. 

Other than that, this game played out how you’d expect. There were lots of car crashes and guys trying to turn 60-40 balls into 50-50s.

Well then. 

Phil Neville’s debut as Portland manager got off to an inauspicious start after Evander got scratched from the opening-day lineup with an injury. But Portland didn’t need him in this one. Antony netted a first-half brace and Eryk Williamson (!!) scored his first goal in almost three years in his first game back since a second ACL tear. It’s a stellar start to the year. 

For Colorado, it’s not that. Not that at all. It’s early, so we aren’t going to overreact. But, uh, they weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders here. They’re still one of the league’s most interesting teams after their offseason moves, but last night was interesting for all the wrong reasons.

Houston sign midfielder Sylla: Houston Dynamo FC have signed midfielder Ousmane Sylla through the 2024 MLS season with options spanning 2025-27. This winter, the Dynamo selected Sylla during the second round (No. 55 overall) of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft out of Clemson University.

Toronto sign homegrown defender Pearlman: Toronto FC have signed homegrown defender Adam Pearlman through the 2027 MLS season with an option for 2028. Pearlman, 18, is the 33rd homegrown player in Toronto’s history.

• Hugo Lloris brought a "sense of security" in his MLS debut.
• Columbus started their MLS Cup defense with a "different win."
• Nimfasha Berchimas, Charlotte FC’s 16-year-old homegrown winger, made MLS history last night.

Good luck out there. Go top corner.