MLS Game Capsules (Week 22)

Saturday, July 23

New York City FC (11-4-5) vs. Inter Miami CF (7-9-4)

(7 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• Inter Miami CF travels to the Bronx to take on New York City FC in the fifth all-time meeting between these sides. NYCFC have taken the three points in each of the last four meetings with Miami, outscoring their Eastern Conference rivals 9-3 over that four-game run since 2020.
• Last time out, Valentín “Taty” Castellanos recorded his 13th goal of the season and the 50th of his NYCFC career, joining David Villa as just the second player to reach the milestone in club history. Santiago Rodríguez assisted that goal, bringing him to nine assists on the season which is tied-fifth for most assists by an individual NYCFC player in a single season.
• Maximiliano Moralez, who holds the club record for single season assists with 20 in 2019, is three assists from cracking into the top 20 all-time assist providers in MLS history. Chris Klein holds the 20th position with 69 career regular season assists, while Moralez sits tied-24th in the all-time rankings with 66 in 149 regular season appearances.
• Following their 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Charlotte FC, Miami secured their fourth result from a losing position of the 2022 regular season. They are tied for the third-most points won from losing positions with 13 alongside Toronto FC, with CF Montréal (14) and Austin FC (16) being the only teams above Miami in that regard.
• Utility defender Christopher McVey arrived in Miami ahead of the 2022 regular season and has been an irreplaceable figure in their backline since. The Swedish defender is the only player to start all 20 of Miami’s games up to this point in the season as well as play all 1,800 minutes that he has been available for across those matches. He is also one of four defenders in MLS to have played at least 20 games and played every minute of those games this season.

FC Cincinnati (7-8-6) vs. Nashville SC (8-7-6)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• FC Cincinnati hosts Nashville SC for the fourth all-time meeting in a matchup that has seen 16 goals between both teams. The previous meeting between the teams saw Nashville score a club-record six goals in a 6-3 win over the Orange and Blue at TQL Stadium. Nashville have won the last two games by a combined score of 9-3.
• After tallying a goal in a club-record 13 matches in a row, Cincinnati was held scoreless on Sunday in a 2-0 defeat to the Columbus Crew. Cincinnati’s Brenner had totaled seven goal contributions in a five-game span before being shutout against the Crew. The Brazilian has scored in two of his three appearances against Nashville.
• Cincinnati midfielder Obinna Nwobodo has made an instant impact since being signed as a Designated Player on April 13. With Luciano Acosta suspended, Nwobodo captained the team for the first time against Columbus. Despite playing in just 12 games this season, he leads the team in tackles (27) and completed passing percentage (84.9) among qualified players.
• Hany Mukhtar continued his MVP form against LAFC last weekend by converting his second penalty kick of the season. Mukhtar has now scored in five-straight games, which is the longest streak in club history and among active MLS players. If Mukhtar scores against Cincinnati, he will join former New England Revolution forward Adam Buksa as the only players in MLS this season to record a goal in six-consecutive games.
• In his last two games against Cincinnati, forward CJ Sapong has bagged two braces and added an assist in one of those games. Sapong and teammate Randall Leal have done most of the scoring versus Cincinnati, contributing eight of the 11 goals in club history against the Orange and Blue. Of Leal’s 12 career MLS goals, one third of them (four) have come in this matchup.

Columbus Crew (7-5-8) vs. New England Revolution (6-7-7)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• In a matchup between two of the original 10 MLS teams, the Columbus Crew aim to ride their strong form and improve on their 38-24-16 record against the New England Revolution. The two clubs met earlier this season on May 7, resulting in a 2-2 draw at Gillette Stadium. The Crew are unbeaten in their last seven matches at home versus the Revolution and have not lost since October 27, 2013.
• The hottest player at the moment is Crew forward Juan “Cuhco” Hernández, who has blitzed the league with four goals in his first three MLS matches. After scoring in the 16th minute against FC Cincinnati on Sunday, Cucho became the first player in MLS history to score four goals within his first 90 minutes of game action. Additionally, no other Crew player had scored in each of his first three MLS matches and he was just the seventh player in league history to score four goals.
• Columbus enters the match having not lost in their last eight games (four wins, four draws) and look to make it nine in a row for the first time since April 21 – June 9, 2018. The Crew’s success in 2022 has been based on three different unbeaten runs of three, four and now eight games.
• After going on a 10-game unbeaten run, New England has suffered road defeats in each of their last two matches against New York City FC (4-2) and the Philadelphia Union (2-1). The Revolution are still looking for an offensive explosion in 2022, having only scored more than two goals in a game once this season after doing so 10 times on their way to the Supporters’ Shield in 2021.
• Despite the Revolution not scoring in bunches this season, midfielder Carles Gil has done his best to create those opportunities as he leads the league with 11 assists. Gil will be representing New England in Minnesota after being selected to his second All-Star Game. After producing 18 assists in 2021, the Spaniard needs four helpers to become just the fourth player since 2000 to record at least 15 assists in consecutive seasons.

Orlando City SC (8-7-6) vs. Philadelphia Union (10-2-9)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• The Philadelphia Union travel to face Orlando City SC in a clash between two of the top-five teams in the Eastern Conference. The two clubs have met 14 times with Philadelphia holding a slight 5-4-5 advantage. In the previous matchup at Exploria Stadium last season (July 22), Orlando grabbed an early lead and held on for a 2-1 victory.
• Orlando’s win at Exploria Stadium last season was led by Mauricio Pereyra who assisted both of the Lions’ goals in the game. The Uruguayan midfielder has already produced nine assists in 2022 and needs one more to become the first player in club history with double-digit assists in multiple years. Pereyra scored his first goal of the season off a free kick in last Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Atlanta United FC.
• The Lions’ Pedro Gallese continues to be one of the best goalkeepers in MLS after producing three terrific saves in the draw against Atlanta. A Peruvian international, Gallese ranks tied for fifth in clean sheets (seven) in 2022 and needs one more to set the club record in a single season.
• Philadelphia heads down to Florida with wins in each of their last three matches and atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Union turned to some of their Homegrown products in their 2-1 win over the Revolution last weekend, including midfielder Jack McGlynn. The 19-year-old who impressed at the Concacaf U-20 Championships, continued his strong form in his first start of the season with Philadelphia. McGlynn bossed the midfield, leading the team in touches (67), total passes (57) and passing accuracy (95%) against New England.
• With the Union trailing 1-0 against New England, Kai Wagner provided the game-tying assist, which was his 10th of the season. Wagner passed Cristian Maidana (26) for the third most in club history and became the first Union defender to tally 10 assists in a single season. If Wagner records five more assists before the end of the season, he would become the first defender in MLS history to post 15 assists in a season.

Toronto FC (5-12-4) vs. Charlotte FC (8-11-2)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• This is the first-ever meeting between Toronto FC and MLS newcomer Charlotte FC. This is the first time since Toronto faced Nashville SC on November 24, 2020, that the Canadian club will play its first-ever game against an expansion team in their inaugural season. Toronto is 3-2-1 in their last six first-time meetings against expansion teams dating back to 2017 when Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC entered the league.
• Yordy Reyna became the 12th different player to score a goal for Charlotte FC last time out with a brace against Inter Miami CF. He is also one of five Charlotte players to score multiple goals this season, along with Christian Fuchs, Ben Bender, Karol Swiderski, and Andre Shinyashiki.
• Swiderski assisted Reyna’s first goal against Miami, bringing his goal contributions for the season up to eight with five goals and three assists in 17 games. Both Swiderski and Bender, newcomers to MLS this season, lead Charlotte in goal contributions with eight as Bender has scored three goals and provided five assists this season.
• Toronto FC icon Jonathan Osorio is close to setting a career-best in assists in a single season, and an assist against Charlotte would bring him level with his single-season best of seven assists from the 2018 and 2015 seasons.
• With a goal against Charlotte FC, Mark-Anthony Kaye would equal his single-season best goal scoring tally of four that he set back in 2019 with LAFC.

D.C. United (5-11-3) vs. CF Montréal (10-8-2)

(8 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• This is the 24th all-time regular season meeting between D.C. United and CF Montréal with D.C. holding a slight advantage in the all-time series with an 8-7-8 record against Montréal. However, the series has been evenly split over these sides’ last five meetings with both sides earning two wins and sharing a 0-0 draw on June 23, 2021, during that stretch.
• Last time out, Montréal beat Toronto FC 1-0 courtesy of a second half own goal. D.C. United have conceded the most own goals (7) of any team in MLS since the start of the 2020 season. Montréal are one of six clubs to concede four own goals during that stretch.
• Romell Quioto scored four of Montréal’s last nine MLS goals. Since he joined the club in 2020, he’s scored 24 times, more than twice as many goals as Djordje Mihailovic (11) who has scored the second-most goals for the club over that stretch. With a goal on Saturday, he would equal his single-season highest goal tally of eight goals that he set in 2020 and 2021 with Montréal.
• Kei Kamara can draw level with Jeff Cunningham on the all-time regular season goal scorers’ charts with a goal against D.C., which would put him on 134 career regular season goals.
• Montréal is one of five teams that Ola Kamara has scored six career goals against, and he has scored against them at least once in every season since 2017.

Houston Dynamo FC (7-10-4) vs. Minnesota United FC (9-8-4)

(8:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• Houston Dynamo FC and Minnesota United FC meet for the 14th time in series history, with Minnesota United holding a 5-4-4 series advantage. The Loons have won each of the last three meetings – all in 2021 – and are unbeaten in their last five against Houston.
• Houston was victorious in their last match, beating San Jose 2-1 in Week 21 behind goals from forwards Sebastián Ferreira and Thorleifur Úlfarsson. In his first MLS season, Ferreira is tied for the team lead with seven goals and 10 goal contributions this season, matching Darwin Quintero in both categories. The 21-year-old Úlfarsson, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas, has scored in two of his past three games and in three of his past six overall.
• Earlier this week, Minnesota United was victorious in a friendly over English Premier League side Everton, earning a 4-0 victory at Allianz Field. Led by Emanuel Reynoso’s 18th-minute penalty kick, the Loons scored three first-half goals en route to the dominant shutout victory.
• Reynoso, alongside teammate Dayne St. Clair, was named to the MLS All-Star roster and the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T 5G roster, which will both be played in front of the club’s home fans at Allianz Field. Reynoso was named the MLS Player of the Week presented by Continental Tire for Week 21 after scoring two goals over D.C. United last week, with both scores assisted by Luis Amarilla. The brace was his third in five games, and he is one of five players in MLS to have at least nine goals and five assists this season. Reynoso’s 54 key passes rank second in the league, behind only the Revolution’s Carles Gil (67).

Sporting Kansas City (5-12-5) vs. LAFC (13-4-3)

(8:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• Sporting Kansas City and LAFC will meet for the ninth time, with the previous eight meetings being split between the two clubs with each recording four wins apiece. The two clubs have traded pairs of wins since their first meeting in 2018, with Sporting winning the first two matches in series history, LAFC taking the next two, and the two teams repeating those results in four subsequent matches. LAFC are winners of the last two meetings, including a 3-1 victory at Banc of California Stadium on April 17, 2022.
• Sporting returns home after a three-game road stretch and the club has played five of their past six away from home. SKC has earned 11 of their 20 points at home this season, despite playing four fewer matches at Children’s Mercy Park than on the road. The club has earned a result in two of its last three.
• Los Angeles FC is the sixth team in MLS history to have at least 42 points through the first 20 matches of the season. LAFC had 46 points at this stage in 2019, making it one of two teams, along with the LA Galaxy (46 in 1998, 43 in 2010), to have 42 points after 20 games multiple times.
• LAFC’s 2-1 win over Nashville on Sunday was the 14th straight time LAFC has won a match in which it’s taken a lead at any point. The last team to record a longer streak was Seattle (19 straight) in 2018-19.
• LAFC, along with reigning MLS Cup champions, each have a league-best three players on the 2022 All-Star roster. LAFC’s trio of honorees includes perennial All-Star Carlos Vela, six-year MLS veteran Ilie Sánchez, and 22-year-old Ecuadorian international Diego Palacios.
• Forward Cristian Arango has scored in consecutive matches in and in six of his past seven overall. He leads the club with eight goals this season. He has totaled 22 goals over the past two seasons. Arango was joined in the scoring efforts last week by midfielder Jose Cifuentes, who has three goals in his past two matches. Cifuentes has 10 goal contributions (six goals, four assists) this season and has eclipsed 10 goal contributions in each of the past two seasons.

Real Salt Lake (9-6-6) vs. FC Dallas (7-6-8)

(10 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• FC Dallas look to snap a seven-game stretch without a win when they go on the road to face the best home team in MLS, Real Salt Lake. Salt Lake has not lost against Dallas in each of the last five matches and won the last two meetings in 2021. Overall, Dallas leads the series between the two with a 20-14-10 record.
• Salt Lake is the only team left in MLS that is unbeaten at home in 2022 (7-0-3) and boasts a league best 2.4 points per game at Rio Tinto Stadium. With a win or draw, the Claret and Blue would go undefeated in their first 11 home games of a season for the first time since 2016 (6-0-5). RSL have only once gone an entire season at home without a loss, which was in 2010 (11-0-4).
• With a goal and an assist on Sunday, Jefferson Savarino has contributed to five goals in his first four home starts since rejoining Real Salt Lake (three goals, two assists). Including his first stint with RSL, 20 of his 25 regular season goals have been scored at Rio Tinto Stadium.
• Dallas’ dynamic scoring duo of Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola added another goal to their tally when Ferreira assisted on Arriola’s ninth of the season against Austin FC on Saturday. If Arriola scores one more goal this season, Dallas would have a pair of teammates record at least 10 goals in the same season for the first time since Maximiliano Urruti (12) and Roland Lamah (11) in 2017.
• In the Copa Tejas matchup against Austin, Dallas defender Matt Hedges appeared in his 300th game for the club in the 1-1 draw. Hedges became the first player in club history to hit the 300-appearance mark and is the fifth player in MLS history to do so with just one club (Graham Zusi, Diego Chara, Cobi Jones and Roger Espinoza).

Seattle Sounders FC (8-10-2) vs. Colorado Rapids (6-8-6)

(10 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• The Sounders hold a significant series edge over the Rapids with a 19-8-4 record in 31 regular-season meetings. The two clubs have split the last three meetings, 1-1-1, with the Rapids winning the most recent matchup between the teams, 1-0, on May 22, 2022. Colorado midfielder Jonathan Lewis scored the game-winning goal in the 50th minute.
• Seattle will look to snap a three-game losing streak as they welcome the Rapids to Lumen Field on Saturday. The Sounders have failed to score in all three of their matches during their current losing streak, the first time they’ve gone three straight regular season matches without a goal since May-June 2018. Seattle has played four straight regular season games without a goal only once, in July-August 2015.
• The Sounders’ two leading scorers – Jordan Morris and Raúl Ruidíaz – both earned 2022 MLS All-Star selections. Morris was selected to his first ever All-Star Game, while Ruidíaz earned his second-consecutive selection after starting in 2021. Both Ruidíaz (second) and Morris (tied for fourth) rank in the top-five in the Sounders’ all-time scoring history.
• The Rapids ended a six-match winless run with a 2-0 win over the Galaxy last week, Colorado’s sixth win of the season. All six of the Rapids’ MLS wins this season have come at home as they’re one of two teams, along with Toronto, without a road win in 2022. Jonathan Lewis set up both Rapids goals, his first two assists of the season. It was the first time Lewis recorded multiple assists in an MLS match in his career (115th match incl. playoffs).
• Rapids forward Diego Rubio scored his club-high ninth goal of the season in the club’s win last week, and he has scored in two of his past three MLS matches. Rubio’s nine goals are the second-most in a single season in his MLS career, trailing only his 2019 output (11 goals in 26 games).

Vancouver Whitecaps FC (7-9-5) vs. Chicago Fire FC (6-10-5)

(10 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• In 11 all-time meetings between the two clubs, the Whitecaps hold a 6-2-3 advantage over the Chicago Fire and have won all four matchups between the two teams played at BC Place. Vancouver is unbeaten in its past three over the Fire, with two wins and a draw over the span.
• Since May 28, Vancouver has recorded to a 4-2-3 mark, including draws in each of their past two matches. Overall, the club is 5-2-3 in matches played at home this season and will be looking to bounce back following a 2-1 defeat to Minnesota on July 8. The Whitecaps haven’t lost consecutive matches in their home stadium in a single season in three years, since losses to Sporting and San Jose in July 2019.
• The Whitecaps acquired Julian Gressel from D.C. United last week. Since joining MLS in 2017, Gressel has created 333 chances for teammates in regular season play, the fifth-most in MLS over that time.
• For the second time this season, Chicago has won consecutive matches, including a 2-0 victory over Toronto FC and last week’s 1-0 win against the Seattle Sounders. The Fire have gotten off to good starts recently, taking the lead into halftime of each of their last three matches. It’s the first time Chicago has led at the half of three straight MLS matches in five years, since doing so in four straight games in June-July 2017.

Portland Timbers (6-6-9) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (5-8-7)

(10 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• Portland and San Jose have met 30 times in series history, with the Timbers holding a 15-6-9 series advantage. The Timbers have won four of the past six meetings between the clubs, although San Jose was victorious earlier this season, recording a 3-2 victory over Portland on May 18. Portland is undefeated at home against San Jose in 15 all-time matches, recording an 11-0-4 record, the most home games played by one team against another without ever losing in MLS history.
• The Timbers are unbeaten in their last six matches after tying Vancouver 1-1 last week on a Felipe Mora penalty-kick goal. Portland has scored from the penalty spot in five straight games. Prior to this streak, no team in MLS history had scored a penalty in more than three straight games.
• Portland forward Jaroslaw Niezgoda has scored in two of his past three matches and has four goals in his past five matches overall. His team-leading seven goals match his career-high set in his debut season in 2020.
• San Jose’s Jeremy Ebobisse has also scored in two his past three overall and leads the clubs and ranks tied for the third in the 2022 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race with 11 goals this season. Jamiro Montero, who registered a brace in the team’s early-season win over Portland, and Cristian Espinoza are tied for the club lead with seven assists apiece.
• San Jose will look to win consecutive away matches for the first time in three seasons, when they defeated the LA Galaxy and Vancouver in July 2019.

Sunday, July 24

Austin FC (12-4-5) vs. New York Red Bulls (9-6-6)

(8 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

• This is the first-ever meeting between Austin FC and the New York Red Bulls, who currently sit in the top five for the Supporters’ Shield race and lead the league in points won away from home with 23 and 20, respectively. Austin is yet to lose to an Eastern Conference opponent this season, holding a 6-0-1 record against their opposite conference, while the Red Bulls are 2-2-2 in their six games this season against Western Conference opponents.
• Austin have shown their grit and determination to surmount losing positions this season, earning a league-leading 16 points when behind on the scoreboard. Their come-from-behind draw against FC Dallas extended their unbeaten run to a club-record seven games (5-0-2) and ensured they remained undefeated against fellow Texans Houston Dynamo FC and FC Dallas (2-0-2) in 2022.
• During that 20-point haul from away matches, the Red Bulls have recorded six wins while traveling on the road. With a win in Austin, they will tie their third-best away win record from 2002 and would be just one more win away from tying their best-ever away win record of eight set during the 2000 and 2018 regular seasons.
• Diego Fagúndez recorded his fifth goal of the season last time out, putting him among 13 other MLS players to record at least five goals and five assists this season. With eight assists also to his name this season, Fagúndez is two goal contributions away from reaching 15 in a single season for the fourth time in his career. This season also ranks fourth in his career in total goal contributions, behind 15 (seven goals, eight assists) in 2017, 19 (nine, ten) in 2018, and 20 (13, seven) in 2013.
• Lewis Morgan currently sits on nine goals in his first season with the Red Bulls and can be the club’s first player to reach double digits in goal scoring since Danny Royer scored 11 in 2019. At a goals per 90 minutes played rate of 0.48, Morgan is estimated to reach 15 goals during the remainder of the regular season which would be the first time a Red Bulls player did so since 2018 when Bradley Wright-Phillips scored 20 goals.

LA Galaxy (8-9-3) vs. Atlanta United FC (6-8-6)

(9:30 p.m. ET, FS1 / FOX Deportes)

• Atlanta United FC take on the LA Galaxy in the fourth all-time meeting having won each of the first three by a total score of 9-0. Atlanta has only played once at Dignity Sports Health Park – a 2-0 win on April 21, 2018. The Galaxy have never suffered four straight shutout defeats to a single opponent in the club’s MLS history.
• Galaxy forward Dejan Joveljic has scored in five straight home matches for LA, netting seven goals in those games. The only player in team history who has scored in more than five straight regular season home matches is Zlatan Ibrahimovic from July 19 to September 29, 2019. Joveljic leads all Galaxy players with eight goals in 2022, despite only starting five matches.
• One of the best creators in MLS history, Galaxy midfielder Sacha Kljestan sits one assist shy of becoming the eighth player in MLS history to total 100 career assists. Kljestan would become the only active player to hit this mark. Additionally, if Kljestan adds two helpers, he will tie Marco Etcheverry (101) for the seventh-most in league history.
• Atlanta’s Juanjo Purata scored the game-tying goal for the club in their 1-1 draw with Orlando City SC on Sunday. The center back recorded a goal in just his second league start for the club after joining on loan from Tigres in Liga MX. Purata’s goal from a free kick was Atlanta’s first goal off a set piece situation since April as their previous 17 MLS goals had come from open play.
• When in the lineup, midfielder Thiago Almada has shined for Atlanta United, contributing six assists and three goals in just over 1,100 minutes. After subbing on against Orlando, Almada found Purata off the free kick for his sixth helper of the season and second in as many games.