Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the MLS weekend.
Just three weeks into the regular season, we’re down to eight undefeated teams and two perfect starters. Early struggles already provoked some catenaccio tactics. There’s an unexpected early pacesetter in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race and the defending MLS Cup champion is on the ropes.
With Armchair Analyst and all-around legend Matt Doyle rested this time out, the task of filling his iconic boots falls to me. So let’s take a spin across Matchday 3.
Photo credit: Jane Gershovich, Sounders FC Communications
It was natural to expect a dour, defensive affair when Seattle and LAFC faced off again at Lumen Field on Saturday afternoon, considering both teams are sturdily built and happen to be juggling league and Concacaf Champions Cup action, with massive away legs looming in their respective Round-of-16 ties vs. Cruz Azul and Columbus that led both coaches to make significant rotations in their XIs.
WRONG!
Instead we got the loudest fireworks of the matchday, a 5-2 barnburner that sparked to life with a legit dream-of-a-lifetime moment from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, the 22-year-old signed to a short-term loan this week from MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Tacoma Defiance. On a weekend when several top teams failed to be sufficiently direct and paid a price, kudos to Kossa-Rienzi and Jesús Ferreira for playing over the top and asking their Angelino guests to deal with it, which... they did not.
Combined with his overall energy and bite – Kossa-Rienzi also completed 30/31 passes and won a game-high five tackles in his 70 minutes on the pitch – it looks like that goal sealed the Rave Green’s decision to offer him a first-team contract.
“Craig [Waibel, Seattle’s general manager] and I are going to have a long, hard conversation on my drive home today because [Kossi-Rienzi] deserves to be signed to a contract,” said head coach Brian Schmetzer postgame, and indeed, the player himself confirmed that he’s been inked.
“It’s not just because of the goal, that was just icing on the cake. The kid has potential, he has talent, he’s going to be an excellent MLS player.”
A goalkeeping error from Andrew Thomas allowed LAFC to level via Nathan Ordaz before the break, which helped prompt Schmetzer to bring on Jordan Morris for Danny Musovski at halftime, one of several subs that transformed this from a tense chess match into a freewheeling rout.
Morris deservedly got the garlands for netting the goal that makes him the Sounders' all-time leading scorer with 87 goals across all competitions. This was mainly a Defiance show, though, considering the impact of second-team success stories Kossa-Rienzi, Danny Leyva, Georgi Minoungou and the excellent Paul Rothrock, whose banger of a goal and assist to Morris are reminders of how crucial his blend of sauce and spunk has become for Seattle.
Alas for the Sounders, all this good stuff may be eclipsed by the sight of Pedro de la Vega hobbling off the pitch barely half an hour in, yet another injury concern for a Designated Player whose time in Seattle has been blighted by them. It’s a worrisome development ahead of their daunting midweek trip to Mexico City, where they’ll face Cruz Azul.
Dynamo defender Obafemi Awodesu pumped both fists in a quiet celebration when referee Jon Freemon blew the full-time whistle. Head coach Ben Olsen managed to look both irritated and relieved as he stepped in from the touchline, having earned a yellow card from Freemon for his remonstrations a few minutes prior. And the home fans at Lower.com Field booed heartily as their team concluded a disappointing week with two points dropped to their bus-parking visitors from Houston.
No doubts about who welcomed this 0-0 draw more. Having taken a 4-1 home hiding from Inter Miami last week, the Dynamo set out their stall in the most defensive-minded iteration of a 4-3-3 imaginable and deservedly banked their first clean sheet of the season. They didn’t merely soak up pressure here and hope for the best, either: La Naranja answered Olsen’s call for more fight and intensity with a nasty, combative edge, particularly in central midfield, that the Crew couldn’t or wouldn’t match.
“Over the past two seasons, it is how strong we were on the defensive end that put us in the playoffs. That’s what we have to focus on now until we become a more well-oiled machine and relationships continue to build,” said Olsen postgame.
“The offensive part will continue to grow, but when you look after each other, outwork the opponent and defend the box like we did tonight, that stuff goes a long way. We talked about an emotional and physical response coming out of the last two matches, and we got it tonight.”
Conversely, Mohamed Farsi and Patrick Schulte said afterward that they’re not worried about the Crew, but I sure am. Browse the passing and positional maps from this game and you’ll spot the telltale signs of the dreaded ‘horseshoe of sadness,’ when a team plays its way into the final third yet merely camps out around the opposition’s box rather than penetrating it with regularity.
All that possession led to a piddling 0.9 expected goals, a story all too similar to the 3-0 smash-and-grab inflicted on them by LAFC in their midweek Concacaf Champions Cup clash. After Chicago gifted them an array of inviting chances on opening weekend, the Crew’s xG has now failed to reach the 1.0 marker for two matchdays in a row, a sign of just how costly the loss of Cucho Hernández and Christian Ramírez, who totaled 47 goal contributions in league play last season, has been.
Cucho’s departure for Real Betis has exposed not just how productive he was, but also how central he was to the relationships that make NancyBall hum. The Colombian striker’s intelligence in sniffing out time and space, then guiding his colleagues into the combination play to exploit it, is elite. And it’s unfair to expect his nominal successor Jacen Russell-Rowe, or any other individual on the current roster, to replace it – including Diego Rossi, whose outward displays of frustration hint at the burden of responsibility he’s feeling.
“Last year, we were worse, the way we started. I don't know if you remember, it was worse,” said Nancy in a glass-half-full postgame defense of his team’s drift. “Last year at the same time, we were talking about Cucho and Diego, that they were not scoring, and we scored more goals. It will come.”
The thing about that is, at this time last year the Crew were cutting through LIGA MX giants on their march to the CCC final, and right now they need to reel off at least three goals against a stingy LAFC side on Tuesday to have any chance of making a similar run. Maybe they’ll complete their rumored pursuit of Argentine striker Flaco López in the coming days, and the Cucho-sized hole will begin to shrink. But in the meantime, the ceiling on their season will have dropped.
In keeping with the glorious tradition of #MLSAfterDark, Saturday’s nightcap served up a tactical battle for true sickos, between Eric Ramsay, the league’s youngest coach (by seven years), and its oldest (by 11 years), Bruce Arena. Minnesota’s project is further along than San Jose’s, and you could tell here. Ramsay’s Loons have conducted some clinics on how to control a match without the ball, and so it was again here as he got the best of a living legend more than twice his age.
The visitors won both the scoreboard (1-0, and it should’ve been more comfortable than that) and the expected goals tally (1.9-1.5 via the official Sportec numbers, which flatter the Quakes a bit) despite a mere 33% of ball possession and trailing in most other statistical categories, thanks to their superb defensive organization and manipulation of space. Shouts out to Blake of EverythingMNUFC for a couple of illuminating video clips that tell the story.
That the Quakes attempted 598 passes on the night, but only 12 of them into the MNUFC penalty box – just two more than the ultra-efficient Loons – says a great deal about who held the high ground, despite the diligent defending required.
What made all that possible, though, was an early brain fart from Bruno Wilson, compounded by he and his teammates’ slow reaction to the mushrooming danger as the ball bounced in their box after the San Jose center back shanked a clearance straight up into the cool California air under little pressure. Seconds later, Wilson’s opposite number Michael Boxall squared to a wide-open Kelvin Yeboah for a seeing-eye side volley that proved the game-winner.
I’d guess Arena spends some time, and probably drops a bon mot or two, on this sequence in the film room. Because as fun as Chicho Arango, Cristian Espinoza and the rest of the Quakes’ creators are in their 3-5-2 shape, it’s just not going to work as well if they have to play from behind like this very often.
Loons superfan Alex Schieferdecker called this a “Platonic ideal of a road win” on Bluesky, and he’s not wrong. The ageless Boxall was my man of the match with a mere 29 touches of the ball – an assist (he deserved a second, too, after teeing up his defensive colleague Morris Duggan for a great look that Daniel saved well in the 62nd minute), 11/16 passes completed, nine clearances, two interceptions, 2/2 duels won and zero fouls committed. They won’t always want that to be the case, but on Matchday 3, it works.
“We suffered more than we needed to,” Ramsay said, to his credit, postgame. “I just said to the players that there, it's almost like we enjoy the suffering, we enjoy defending the box, because I think we could have made the game far easier for ourselves.”
Minnesota will likely need to be more proactive on their home turf at Allianz Field, and I can understand why Loons faithful might not be thrilled to watch this every time out. But it’s a great card to play on the road, despite it not exactly entertaining neutrals like me.
A big W also got overshadowed in Vancouver, where the Whitecaps beat CF Montréal 2-0 to start their league slate 3W-0L-0D for the first time in their MLS existence. But a hush fell over BC Place after star creator Ryan Gauld picked up a knee injury in the first half and had to be helped off the field, raising fears of a lengthy spell on the sidelines for VWFC’s most irreplaceable player.
We’re awaiting an official diagnosis, and a committed optimist could pick up morsels of hope in the postgame remarks, I suppose. ‘Caps head coach Jesper Sørensen said Gauld “was more positive after the game than he was in the [halftime] break,” while defender Tristan Blackmon told Canadian Soccer Daily the Scot was in “good spirits; he was happy to greet everybody after the game, after the big win.”
Nonetheless, even if the news is good, I’ll be shocked if Gauld suits up for Vancouver’s Champions Cup second-leg visit to CF Monterrey on Wednesday. And that’s a shame, because the ‘Caps were brave and resilient to battle back for a 1-1 draw in the first leg and could argue they were the better side despite their LIGA MX adversary's wealth of talent and pedigree.
Arriving with zero firsthand experience of the North American landscape, faced with a growing list of costly injuries, Sørensen has done good work to fashion this squad into a dogged, tough-to-beat collective with a touch of class, as was evident in the defeat of CFMTL. It’s not just Gauld; Sam Adekugbe, Jayden Nelson and Emmanuel Sabbi have also been out, but the likes of J.C. Ngando, Édier Ocampo and now rookie Tate Johnson have stepped into the breach to keep them competitive with games coming thick and fast thanks to CCC.
“The good thing for me is that I didn’t know the players, so I didn’t know that we didn’t have a bench,” Sørensen said with a touch of Nordic humor postgame, though he also acknowledged the cold reality that “we have to really use all our resources now.”
With sky-high stakes and intensity before preseason has even concluded, continental competition so often poses an absolutely brutal start to the season for its MLS participants. But the Whitecaps deserve respect for the way they’ve faced up to the challenge.
Precious few of us expected to see Vancouver atop the Western Conference standings, even with just three weeks gone. And who would’ve predicted that their East counterpart would be the Philadelphia Union? They too are a spotless 3W-0L-0D, with the league’s best goal differential (+7) after Saturday’s 2-0 road win in New England and the runaway early Golden Boot leader in Tai Baribo, already on six goals from just seven shots on target, tying a very old MLS record held by Ante Razov.
Poacher, predator, fox in the box: The Israeli might get his own shorthand term at this rate. He’s been incredibly clever and efficient with his positioning and instincts around goal as Bradley Carnell dials up Philly’s high-press meter to 11:
It’s probably not sustainable, but it’s still impressive, and Union opponents will need to do some extra game-planning to deal with his movement. Up next for Philly are Nashville SC, who’ll need to raise their game for a Sunday visit to Subaru Park.
Speaking of the Coyotes, and MLS records much older than Cavan Sullivan… NSC bagged their first win of the season by defeating the woebegone Portland Timbers 2-0 at GEODIS Park, and yet the story of the day in Music City was the away goalkeeper, James Pantemis, who might not be a backup much longer.
Something tells us Nashville will spend some time on spot kicks this week! That’s a much easier conversation to have after a victory, of course, and head coach B.J. Callaghan can finally savor some green shoots of renewal in the attacking end thanks to increasingly vibrant work in NSC’s buildup play, which provided a sturdy foundation for the verve of Andy Najar and Ahmed Qasem to show itself.
Witness the interchange, dynamism and coordinated movement in play on Najar’s crucial opener – a welcome evolution from last year’s stale soccer:
D.C. United, Chicago Fire and New York City FC also collected their opening wins of the campaign, all three rallying from early deficits or second-half equalizers to secure that most vital of three-pointers: the first ones.
D.C. showed resolve to surge past Sporting KC 2-1 at Audi Field, winter signing João Peglow drawing a penalty kick and assisting on the winner in his debut. The Black-and-Red continue to be xG superstars under Troy Lesesne, creating good chances with regularity. Yet their fragility in defensive transition kneecaps them again and again, which is puzzling given that those are exactly the sorts of moments their pressing scheme seeks to inflict on the opposition.
The Fire survived a wild one in cold, rainy Frisco, Texas, where they trailed 1-0 to FC Dallas with half an hour to go but emerged 3-1 winners thanks to some late-breaking magic from Hugo Cuypers, who assisted on CF97’s equalizer, was prominently involved in the buildup to the winner and drew, then converted a penalty kick to seal the deal, notwithstanding an even later penalty kick at the other end that Chris Brady saved impressively.
Chicago’s club-record transfer acquisition, Cuypers was the subject of keen scrutiny during last season’s woes, so if this night was a glimpse of his true potential in red, it points to another example of Gregg Berhalter being a striker whisperer. The new coach emphasized the collective in his postgame remarks to MLS Season Pass.
“It shows the determination of the team to keep fighting, get back in the game and eventually overturn it,” said Berhalter. “We're down on numbers, and the guys keep working and keep doing their thing.”
NYCFC, for their part, were good value for their 2-1 win over Orlando City, even if Lions goalkeeper Pedro Gallese helped them out by adding to his recent string of forgettable performances and fullback Kevin O'Toole’s ill-advised second yellow card made for an interesting finish.
The Pigeons got a timely boost from 17-year-old homegrown Jonathan Shore, who impressed in the heart of midfield in his first career MLS start and provided a pleasing narrative as the club commemorated its 10th anniversary.
Sunday’s twin slate was the place to get your week’s dose of drama. First, Inter Miami remained stubbornly sloppy, self-destructive and… still undefeated, somehow, even as the load-managed Lionel Messi remained on the sidelines, taking a 1-0 win over Charlotte FC despite eating a first-half red card for the second time this season.
This time it was veteran goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, 38, who’d generally been a safe pair of hands with Drake Callender out injured – until he wandered way out of his box to confront Wilfried Zaha and got a deserved early shower after clipping CLT’s star winger. Never mind, though: Luis Suárez and Tadeo Allende hoodwinked the entire Charlotte defense with a two-man game in the opening moments of the second half, and it turned out to be all the Herons needed.
Will anyone ever solve how to punish Miami for all these self-inflicted wounds? Or is there just so much quality on their roster that someone will always conjure up a moment of class? Guess we’ll just have to tune in to the next episode of MLS’s top telenovela to find out.
The LA Galaxy’s woes deepened as the weekend wrapped under the SoCal sun at Dignity Health Sports Park, St. Louis CITY SC scoring their first goals and bagging their first win of the season at the champs’ expense, a 3-0 drubbing. LA are now 0W-4L-0D across league and CCC play with just one goal scored.
While context matters here, as we discussed during the leadup to this Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental affair – the Gs are perilously shorthanded as they seek to craft a new identity following so many offseason departures – the vibes are obviously, tangibly bad in Carson, even with another trophy still fresh in the display case.
“Results are about goals. But the ease with which we give up goals can be demoralizing,” head coach Greg Vanney said postgame. Which reminded me of a concept the Armchair Analyst himself alluded to in his annual ‘tiers of MLS’ piece a couple weeks back: the ‘failure cascade,’ a phenomenon in which one or two breakdowns in a complex, interwoven system triggers further, snowballing problems further down the line.
Matt used the term about Columbus and Montréal, and now I think we have to apply it to the Galaxy, who find themselves waist-deep in floodwater with too many holes to plug and not enough fingers. Given that the recent release of leaguewide reserves of General Allocation Monday confirmed LA have no 2025 GAM left to spend, it looks like the solutions will have to come from within.
For now, they're the first defending champs to lose three straight games to start a title defense:
The New York Red Bulls continued one of the more confounding patterns in modern MLS history by taking a road point home from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Saturday’s scoreless draw runs Atlanta United's all-time record against RBNY to 3W-10L-6D, reflective of the difficulties the taurine press has inflicted on several generations of Five Stripes projects over the past decade.
It’s also an extension of the defensive expertise Sandro Schwarz flashed in last year’s upstart Audi MLS Cup Playoffs run, as the German adjusted his team’s outlook to stem the tide of ATL’s early dominance, where Alexey Miranchuk and fullback Matt Edwards (!) tested the RBNY rearguard with a barrage of probing deliveries into the penalty box. And it’s a reality check for the Five Stripes, whose high-octane attack wasn’t quite the same after Emmanuel Latte Lath took a knock in the dying moments of the first half.
San Diego FC might just be for real. The Chrome-and-Azul now sit fourth in the Supporters’ Shield race after a gutsy come-from-behind win at Real Salt Lake, traditionally one of the tougher away days in the league, keyed by two injury-time goals.
For now at least, it’s no Chucky Lozano, no problem, thanks to a man-of-the-match outing from his fellow DP Anders Dreyer, who fired home the winner – his third goal of the season – as the expansionists showed they can ride the chaos in addition to the carefully controlled possession game they’ve already displayed. His fellow Dane Marcus Ingvartsen was also incisive, adeptly finishing a slick late transition sequence:
