It was another entertaining weekend in Major League Soccer ahead of the holiday – every team save Charlotte was in action, and along with an exciting top of the table clash in Cincinnati we had plenty of excitement up and down the league.
Columbus Crew 2-1 New York Red Bulls
Goals from Cucho Hernandez and Yaw Yeboah were enough for the hosts to notch a win that sees them move into fourth place at the expense of Philadelphia. Despite an impressive win over Atlanta, New York struggled again in front of goal – only Colorado have scored fewer goals this season.
Inter Miami CF 1-1 Austin FC
Josef Martínez and Nick Lima scored within four minutes of each other early in the second half as the two teams shared the spoils in Miami. Miami snapped a seven-match losing run, while Austin edged ahead of Vancouver and into eighth place in the Western Conference.
Orlando City 3-1 Chicago Fire FC
Facundo Torres scored a brace as the hosts kept the Fire at arm’s length. Chris Brady made six saves for Chicago, the teenager continuing to impress but unable to help his side get a result on the road.
FC Cincinnati 2-2 New England Revolution
The Revs turned in a gritty performance to end the hosts’ perfect start at home. Gustavo Bou scored and hit the woodwork for New England, while Dominique Badji found the net three times, but unfortunately one of these was an own goal.
Toronto FC 0-1 Real Salt Lake
Anderson Julio scored the game’s only goal in the first minute of stoppage time, having come off the bench with fifteen minutes to play. Toronto suffered their third straight loss and slipped to second-bottom in the Eastern Conference.
Sporting Kansas City 3-0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Alan Pulido continued his torrid form, scoring for the seventh time in six matches as Sporting moved to within a point of the playoff places. Erik Thommy added a goal off the bench, his third of the year.
FC Dallas 2-0 Los Angeles Football Club
Youngster Bernard Kamungo, in for Jesús Ferreira, struck just after the break to help power Dallas to an impressive win. With Carlos Vela and Kwadwo Opoku only on the bench, the loss sees LAFC slip to second place behind St. Louis.
Minnesota United FC 4-1 Portland Timbers
Emanuel Reynoso delivered another strong performance as the Argentine continued his comeback from injury with a brace. Bongo Kuhle Hlongwane added a goal and an assist for the hosts, who moved ahead of Portland with the win.
Nashville SC 2-0 D.C. United
Randall Leal netted a first-half brace for the hosts, who had some jangling nerves after Walker Zimmerman was sent off for a second booking. Joe Willis made three saves, though, and Nashville’s league best defense held firm.
St. Louis CITY SC 2-0 Colorado Rapids
The expansion side struck twice in the match’s first eleven minutes, getting goals from Tim Parker and Jared Stroud. Hapless Colorado remain bottom of the Western Conference, and are now nine matches without a win.
CF Montréal 0-1 New York City FC
Jonathan Sirois impressed in the Montréal goal with six saves, but was unable to keep out Matías Pellegrini’s first-half strike as the visitors notched their first away win of the season.
San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 LA Galaxy
Cristian Espinoza scored a late equalizer for the hosts as a pair of assists from in-form Douglas Costa wasn’t enough for the Galaxy to get a badly-needed away win. The Brazilian had set up Raheem Edwards and Preston Judd either side of halftime, but the visitors were unable to hold on.
Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 Houston Dynamo FC
Albert Rúsnak scored just his second goal of the season twenty minutes from time to settle the result. Seattle moved joint-second with the win, and Stefan Frei kept his league-leading eleventh clean sheet of the season.
Atlanta United FC 2-0 Philadelphia Union
The hosts shook off a heavy defeat last weekend to impress against Philadelphia in the weekend’s final match. Thiago Almada notched a goal and an assist, and Brad Guzan kept a clean sheet to help Atlanta move into sixth place.
