Good morning, everyone. Jonathan here pinch-hitting for Sam. Let’s soccer.
Matchday 33 is in the books
Atlanta United’s Alexey Miranchuk scored a golazo, and then Real Salt Lake’s Anderson Julio responded in kind. Evander remains elite for the Portland Timbers, and Orlando City are red-hot. All that and more below!
Midweek MLS never disappoints, especially when Audi MLS Cup Playoffs pressure is in the air.
Here’s your quick-hit version of how the 13-game slate went down!
Alexey Miranchuk opened his MLS account with a top-corner golazo, robbing Inter Miami of a sixth-straight win. The Supporters’ Shield still seems like a formality for Lionel Messi & Co., but their pursuit of the single-season points record is a little harder now.
Take nothing away, though: It was an incredible moment for Miranchuk, Atlanta United’s marquee summer signing. With five games left, the Five Stripes are now one point below the playoff line.
Also, shoutout to Leo Campana. He’s now Inter Miami’s all-time leading scorer with 30 goals across all competitions.
The Revs dropped a 2-0 halftime lead and remain bottom of the Eastern Conference, five points below the line with six games remaining. Carles Gil quietly reached double-digit assists for the fourth-straight season, but it might not matter in the end.
Montréal’s playoff hopes remain slim, even after the comeback draw. It was still nice to see youngster Nathan Saliba equalize late. He’s starting to break into Canada’s senior national team picture.
Has anyone thought of turning NYCFC off and back on? They’re now winless in eight games, yet somehow are sixth in the East.
Philadelphia are back above the playoff line! Their final three-game stretch is incredibly difficult, but we’re not counting out Jim Curtin’s team. Not with Tai Baribo on an all-time heater and the Union winning four of their last six matches.
This is just what Cucho and the Crew do. They take care of business.
At eighth in the East, Toronto aren’t out of the playoff race or anything. But that possibility is becoming more realistic with just four games to go. Remember: They’re the only team not playing on Decision Day, so things could get hairy for John Herdman’s group.
Orlando now have eight wins in their last 11 games. Their latest victory leaves them fourth in the Eastern Conference, in pole position to have home-field advantage come Round One of the playoffs. Facundo Torres also has four goals in his last three games.
Meanwhile, Charlotte have just one win in their last nine games (1W-5L-3D). Dean Smith’s squad needs answers quickly. The “their signings just need to gel” period is fading.
Brian White returned from concussion protocol and equalized for Vancouver. Ezequiel Ponce now has goals in three of Houston’s last four games. Neither team altered the West playoff race all that much.
Sporting KC! Braces from Alan Pulido and Erik Thommy made sure of that, though they’re running out of time for it to matter. They’re still eight points below the playoff line with four games left.
After one of their biggest regular-season results of the year, Colorado face-planted. They could have clinched a playoff spot last night. It’s best to move on and focus on the weekend.
With another man-of-the-match performance from Yuya Kubo, Cincy kept a hold of second in the East. Minnesota got another PK goal from Kelvin Yeboah and remain above the playoff line, but now have a losing record (5W-6L-4D) at Allianz Field this year.
Signs of life! With back-to-back wins, Nashville are just one point below the East’s playoff line. The B.J. Callaghan era is taking off.
Chicago are still just four points below the line, but their chances are fading.
The audacity from Anderson Julio to even shoot from there?! His first goal came from nearly 60 yards out, helping move RSL to second in the East. They’ll clinch a playoff spot soon.
Dallas are five points below the playoff line. Barring a miracle, they’re not making the playoffs. That’s even with Alan Velasco back from injury and among the goals.
LAFC have one win in their last seven league games (1W-3L-3D). In between, they lost the Leagues Cup final. Something’s gotta give, right? The Black & Gold are too talented to be slumping like this.
Austin aren’t out of the playoff hunt just yet, but they need to make up four points on Minnesota for ninth place. The odds are slim.
It’s Evander’s world and we’re all living in it. Portland’s No. 10 is now up to 14 goals and 18 assists on the year. MVP, anyone?
Felipe Mora and Jonathan Rodríguez also scored for the Timbers. They’re now the first club in MLS history to have three different players score at least 14 goals during a regular season.
For LA, this was a major letdown after last weekend’s epic El Tráfico comeback. They’re still comfortably first in the West, but are ruing the missed opportunity.
With a brace, Jordan Morris got to 13 goals – a personal-best in his illustrious Sounders career. However, that was overshadowed by Paul Marie’s late equalizer. Seattle can’t drop points to a San Jose side that’s already eliminated from playoff contention.
Good luck out there. Celebrate with friends.
