US weekend round-up, March 9 & 10

John Herdman and Phil Neville both continued their unbeaten runs at their new clubs on Saturday, with Herdman taking charge of Toronto FC at BMO Field for the first time after a draw and a win on the road. Once again, Lorenzo Insgine scored a wonder goal to give the Reds the win over Charlotte FC with just 10 minutes left to play, and the Canadians look like a completely different side this year. As do Portland Timbers, who followed a win and a drew at home with an away win over New York City at Yankee Stadium. Santi Rodriguez had put the Pigeons ahead after 10 minutes and it looked for all the world that Nick Cushing’s side would eke out their first win of the season after 2 straight defeats. Timbers had other ideas, however, and Anthony grabbed his third of the season to level things with 5 minutes to go, before Evander – making his first start of the season – scored a pearler 7 minutes into stoppage time to give Neville’s side the points.

Atlanta United played their home opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday and 70,000 turned out to see them sweep aside New England Revolution. The Revs have got off to a torrid start under Caleb Porter and were completely outclassed by a 5 Stripes side for whom Thiago Almada was pulling the strings. Almada scored Atlanta’s first, a penalty, in first-half stoppage time, before Giogios Giakoumakis notched a 19-minute hattrick, including a penalty, to put United 4-0 up. Carles Gil’s late strike, as impressive as it was, was nothing more than a consolation for the Revs, who sit bottom of the table with New York. Reigning champions Columbus Crew welcomed Chicago Fire to Lower.com Field and an even game saw the sides level at the half. Jacob Russel-Rowe fired Crew ahead on 68 minutes, only for Fabian Herbers to level 4 minutes later. It looked like the points would be shared but Mohammed Farsi popped up in the 100^th minute to give Crew a deserved win on the night.

Philadelphia Union’s home game with Seattle Sounders was washed out by torrential rain, with play abandoned after just 6 minutes due to an unplayable surface. 90 miles north in Harrison, New Jersey, NY Red Bulls continued their positive start to the season with a 2-1 win over FC Dallas, who had no answer to the midfield machinations of Emil Forsberg. A Forsberg penalty on the half-hour was followed by a Lewis Morgan finish to put Red Bulls 2-0 up but Jesus Ferreira’s strike just before the hour made things very interesting for the rest of the game. Red Bulls are now one of 5 sides sitting top the Eastern Conference with 7 points. Orlando City had a quick chance to put last week’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Inter Miami behind them when they hosted Minnesota United at Inter&Co Stadium. Duncan McGuire gave them the best possible start with a breakaway goal after just 15 seconds, but Teemu Pukki hit back 4 minutes later to bring United level. Pukki added a second for the Loons to give them a half-time lead, but McGuire was on target once more to tie the game with 7 minutes to go. Late drama seems to be thing in MLS this season and it was no different here; Bongokuhle Hlongwane scored his first of the season 5 minutes into stoppage time to cap a dreadful eight days in MLS for the Lions and leave United joint top in the West with Portland on 7 points.

Sebastian Driussi was on the Austin FC bench for the first time this season and it looked as though the Verde and Black didn’t need him at first, going ahead Matt Hedges against St Louis City to take a lead going into the break. St Louis are dogged, however, and hit back with an Eduard Lowen penalty 4 minutes into the second half to draw level, only for Julio Cascante to restore Austin’s lead on 51 minutes. It looked like Austin might just have earned their first win of the season but – late drama again! – Celio Pompeu scored an equaliser 3 minutes into stoppage time to bring the game to a 2-2 conclusion. Real Salt Lake must have wished it had been snowing in Sandy, Utah, again as they took on a moribund Colorado Rapids and lost. The Claret and Cobalt took the lead midway through the first half with an Emeka Eneli strike but Rapids hit back just before the break with a Rafael Navarro penalty. In the second half, some good goalkeeping from Zach Steffen kept the visitors in it, allowing Cole Bassett to score a win with 20 minutes to go and give Rocky Mountain bragging rights to Chris Armas’s men. LAFC were looking to bounce back from the blizzard defeat in Utah last week and were buoyed by the news that star player Denis Bouanga signed a new 4-year deal in the week. Despite chances at both ends, the game between the Black and Gold and visitors Sporting Kansas City finished goalless.

The home side also drew a blank at PayPal Park when San Jose Earthquakes hosted Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night. Goals from Alessandro Schopf and Ali Ahmed gave the visitors a 2-0 win to leave Earthquakes rooted to the bottom of the Western Conference, pointless after 3 games. On Sunday, FC Cincinnati and DC United played out an engaging 0-0 draw at TQL Stadium, but there were fireworks 4 hours south in Tennessee, where Nashville SC welcomed LA Galaxy to Geodis Park. Between CONCACAF Champions Cup matches with Inter Miami, the Coyotes opted to rest both Hani Mukhtar and Jacob Shaffelburg and looked to be doing just fine without them when a Teal Bunbury penalty and a Dru Yearwood strike gave them a 2-0 lead before the hour mark, with Galaxy’s Dejan Joveljic having had a penalty saved by back-up ‘keeper Elliott Panicco in the first half. Galaxy are a different prospect this season, though, and clawed their way back into the game with a Riqui Puig goal on 67 minutes before Joveljic made amends for his earlier error by scoring the equaliser 8 minutes from time as it finished 2-2.

The weekend’s final game came from Fort Lauderdale as Inter Miami – resting the ageing legs of Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, and Luis Suarez – entertained CF Montreal. The visitors took a surprise but not undeserved lead after 13 minutes when Fernando Alvarez scored, and it took 58 minutes for Miami to reply through Leonardo Campana. The parity lasted just 4 minutes, however, as Matias Coccaro restored the Canadiens’ lead, which was a cue for Tata Martino to send Suarez on, but Montreal increased their lead with 12 minutes to go through Sunusi Ibrahim. Jordi Alba did pull one back (and had a first half strike chalked off for offside) but the Messi-less Herons suffered their first defeat of the season.

The 2024 campaign got underway with a pair of early kick-offs on Saturday, as New Mexico United beat Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1-0, and Memphis 901 overcame the rebuilt Las Vegas Lights 2-1 in Tennessee. Scottish striker Greg Hurst was on the mark for New Mexico in front of 11,000 fans at Isotopes Park, with the Riverhounds clearly missing the attacking options provided by the departed Albert Dikwa and Tola Showunmi, while Dennis Sanchez’s time in charge of the Lights got off to a great start when Valentin Noel put last year’s basement boys ahead. However, Sam Carreaga and Nighte Pickering grabbed 2 quick goals to give Memphis the lead at half-time, which is how it stayed. The Miami FC have also undergone something of a revolution, staff and players-wise, and it seems to be paying dividends so far, with Andrew Booth and a Manuel Botta penalty giving them a 2-0 win over a lacklustre Colorado Springs Switchbacks at FIU Stadium. No crowd was reported but attendance looked sparse again and it will be good when Miami get to play at the smaller soccer stadium next door.

North Carolina started life back in the second tier with a visit from last year’s runners-up Charleston Battery and won’t be unhappy with a 0-0 draw that showed the move up isn’t beyond them. Over in Texas, San Antonio welcomed the young turks of Loudoun United to Toyota Field with a crowd of over 7,000 in attendance to see Lucas Silva give them the lead after 14 minutes. The ever-lively Zach Ryan levelled for Loudoun 4 minutes later, but the visitors were dealt a blow midway through the half when Christiano Francois was given a red card for a headbutt on Mitchell Taintor. Juan Agudelo restored the Texans’ lead 3 minutes into the second half, but Loudoun showed character and found an equaliser 4 minutes into stoppage time through Florian Valot. Across state, El Paso Locomotive started their 2024 season with the visit of Hartford Athletic, another of this year’s crop to have undergone serious surgery in the off-season. Brendan Burke has brought in a slew of players to turn the Connecticut club’s fortunes around and they got off to a great start with a 1-0-win, courtesy of a Romario Williams penalty.

Reigning champions Phoenix Rising had what looked to be a straightforward home opener against Birmingham Legion, with a crowd of over 8,000 welcoming new head coach Danny Stone. However, it was the visitors who came away with the points after a strong performance from Matt van Oekel in the Legion goal kept them at bay and a John Scearce own goal midway through the second half gave Birmingham a 1-0 win. Oakland Roots began their fourth USL Championship campaign with a home opener against Indy Eleven and were 2-1 winners, with Jeciel Cedeno putting them a goal up after just 3 minutes in Hayward. Jack Blake equalised for the visitors just before half-time, but a Bryan Tamacas strike 5 minutes into the second half gave Roots the points. There was all kinds of drama in Sacramento as last year’s top 2 in the Western Conference clashed at Heart Health Park in front of the week’s biggest attendance of 11, 569. New signing Trevor Amman was making his Sacramento Republic debut and grabbed 2 goals in superb style either side of Seth Casiple’s strike for Orange County, and it looked very much like the 2-1 scoreline would give Republic the points. In the 96^th minute, however, an OC corner was met by the head of goalkeeper Colin Shutler – up to try and grab a last-ditch leveller – and flew into the net to cap a fantastic display of second tier soccer.

Entering a new era under head coach Rick Wright, with John Harkes stepping away, Greenville Triumph welcomed expansion side Spokane Velocity to their horrid gridiron-marked pitch at Paladin Stadium, one of 3 USL League One games on Saturday. The visitors scored first when Josh Dolling converted a 13^th minute penalty, only for Zion Scarlett to head Triumph level 5 minutes later. That’s how it stayed at the break, and it was the home side who took the lead a few minutes into the second half with Evan Lee puncing on a rebound. Velocity continued to attack but Triumph settled things with a cheeky Leo Castro backheel for a 3-1 win. Also on the football markings down in Georgetown, Kentucky, Lexington SC and Northern Colorado Hailstorm drew 0-0. In the evening’s final game.

South Georgia Tormenta hosted last year’s bottom side Central Valley Fuego in Stateboro and found themselves behind early on courtesy of a Ernesto Espinoza penalty. Fuego brought in new head coach Jermaine Jones in the winter, and he has completely reshaped their side to the extent that Ashkanov Apollon’s second on 21 minutes wasn’t too much of a shock. Still, Tormenta were champions in 2022 and are made of stern stuff, firing themselves back into the game through Gabriel Rodriguez 7 minutes from time, but were ultimately unable to spoil Jones’s night, the Fuegos deserved 2-1 winners.