MLS round-up, April 27
With Galaxy losing, Real Salt Lake had a chance to usurp them at the top of the Western Conference, albeit by goal difference, if they managed to earn a win away at Philadelphia Union and Vancouver Whitecaps failed to win. Union were the only team with an unbeaten record and are usually impregnable at home, and Quinn Sullivan and Julian Carranza both had a pair of chances to put the home side in front before Cristian Arango found Andres Gomez, who fired Real into a surprise lead in the 34th minute. Alejandro Bedoya and Sullivan both missed the target either side of the half-time break but Daniel Gazdag was more clinical when he equalised from close range on fifty minutes. The game calmed down after that, with each side looking for an opportunity to unlock the opposition backline, and it was Real who took the lead again, Alexandros Katranis firing home a stunning goal from outside the area with just a minute of normal time remaining. Despite eight minutes of time added on, Union were unable to find a second leveller, ending their unbeaten run. That win put Real top of the Western Conference after Vancouver Whitecaps and New York Red Bulls drew 1-1 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Whitecaps 'keeper Yohei Takaoka made saves from Lewis Morgan and Emil Forsberg early on, meaning Brian White's fifteenth minute back-post tap-in gave Vancouver the lead, a position they held through the half-time break despite chances for Morgan, Forsberg, and Wikelman Carmona. Indeed, the visitors could have added to their opener, with White, Sebastian Berhalter, and Mathias Laborda going close, something that proved costly when Morgan finally found the net for Red Bulls with a diving header in the 56th minute. The home side pressed for a winner but their chances were dealt a blow when Noah Elle committed a stupid but probably necessary handball with a quarter of an hour to go. Although there were chances after that, both sides were probably content with a draw.
Red Bulls loss gave Inter Miami the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference, something they did comfortably with a 4-1 win away at basement dwellers New England Revolution. A club-record 65,612 came out to Gillette Stadium, the majority of them to see Lionel Messi, but it was the Revs who took the lead in the first minute through another Argentinian, Tomas Chancalay. The Revs then managed to keep Messi quiet until the half-hour mark but it was only a matter of time before he worked his magic, running onto a Robert Taylor through-ball to level the scores on 32 minutes. Taylor and Julian Gressel both missed the target before the break and there was no doubt that New England were happy to hear the half-time whistle. Whether Revs had upped their game, or Miami were misfiring, the scores stayed level past the hour mark, when Tata Martino introduced substitute Luis Suarez into the action, his arrival marked by Messi's second, put through by Sergio Busquets for a lovely goal. New England went in search of an equaliser, going close through Ian Harkes and Mark Anthony-Kaye, but substitute Benjamin Cremaschi pounced on a rebound after Heinrich Ravas saved from Messi to score Miami's third with seven minutes left on the clock. There was still time for Suarez to add a fourth, taking the Herons three points clear at the top of the Eastern Conference and condemning the Revs to their seventh defeat in nine games. Columbus Crew prepared for their decisive CONCACAF Champions Cup tie at CF Monterey on Tuesday night by leaving star player Cucho Hernandez on the bench for the visit of CF Montreal to Lower.com Field on Saturday. A cagey first half saw just one effort on target, from the visitors' Ariel Lassiter, but the home side were much more positive after the break, forcing Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois into making saves from Jacen Russel-Rowe, Aidan Morris, and Max Arfsten before Cucho was introduced on 67 minutes. Even that couldn't break the deadlock, despite late efforts by Morris, Arfsten, and Diego Rossi, and a 0-0 draw was the final result, something Crew would be very happy with in Nuevo Leon.
FC Cincinnati were the latest side to have to contend with the unpredictable Colorado Rapids when they hosted the Denver side at TQL Stadium on Saturday. Garys star Lucho Acosta was in search of his 44th goal for the club, which would make him their all-time top goalscorer, but the Rapids defence managed to keep him relatively quiet early on, although there were chances for Corey Baird and Yuya Kubo to open the scoring for the home team. Of course, it was Acosta who put Cincy 1-0 up in the 42nd minute, though, found by a Baird pass on the left side of the area and firing across Rapids 'keeper Zack Steffen. After the break, Rafael Navarro had a couple of good chances to level the scores but it was Baird who got the second goal, putting Cincinnati 2-0 up in the 64th minute with a neat finish. It might have been three when Kubo found the net four minutes later but VAR ruled he had handballed in the build-up to the goal and struck it off. That gave Rapids hope that the game wasn't beyond them and Moses Bombito headed home following a corner, eighteen minutes left on the clock for an unlikely equaliser. In the end, it didn't come and the game petered out for a 2-1 home win, putting the Garys into second place in the East. That was also the score at Yankee Stadium, where New York City FC beat a game Charlotte FC to finish April unbeaten in four games at home. The visitors started brightly as Kerwin Vargas brought a save out of Pigeons goalkeeper Matt Freese in the first minute and then opened the scoring two minutes later with a shot into the top left corner of the goal. Liel Abada and Nikola Petkovic also had efforts saved by Freese in the first-half, with the home side going close themselves through Santi Rodriguez and Julian Fernandez before Keaton Parks headed in a Fernandez free-kick to level the scores four minutes before the break. Chances were at a premium in the second-half, with Enzo Copetti's header comfortably saved by Freese and Syrian striker Mounsef Bakrar hitting the post for City, and substitute Patrick Agyemang had two good chances to win the game for the visitors. In the end, it was NYCFC who got that winner, courtesy of Alonso Martinez's 93rd minute shot, putting Nick Cushing's side into sixth place in the East.
Orlando City have been playing well below their capabilities this season, an impressive squad underachieving with just two wins from eight games before Saturday's visit of Toronto FC to Florida. The game wasn't exactly a classic early on, with just a single shot on target before Duncan McGuire fired home to give the Lions the lead in the 37th minute, and with just Federico Bernardeschi's effort for the Reds going narrowly wide between that and the half-time whistle. The home side dominated play for much of the second half, although Bernardeschi was always looking for an opening and the Reds grew stronger the more time ran down. With three minutes to go, it looked like Orlando had done enough for a valuable home win, only for Tyrese Spicer to head a leveller from Kobe Franklin's cross. Worse still, Prince Owusu got on the end of a Bernardeschi cross to score his fourth in three games and give Toronto the win in the ninetieth minute and leave Orlando coach Oscar Pareja in need of quick answers. Still, it could be worse for Orlando - they could be Seattle Sounders, who once again fell apart, this time at DC United. Sounders started quite brightly, taking the lead in the fourteenth minute when Leo Chu headed in Jordan Morris's cross, and goalkeeper Stefan Frei made a good save from Jacob Murrell's effort eleven minutes later to keep that lead. That's where it all went wrong, though, with Frei red-carded for bringing down Jared Stroud in the box, Christian Benteke blasting past substitute goalkeeper Andrew Thomas for his seventh of the season. Sounders went to pieces last week against Vancouver Whitecaps when they were reduced to ten and so it proved again as Benteke scored again on the stroke of half-time, heading in Aaron Herrera's cross to give United the lead. Sounders were better in the second-half and Alex Bono was twice forced into saves from Raul Rui Diaz and Cristian Roldan, but DC saw the game out for a 2-1 win, their third of the season and all at Audi Field.
Houston Dynamo went into their Copa Tejas clash at FC Dallas on Saturday sitting comfortably in sixth place in the Western Conference and eight points ahead of their state rivals. Hector Herrera still wasn't considered fit enough to start for the visitors but did make the bench and it's clear that they lacked his creative flair, failing to land a shot on target all game. To be fair, they did have Griffin Dorsey sent off in the fifth minute when his legs got tangled with Marco Farfan's as the Dallas forward raced through on goal, spending the rest of the game on the backfoot as the home side sought to make their numerical advantage count. Still, it took until the 43rd minute for Dallas to hit the target themselves, Dynamo 'keeper Steve Clark saving well from Petar Musa. It was Musa who finally opened the scoring for Dallas in the 55th minute, firing home from a pass from Ema Twumasi, and the home side laid siege to the Houston goal afterwards, going close through Musa, Asier Illarramendi, Sam Junqua, and Paul Arriola, before Junqua found Sebastien Ibeagha unmarked in the box with a cross in the 80th minute, the substitute heading home to put the game to bed at 2-0. Despite a slight dip in form in late March and early April, Minnesota United came roaring back last week with a 3-0 win in Charlotte, while Sporting Kansas City let a lead slip in stoppage time to draw 3-3 with St Louis City in the Missouri derby. That difference in confidence might have played a part when United took the lead after just two minutes when centre-back Michael Boxall scored from Robin Lod's corner, but Sporting came back strong as William Agada fired over and Daniel Salloi brought a save out of home 'keeper Dane St Clair. United doubled their advantage in the 25th minute when Tani Oluwaseyi scored his third in four games, a midfield battle ensuing that saw no further chances in the next twelve minutes until Alan Pulido pulled one back for the visitors with a shot into the bottom corner of the Minnesota goal. The second-half was a much quieter affair, with just three shots on target and no further goals, leaving Kansas City with just two wins in ten games so far this season.
That's at least one win more than both Nashville SC and San Jose Earthquakes, who met at GEODIS Park on Saturday both needing a result. At least the Coyotes had drawn four of their eight matches before the clash; Quakes just had a solitary win over fellow crisis club Seattle Sounders to show for their efforts from nine starts so far. It was the visitors who started brightest, going close to scoring through Niko Tsakiris and Benjamin Kikanovic, while Nashville talisman Hany Mukhtar twice went close to scoring his 100th career goal before achieving that milestone with an incredible distance strike into the top corner in the 19th minute. The home side took control of the game from that point, with good chances for Brent Kalman, Alex Muyi, and Sam Surridge all spurned, San Jose happy to make it to half-time just 1-0 behind. Surridge could have extended Nashville's lead on 62 minutes, his header saved by William Yarborough in the Quakes' goal, but the next goal came from the visitors, Jack Skahan - born in nearby Memphis - finishing a quick move to fire home an equaliser. Skahan, Preston Judd, Amahl Pellegrino, and Jackson Yueill all could have given the visitors the lead but the best chances fell to the home side in stoppage time, when both Muyi and Alex Bunbury went close. It finished 1-1, a good result for the desperate visitors but a fifth draw in ten games for Nashville. Despite looking good at the start of the season, it's not been a banner year so far for Chicago Fire, coming off the back of a 4-0 home defeat to Real Salt Lake to entertain Atlanta United at Soldier Field. At least they could say they kept a clean sheet this week, on the back of five Chris Brady saves, but offered little going forward, not even registering a shot on target. United were lively, testing Brady throughout and with top scorer Giorgios Giakoumakis back in the starting line-up after three weeks out, but they just couldn't find a way past the Fire 'keeper, ably assisted by his defence, who blocked a further five efforts.
The weekend's final game came from BMO Stadium in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, as Los Angeles FC hosted Phil Neville's Portland Timbers side. Timbers have been up and down all season but never truly know when they are beaten, making the home side's 2-0 lead at half-time - courtesy of a Kamal Miller own goal and a Timothy Tillman shot from outside the box - look shaky. It might have been worse, with VAR ruling out a Denis Bouanga goal for an earlier handball by Tillman, and Timbers lived up to their recent reputation when Jonathan Rodriguez shot home following a corner to reduce the arrears in the 65th minute. Eight minutes later, and just after Maxime Chamot had gone close for LAFC, the visitors drew level when Santiago Moreno fired in from distance, the Black and Gold in disarray. They may have even gone on to win the game if Diego Chara hadn't been sent off for his second bookable offense in the 76th minute, forcing them on the defensive for the last fifteen minutes, and it looked like they'd earned a draw when Bouanga scored a cracker two minutes into stoppage time to give LA the win, his sixth of a season that has seen his side be in so-so form so far.
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