MLS round-up, May 18

The MLS weekend got off to an early start with a game that could have been a clash of under pressure coaches, had Nashville SC not pulled the trigger on Gary Smith two days before their home clash with Atlanta United. Instead, interim coach Rumba Munthali took charge of the Coyotes and gave Hany Mukhtar a freer role than he's been enjoying of late. United coach Gonzalo Pineda had to contest with the absence through injury of both Thiago Almada and Giogrios Giakoumakis, and saw his side on the back foot in the first-half, leading to the opening goal from the penalty spot by Mukhtar in the fortieth minute, given when he made the most of a diving challenge by Five Stripes 'keeper Brad Guzan. Atlanta were more positive after the break and drew level ten minutes through a super strike by Bartosz Slisz, their only shot on target. For Pineda, the 1-1 draw is a stay of execution but for Munthali it's a good audition for the hot seat. Dean Smith has only been in the job at Charlotte FC since the start of the season but there are already those calling for his head in North Carolina, although the Crown's 0-0 draw with Los Angeles Galaxy has to be considered a good result for his inconsistent side. Galaxy dominated the game but were missing the driving power of Joseph Paintsil.

DC United very nearly took a point from their visit to Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, home of an Inter Miami side for whom Lionel Messi was back after having lie down in the week. Although the home side dominated possession, United were more creative when they had the ball and outshot Inter by almost 2:1. The only statistic that matters, though, is the goal scored by substitute Leonardo Campana in the fourth minute of stoppage time, enough to give the Herons a 1-0 and keep them top of the Eastern Conference. Hot on their heels are FC Cincinnati, who made short work of a spirited St Louis CITY side at TQL Stadium on Saturday, going ahead in the 26th minute when Lucho Acosta converted a penalty given for a foul by Celio Pompeu. The first-half ended with a flurry of chose chances for both sides but the next goal came four minutes after the break with Yuya Kubo finished after a clever pass by Acosta. CITY did pull one back five minutes after that when Matt Miazga misjudged Roman Burki's position and back-headered into an empty net for an own goal. If that was supposed to spark the visitors into action, it failed, and the Garys had the better chances through to the final whistle, one of them leading to Cincinnati's third when substitute Sergio Santos scored from close range. The Garys stay a point behind Miami but do have that game in hand...

The black cloud hovering over New England Revolution got darker on Saturday with a 3-0 home defeat by Philadelphia Union. Yes, it wasn't an unexpected result, even given Union's recent poor form, but the Revs were a shadow of the side they are on paper. Their job wasn't made easy by a piece of absolute idiocy by Ryan Spaulding, who assumed he'd be the first person ever to tussle with an attacker as the last man and not get sent off. He was wrong, of course, and considering Julian Carranza was forty yards from goal and there were still seventy-six minutes to play, Spaulding should hang his head. From that point, Union took their time to take the Revs to pieces, troubling the scorers through Carranza seven minutes from half-time, and two second-half goals from Daniel Gazdag. Caleb Porter's days may be numbered, even given his short tenure and previous championship winning experience. The Hudson River derby between New York City FC and New York Red Bulls may not have reached the fever pitch of some of the world's more heated rivalries, but there was still an edge in the air at Citi Field on Saturday in front of a great crowd of over 30,000. Hannes Wolf put the Pigeons ahead three minutes in when he slotted in from close range, but Cameron Harper drew Red Bulls level in first-half stoppage time to set up an exciting second period. The game was settled just past the hour when Monsef Bakrar came on as a substitute for the home side, scoring what turned out to be the winner just six minutes later. The visitors had Sean Nealis sent-off for two bookable offences in stoppage time at the end of the game but that shouldn't take away from NYCFC's win, one that lifted them above their rivals into third in the East.

It was also local derby time up in Canada, although the 300-plus miles that separate Toronto FC and CF Montreal are as far apart as the languages spoken in those cities. Reds coach John Herdman has had some frustrating days at work this season, his capable side contriving to lose games they should win, but the return of Lorenzo Insigne to the starting line-up galvanised his team, with Insigne's countryman Federico Bernardeschi particularly energised. Before the Canadiens knew it, they were 3-0 down in nineteen minutes, goals from Matty Longstaff, Bernardeschi, and Prince Owusu establishing what already looked to be an unscalable obstacle. Things were scarcely better for the visitors after the break, and Bernardeschi added two in two minutes to complete his hat-trick just before the hour, the Toronto fans very much enjoying their 5-0 lead. True, Montreal did pull one back through Sunusi Ibrahim with 23 minutes to go, but the rest of the game played out with the Reds basking in the glory of a thwacking derby win. Montreal now sit third bottom, two above New England and one above Chicago Fire, who continued their woeful run under Frank Klopas with a 3-1 home defeat to a Cucho Hernandez-less Columbus Crew. Even without their star player, Crew were far too good for a limp Fire outfit, and Diego Rossi put them in front after half an hour, doubled ten minutes into the second-half by a lively Christian Ramirez. Chicago did give themselves a glimmer of hope with five minutes to go when centre-back Carlos Teran scored from a set-piece, but Jacen Russel-Rowe restored the two-goal advantage for the visitors - and won the game - three minutes later.

Austin FC continued their improving spell with another home win on Saturday, coming from behind to beat Sporting Kansas City. The Verde had a goal ruled out for offside by VAR early on and it was Sporting captain Johnny Russell who opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute. Austin were still much the better side and drew level ten minutes later when Jader Obrian finished from a Daniel Pereira. Obrian scored his second six minutes from half-time, Pereira again with the assist, and Josh Wolff wasn't content to let his side rest on their laurels, bringing on Gyasi Zardes at half-time to replace a quiet Diego Rubio. It took Zardes just one minute to have an impact, driving down the right and crossing for Sebastian Driussi to extend Austin's lead. To their credit, the visitors fought to get back in the game and reduced the arrears to one just past the hour when Jacoby Davis fired in, setting up an exciting final thirty minutes. Eight minutes from time, the home side were awarded a penalty and a chance to put the game to bed but Sporting 'keeper Tim Melia guessed right and saved Driussi's spot-kick, but it was all for nought as Austin saw the game out to win 3-2 and go third in the West. Meanwhile, their Texas rivals were doing battle down at Shell Energy Stadium, where Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas contrived a 1-1 draw that neither side were probably happy with. Hector Herrera was back to his creative best in the Dynamo midfield, but it took until first-half stoppage time for the home side to get their noses in front, Amine Bassi getting his first of the season after good work by Daniel Steres. Houston edged things after the break, too, but were unable to add to their lead, something that proved costly when Petar Musa scored a nice goal in the 69th minute.

Phil Neville's Portland Timbers took the lead away at Minnesota United with just about the only decent effort of a quiet first half, Jonathan Rodriguez's fifth goal of the season in the seventeenth minute enough to give them the advantage through the half-time break. United controlled possession but were often at a loss with what to do with it, but finally made a breakthrough in the 65th minute when Robin Lod got the levelling goal. United thought they'd got a chance to go ahead seven minutes later when the referee awarded a penalty only for VAR to rule it out, but did find a winner eight minutes from time through Jeong Sang-bin, moving them into second in the Western Conference. Top in the West are Real Salt Lake, but only after an eight-goal thriller in which they edged a determined Colorado Rapids. Rapids took the lead in the fifth minute when Cole Bassett saw 'keeper Zac MacMath out of his goal and curled in a shot from distance, and then went 2-0 up in the nineteenth minute through Brazilian striker Ruben Navarro, hitting a purple patch of late. The home side did pull one back four minutes later when - who else? - Chico Arango was on target, and drew level five minutes before the half through Diego Gomez. There were twenty shots on target in total, ten for each team, and it was the away side who went ahead again, this time through a Dorde Mihailovic effort eleven minutes into the second half, and it looked for a long spell like that might be it, another unlikely away win for Chris Armas's side. However, Real are not top for nothing and goals from Arango and Gomez in the 85th and 88th minutes gave them the lead for the first time on the night, before substitute Anderson Julio put the result beyond doubt in the fifth minute of stoppage time for a famous Rocky Mountain Cup win.

The day's final games came from the West Coast, where San Jose Earthquakes' woes continued at PayPal Park, losing in the 89th minute to a Jack Lynn goal for Orlando City, and with just 14,000 in to see it. A draw would have been a fair result but Quakes aren't getting much in the way of luck this season and so they go into Tuesday's US Open Cup clash with Sacramento Republic on the back of another loss. Seattle Sounders had a mixed week, with a derby win over Portland Timbers and a not-unexpected loss away at Real Salt Lake, but the Cascadia Cup match with Vancouver Whitecaps was another chance for them to kick on and get points on the board this season. It was all going swimmingly, with Jonathan Morris putting them ahead after just eight minutes, and they were further buoyed by the return from injury of Pedro de la Vega, who came on as a second-half substitute. It looked like that early goal would be enough for the home side, and a chance to add to it was lost when VAR declined to take a second look at a possible handball by Whitecaps' Javain Brown. This proved costly when VAR did rule that Tolo Nouhou handballed in the Sounders' box, Ryan Gauld converting the resulting penalty kick as Nouhou received his marching orders. De la Vega hit the post in the dying seconds with a twisting shot but the sides had to settle for a 1-1 draw.