MLS round-up, May 4-5

Where else do you start a round-up of the weekend's action in MLS other than Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale? I'm not a fan of the "galactico" game being played by Inter Miami and MLS down in Florida but sometimes you have to take your hat off to the majesty of Lionel Messi, and a game where he scored one goal and set up the other five just has to be given the correct plaudits. New York Red Bulls were the unlucky recipients of a night when everything clicked for Messi and co, despite the visitors taking the lead on the half-hour mark through Dante Vanzeir's high shot after Wikelman Carmona had hit the post. Messi had been busy before that point and got even busier afterwards, sending a free-kick into the box for Julian Gressel to head over in the fortieth minute, with Robert Taylor hitting the bar a few minutes later. Somehow it stayed 1-0 to Red Bulls through half-time, but it took just three minutes for Messi to put Matias Rojas through for the equaliser, grabbing the go-ahead goal himself two minutes later after a clever touch from Luis Suarez. Carmona went close to an equaliser, and Emil Forsberg had an effort saved by Miami 'keeper Drake Callender, but the third Miami goal came just past the hour, when Rojas was again put through by Messi to finish smartly. Up the other end, Kyle Duncan and Lewis Morgan went close but Suarez was on the scoresheet in the 68th minute, firing home from a Messi pass. It was 5-1 in the 75th minute when Suarez got his second, securing his hat-trick with nine minutes left to play when he twisted in mid-air to direct another Messi cross goalward. There was still time left for Red Bulls to grab a consolation when Forsberg converted a penalty given for a Marcelo Weigandt foul on John Tolkin, but it was an afternoon the Red Bulls will want to forget. The rest of the league will be sighing at the inevitability of it all...

That 6-2 win kept Miami at the top of the Eastern Conference where they enjoy a three-point lead over FC Cincinnati, although they've played a game more than their rivals. The Garys were also in Florida on Saturday, up state at Orlando City for a tricky tie against a side playing below their ability of late. Any reticence they might have felt was soon dispelled, though, when Lucho Acosta opened the scoring for the visitors after seventeen seconds, firing home from a DeAndre Yedlin pass, upsetting whatever game plan the Lions may have had. To their credit, they got right back at it, hitting the bar through Wilder Cartagena in the fifth minute and seeing Duncan McGuire head over from a free-kick in the nineteenth. Things took another turn for the worse, though, when Rodrigo Schlegel's yellow card for a foul on Yuya Kubo was upgraded to a red by VAR, sending the home side down to ten men for the last seventy minutes of the game. The game lulled after that, Pedro Gallese tipping Matt Miazga's header round the post the only goalmouth action until the break. Orlando came out fighting in the second-half, desperately trying to find an equaliser, but there were few chances for both sides. Cincinnati's Brett Halsey received his marching orders for a foul on Cesar Araujo in the 78th minute but the visitors were able to see the game out for a valuable 1-0 win.

FC Toronto sit third after a comprehensive home victory over FC Dallas on Saturday, although they made hard work of things in the first half. Federico Bernadeschi went close in the sixteenth minute and then thought he'd given the hosts the lead with six minutes left in the half, only for VAR to rule him offside. He had another chance to open the scoring in stoppage time in the first-half when Jonathan Osorio was brought down by Patrickson Delgado in the box, but Dallas 'keeper Maarten Paes saved well. That was just a temporary respite, however, as Bernardeschi finally got his goal deeper into stoppage time with a thunderous strike, and then one-upped himself with another terrific effort seven minutes into the second-half to make it 2-0. Dallas did try to get back in the game, with defender Sam Junqua twice going close to scoring, but Matty Longstaff, a winter capture from Newcastle United, made it 3-0 with his first goal for the Reds eight minutes from time. Although Nunqua did eventually find the back of the net just before the ninety-minute mark, the game finished 3-1 to leave Toronto looking good and Dallas just one off the bottom in the West.

Ahead of Saturday's games, you'd have expected the gap at the bottom of the Western Conference between Dallas and basement dwellers San Jose Earthquakes to only increase, especially as the Quakes were entertaining Los Angeles FC at a game moved to Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, to ensure a bigger crowd. And maybe it was those 43,774 fans in attendance that spurred San Jose on to only their second victory of the season, seeing off a lively LAFC side as though they'd been playing well all season? Rodrigues opened the scoring for the home side with a header from a corner, a lead they held through half-time while restricting the visitors to just a Mateusz Bogusz effort a minute from the break. Boguez looked most likely to find a leveller in the second-half but it was Quakes who scored again, Amahl Pellegrino running onto to a fast break pass from Cristian Espinoza to make it 2-0 in the 55th minute. It was 3-0 four minutes later when a deflection off LA's Denis Bouanga found the net and although the Black & Gold did pull one back in the 69th minute through Cristian Oliveira, San Jose withstood heavy pressure to secure a vital derby win.

Atlanta United have a tricky US Open Cup tie against USL League One side Charlotte Independence to negotiate in midweek and warmed up in the worst possible way with a home defeat to Minnesota United on Saturday. Gonzalo Pineda resisted the temptation to rest players ahead of the cup tie and saw his side cede control of the game to the visitors in the first-half, just two Atlanta chances in reply to heavy Loons pressure. Nevertheless, it was scoreless until nine minutes into the second-half when Minnesota's Kervin Arriaga headed them in front from a corner, and then 2-0 to the visitors on the hour, Tani Oluwaseyi finding the net for the fourth time in five games. The Five Stripes had the best of the game after that but were always chasing, and Saba Lobjandize's strike eight minutes from time proved to be nothing more than a consolation. The win put Minnesota second in the West with a game in hand on leaders Real Salt Lake, who dominated their game against Sporting Kansas City at America First Field but were only able to grab a 1-0 win. The first-half was quiet, with just three shots on target, including what would prove to be Sporting's only such effort when Daniel Salloi saw his shot saved by Zac McMath in the home goal. It was all Real in the second-half but it took until nine minutes from time for Chicho Arango to head in from a free-kick for his ninth of the season.

Philadelphia Union travelled to the Audi Field home of DC United on the back of two uncharacteristic home defeats and were behind again as early as the ninth minute, when Cristian Dajome put DC in front after Jacob Murrell's shot was blocked. Julian Carranza hit the bar for Philly just after the half-hour mark and United made it 2-0 two minutes later when Murrell shot home from outside the box. Murrell had a chance to make it three just before half-time but it was Union who scored next, Alejandro Bedoya reducing arrears with a left-footed shot past 'keeper Alex Bono. Chances were at a premium in the second-half, although Bono did save smartly from Quinn Sullivan nine minutes in. He couldn't do anything about Philadelphia's eventual equaliser, however, which came eleven minutes from time when Jack McGlyn superbly shot into the top left corner from outside the box. 2-2 was probably a fair result and leaves both sides sitting in mid-table in the East. Honours were also even in south Texas, where Houston Dynamo and St Louis City drew a blank at a sold-out Shell Energy Stadium. The home side had the better of the chances and overwhelmingly controlled possession but neither team could find a way past goalkeepers Steve Clark and Roman Burki, with the latter saving from Amine Bassi in stoppage time to ensure the stalemate continued.

Ahead of CF Montreal's visit to GEODIS Park to face Nashville SC, there was some talk that Coyotes' head coach Gary Smith was under threat, the home side having won just one of their first ten games this season and exited the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the second round. Any gossip would have been quickly forgotten come the final whistle, though, as Smith's charges stepped up to the plate and hit the visitors out of the park, with Sam Surridge opening the scoring in the eleventh minute for only his third goal of the season and Montreal 'keeper Jonathan Sirois having to turn Hany Mukhtar's header away for a corner eight minutes later. That was just a temporary respite, though, as the returning Walker Zimmerman - playing his first game since March 8th - headed home from that corner to double the Coyotes' lead. Mukhtar hit the post two minutes later, and Sirois was forced into a save from Alex Muyl just past the half-hour as Nashville ran rampant, but it was the visitors who finished the first-half stronger, going close to reducing arrears through Ariel Lassiter and Bryce Duke. That rally lasted until two minutes into the second-half when Surridge grabbed his second for 3-0, and then the Englishman went close to a hat-trick in the fiftieth minute, heading over from a Mukhtar cross. Zimmerman capped an eventful comeback with an own goal in the 64th minute to give Montreal a glimmer of hope, but even that was extinguished when Surridge did complete his hat-trick, a shot from a difficult angle nine minutes from time giving Nashville an unassailable 4-1 lead and a vital win for Smith.

Two coaches really under pressure were Frank Klopas of Chicago Fire and New England Revolution's Caleb Porter, even taking into account their relatively short tenures in charge of their clubs. Fire had won just twice this season, with the Revs one win worse off than even that, and there was something of a relegation battle to the match when the two met at Soldier Field on Saturday, even in a league with no relegation! Possession and chances were shared evenly throughout the game, with New England's Tomas Chancalay having the best effort before the break when he forced Chris Brady into a save just past the half-hour. Esmir Bajraktarevic and Carles Gil both went close for the Revs as the game resumed after half-time but it was Chancalay who found the breakthrough, firing into the top corner from outside the box to give New England the lead. That was how it stayed, despite some late Fire pressure, giving Porter some respite, although the Revs still prop up the table in the East. In Saturday's final game, Austin FC went to Vancouver Whitecaps on the back of two victories that have threatened to turn their season around, a resolute team effort grinding out results after finding early goals. They didn't manage to score on Saturday but did ensure that Whitecaps also had a blank afternoon. Austin's sole shot on target came in the tenth minute and it was all Caps after that, with Fafa Picault lively for the Canadians and Ryan Gauld thinking he'd given his team the lead in the nineteenth minute only for VAR to overturn the goal because of a handball by Picault in the build-up. Despite good chances for Gauld, Picault, Brian White, and Bjorn Utvik, the game ended 0-0.

The first of the two Sunday games came from Citi Field in Queens, where New York City FC hosted Colorado Rapids having picked up ten points from their last four games at home. Rapids, though, are an enigma, able to squeeze a result out of the unlikeliest of circumstances and happy to cede possession in return for solid chances to break. That was certainly the case on Sunday, with the Pigeons enjoying 68% of possession but losing out to goals from the busy Rafael Navarro in the sixteenth minute and a Cole Bassett with four minutes to go, and NYCFC will have to refocus ahead of next week's trip to Toronto. The weekend's final game saw Seattle Sounders take on Los Angeles Galaxy, two clubs enjoying very different seasons. Until their win in Philadelphia in midweek, Sounders had just one win to their name all season, while Galaxy are blazing a trail in the West, even if they did lose at Austin last weekend. The visitors were without both Dejan Jovelic and Riqui Puig, the loss of the latter seriously hitting their creativity to the extent that they enjoyed just three shots on target all game. Seattle fared a little better, with four, but the game ended with no goals and little in the way of solid chances or incident.