Atlanta United and the Seattle Sounders had two very different week 5 experiences missing several key players who were out on international duty. Atlanta got thrashed 6-1 at the hands of the Columbus Crew while Seattle moved players all around the field out of position on their way to a 4-1 win at Sporting Kansas City. That very brief summary is a really good round up of how wildly different losing very impactful players effected teams across the league this weekend. Atlanta was missing MVP candidate Thiago Almada, Miles Robinson, and more and the Crew smelled blood in the water. It was only 1-0 at half time but the second half was all Columbus as they got on the board in the 47th minute before keeping their foot on the gas en route to thrashing Atlanta at home.
Seattle starting Jordan Morris at Striker, Cristian Roldan at Right Back, and moved Nico Ladero up from his usual role alongside Joao Paulo as they were without both starting full backs (the best full back in MLS in Nouhou being one of them) and their two strikers. It looked as though Sporting were going to navigate these changes brilliantly as Daniel Salloi made a couple of moves on Roldan that led to his early goal. Jordan Morris then scored FOUR goals off four passes that hit him inside the six yard box. It was a total defensive failure by SKC. You can not allow a guy to beat you four times inside the six yard box. I plan on doing a fully dedicated blog on Sporting Kansas City on their season and what's to come later this week.
St. Louis CITY SC continued to impress, beating Real Salt Lake 4-0 in Salt Lake City on a chilly night where they had to weather a first half in which RSL outplayed them and had plenty of chances. Nico Giocchini broke through with a goal in the 47th minute and then Joao Klauss added two in the 61st and 66th minutes. One was on another ill routed back pass which has drawn a lot of discussion around the league. As someone who watches a lot of European soccer I can say there is an unbelievable amount of blind back passes in MLS and I can't believe this doesn't happen more often. That's my entire read into that topic. St. Louis wins another road game that everyone didn't think they could win, it's kind of becoming their M.O.
In a "I can't believe this really happened" news this week the New York Red Bulls completed only 102 passes during their 1-1 draw at Charlotte on Saturday night. It took an own goal by the Red Bulls to get Charlotte the draw. As a 90's kid I love the Charlotte purple kits, it gives me big time throwback Charlotte Hornets vibes.
Don't look now but the Chicago Fire are playing decent soccer and picked up a 3-2 win at Inter Miami this week. Former Orland City man Chris Mueller hit a strike in the 30th minute and Kai Kamara (the best trade no one is talking about) scored the game winner in the 92nd minute.
Orlando City topped the Philadelphia Union in the "Missing a full squad of players derby". It was a significant win for Orlando City as they handed the Union their first home loss in 24 games dating back to 2021. Ojeda struck in the 2nd minute and Angula in the 9th but Orlando didn't need to score for the next 80 minutes as they left Philly with three points.
FC Cincinnati won a big Eastern Conference battle with Nashville SC. Brandon Vasquez score the games only goal in the 48th minute. This will be a game we look back on as a really important road win later in the season.
The LA Galaxy and Portland Timbers played to a 0-0 draw at Providence Park. The Galaxy hit the bar a couple of times but nothing found the back of the net. Both of these teams need to get their seasons on track sooner rather than later.
LAFC took a big three points at home against FC Dallas. There's a pretty crazy story about Dennis Bouanga taking a 13 hour flight back from Greece to be at the game before coming on in the 65th minute to score the game winning goal against a 10 man Dallas squad after Twumasi was sent off in the 35th. FC Dallas played with a lot of heart, down a man for the last 55 minutes of the match.
Carles Gil subbed on in the 62nd minute and then assisted on a Gustavo Bou goal in the 63rd minute in the New England Revs 2-1 win at DC United. DC has a better squad this year and young Christian Benteke has looked really good, but the Revs look more like the 2021 Supporters Shield winners than last years team that missed the playoffs.
The down but never out Colorado Rapids got a 85th minute goal from Kevin Cabral to salvage a 1-1 draw at Austin FC. It was a great moment for Cabral who has caught hell from the national media after not living up to his contract with the Galaxy and a great road point from the Rapids just a week after losing their Captain for the season.
The Houston Dynamo held on to a 1-0 win over NYCFC Saturday. I've said it all season but it is great for MLS when Houston are competitive. Minnesota and Vancouver played to a 1-1 draw and Toronto and the Quakes also settled in a 0-0 draw in Northern California.
I've waited five weeks to give you my top 5 MLS teams and Botton 5 MLS teams. If you don't see your team on this list, let me know why they should've been in the top 5 or bottom 5.
Top 5
1. St. Louis CITY SC 5-0-0 15 points
2. LAFC 3-0-1 10 points
3. New England Revs 4-1-0 12 points
4. FC Cincinnati 3-0-2 11 points
5. Seattle Sounders 3-1-1 10 points
Bottom 5
25. Vancouver Whitecaps 0-2-3 3 points
26. Colorado Rapids 0-3-2 2 points
27. Sporting Kansas City 0-3-2 2 points
28. Charlotte FC 1-3-1 4 points
29. CF Montreal 1-3-0 4 points
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