Below is a selection of the notable performances and moments from the 12 matches played thus far on the 18th matchday of the 2024 MLS regular season on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1.
Matchday 18 comes to a close on Sunday as Atlanta United hosts southeastern rival Charlotte FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (4:45 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV / FOX). Each side has walked away with two victories in four all-time meetings between the two clubs in MLS play.
Late-Night Magic Lifts New York City FC to 5-1 Win on Friday
Under the Friday night lights, New York City FC scored four goals in the 80th minute and beyond – including a hat trick from forward Alonso Martínez with scores in the 85th, 92nd, and 95th minutes (Watch Hat Trick Here) – in a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Yankee Stadium. New York City has won five consecutive games for the second time in club history, matching the previous record set between Aug. 17 and Sept. 7, 2019 – a season where they finished atop the Eastern Conference and second in the Supporters’ Shield standings with 64 points (18-6-10).
Santiago Rodríguez broke a 1-1 draw in the 80th minute (Watch Here), giving New York City a 2-1 lead before Martínez turned in a final 10 minutes to remember. With his trio of late-game goals, Martínez became the first player in MLS history to score three goals in the 85th minute and later. Only one other player in league annals -- Harut Karapetyan of the LA Galaxy (June 4, 1998) – has scored three goals in the 80th minute of a match and later.
Martínez became the fifth different player in NYCFC history to record a hat trick, joining Valentín ‘Taty’ Castellanos (two, April 17, 2022, and Nov. 1, 2020), Alexandru Mitrita (Sept. 25, 2019), David Villa (Aug. 6, 2017), and Frank Lampard (July 30, 2016).
Chicho Makes History with Hat Trick, Real Salt Lake Extends Unbeaten Run in 5-1 Win
Real Salt Lake scored four first-half goals and never looked back, as the club cruised to a 5-1 win over Austin FC. The victory extended RSL’s unbeaten streak to 13 matches, which is the second-longest single-season streak in club history, and they will enter their next match looking to tie the club record of 14, set from July 24 to Oct. 23, 2010.
A trio of Real Salt Lake’s goals were scored by Cristian ‘Chicho’ Arango, who now leads MLS with 16 goals this season after his second hat trick of the season (Watch All Three Goals Here). Arango eclipsed 15 goals in his 17th game of the season, tying for the fifth-fastest player to reach 15 goals in MLS history, and trailing only Josef Martínez (14 games in 2017), Carlos Vela (15 games in 2019), Mamadou Diallo (15 games in 2000), and Jaime Moreno (16 games in 1997). Diallo and Vela each won the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi in their respective seasons.
Arango opened the scoring in the first half with a sensational strike from distance – 62.7 yards to be exact – that sailed over the head of the Austin goalkeeper and into the net (Watch Here). The goal was the 50th regular-season score for the Colombian striker in his 79th career game, tying Raúl Ruidíaz as the second-fastest active player to reach 50 career goals. Only Josef Martínez (54 games) did so in fewer games.
Adding an assist in the match was 21-year-old breakout star Andrés Gómez, who has at least one goal or assist in each of his last six matches. With the helper, the Colombian midfielder became the third player in MLS history to record a goal contribution streak of at least six games at the age of 21 or younger. Gómez joined the Columbus Crew’s Andy Williams (seven games, July 29 to Sept. 6, 1998) and Chivas USA’s Erick Torres (six games, June 8 to July 20, 2014) in accomplishing the feat.
Bouanga’s Goal, Lloris’ Clean Sheet Propels LAFC to 1-0 Victory
A familiar story unfolded at BMO Stadium on Saturday night, as Denis Bouanga scored the game-winning goal and Hugo Lloris registered his fifth consecutive clean sheet in LAFC’s 1-0 victory over FC Dallas. LAFC has won five consecutive matches and climbed to second place in the Western Conference table with 30 points (9-4-3).
Bouanga’s goal (Watch Here) was his 10th of the 2024 season and marked his fifth game-winning score of the campaign, tying FC Cincinnati’s Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta for the league lead. After winning the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi with 20 goals last year, the Gabonese international has 30 goals since the start of the 2023 campaign, the most in MLS over the span. He also became the fourth player in club history to record at least 10 goals in consecutive seasons.
Instrumental to the club’s five-game winning streak has been the netminding of Lloris, who has recorded five consecutive clean sheets and sits tied with Charlotte FC’s Kristijan Kahlina for the MLS lead with seven shutouts this season. The five-game shutout streak marks Lloris’ third career shutout streak of at least five games throughout his storied club career, with the previous two coming with Lyon in 2010 (Feb. 7 to March 6) and later with Tottenham Hotspur in 2017 (April 1-30).
Goals Galore in 3-3 Inter Miami CF – St. Louis CITY SC Draw
There was no shortage of goals in a back-and-forth 3-3 draw between Inter Miami CF and St. Louis CITY SC at Chase Stadium, which saw five different goal scorers and an own goal in the contest.
St. Louis CITY struck first, as Chris Durkin made a deft touch on a cross from Célio Pompeu and fired a strong right-footed blast past the Miami goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead (Watch Here). Just 10 minutes later, Miami’s Lionel Messi leveled the score with a beautiful one-timed shot off of a pass from Jordi Alba (Watch Here). St. Louis jumped ahead again on an Indiana Vassilev goal against his former team in the 41st minute (Watch Here), but Miami once again drew level as helpers from Messi and Alba led to Luis Suárez’s 12th goal of the season (Watch Here). CITY SC moved ahead yet again on a Miami own goal in the 68th minute (Watch Here) before Alba evened the score at 3-3 in the 85th minute (Watch Here).
Messi’s goal was his 12th of the season and his assist marked his 13th of the 2024 campaign with both figures coming in just 12 games for the Argentine legend. Since the 2020 season, only four other players have recorded at least 12 goals and 12 assists over the course of a full season: Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta (2023, 17 goals, 14 assists), Cristian Espinoza (2023, 13 goals, 13 assists), Carlos Vela (2022, 12 goals, 12 assists), and Hany Mukhtar (2021, 16 goals, 12 assists).
Messi’s two goal contributions also moved him to 25 this season, as he became the fastest player in MLS history to reach the mark in a single season. The previous record was 16 games by LAFC’s Carlos Vela in his MVP-winning 2019 season.
St. Louis CITY SC scored three-or-more goals for the 15th time since the start of the 2023, the most in MLS over the span, and the club holds an unbeaten 12-0-3 mark in matches where they score at least three goals.
Tolkin Nets Game-Winner for New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls received a perfect free-kick score from defender John Tolkin and kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over Orlando City SC at Red Bull Arena. With the win, the Red Bulls improved to 8-3-5 (29 points) on the season and sit level with cross-city rival New York City FC in the Eastern Conference table.
The sensational free-kick from Tolkin (Watch Here) was the sixth goal of the 21-year-old’s career and five of his six career goals have been of the game-winning variety. Tolkin became the fifth active MLS player to record five-or-more game-winning goals before turning 22 years old, joining Diego Fagúndez (13 game-winning goals), Jesús Ferreira (nine), Jordan Morris (six) and Diego Rossi (five).
