What a week in MLS.
Minnesota United scored off a set piece, Lionel Messi notched a brace and the Columbus Crew pulled off a remarkable comeback at FC Cincinnati. It was truly a week unlike any other.
As always: The Power Rankings are voted on by, give or take, 15 people associated with MLSsoccer.com. The author gets a little rush out of moving your team down a few spots, though.
Surprise: An Anders Dreyer brace powered San Diego to a 2-1 win at Chicago. He’s up to a league-best 26 goal contributions this season. Dreyer, Messi and Evander are the only players with more than 20. He’s been the league’s most productive player on the Western Conference’s highest goal-scoring (and points-earning) team.
Previous: 2-1 win at CHI | Next: 7/16 vs. TOR
Well, here they come.
The Herons earned two wins last week and have won three in a row since the FIFA Club World Cup. Their most recent result, a 2-1 victory over Nashville, pushed them to a league-best 2.00 points per game. Maybe fixture congestion will catch up with them eventually, but it sure hasn’t yet.
Inter Miami's underlying numbers have improved significantly from last year. They have three games in hand on everyone they’re chasing in the Supporters’ Shield race, and Messi is back to being a superhuman. A second-straight Shield could be on the horizon.
Previous: 2-1 win vs. NSH | Next: 7/16 at CIN
If they had avoided kicking the ball directly to the best player in the history of the sport, things could have gone a lot better for them in a 2-1 loss at Inter Miami. At least they took care of business in their midweek US Open Cup match with D.C. United. They’re onto the semifinals in what’s turning into the most successful season in club history.
Previous: 2-1 loss at MIA | Next: 7/16 vs. CLB
The Union are back atop the Supporters’ Shield race after a 2-0 win over the Red Bulls. They scored twice in the first 25 minutes and gave up just one shot on target in the win.
Other than the 2022 side that came a goal or two away from winning the Shield and MLS Cup, this might be Philly’s best-ever team. Their 2022 squad averaged 1.97 points per game. This group is cruising at 1.95. The underlying numbers are virtually even.
Previous: 2-0 win vs. RBNY | Next: 7/16 vs. MTL
Most teams would panic after going down 2-0 within the first five minutes on the road against their biggest rival. With the Crew, it kind of felt like they just spotted Cincy a couple of goals. You know, for fun.
Columbus ultimately scored four unanswered goals on their way to a remarkable 4-2 Hell is Real win. Homegrown midfielder Taha Habroune delivered the final tally, his first MLS goal, to seal the deal (and make it just that much more painful for Cincinnati).
Previous: 4-2 win at CIN | Next: 7/16 at NSH
The Loons scored twice off set pieces to make it roughly 80 set-piece goals this season (probably) in a 4-1 win over San Jose.
In a parity-filled league where marginal advantages can make all the difference, Minnesota feel like the only team truly committed to finding those advantages. They’re at least the best at it. The Loons are averaging 0.41 set-piece goals per game, and that’s not even counting the handfuls of goals stemming directly from Michael Boxall's long throw-ins.
They’re up to second in the West and on their way to the US Open Cup semifinals.
Previous: 4-1 win vs. SJ | Next: 7/16 vs. LAFC
The first five minutes of Hell is Real were a really good five minutes for FC Cincinnati. The last 50 or so were a nightmare. A 2-0 lead evaporated into a 4-2 Columbus win at TQL Stadium.
Cincy do a lot well, and Evander and Kévin Denkey are one of the best pairings in the league. But they’ve struggled to put together complete performances consistently this season. It felt like some of their underlying flaws got exposed.
Previous: 4-2 loss vs. CLB | Next: 7/16 vs. MIA
LAFC earned straightforward wins over Colorado (3-0) and Dallas (2-0), but appear to have lost center back Aaron Long to a potentially long-term injury. Their center-back depth will be seriously tested over the next few weeks. They still have two or three games in hand on everyone they're chasing in the West, and their underlying numbers are among the best in the league, but playing catch-up just got that much harder.
Previous: 2-0 win vs. DAL | Next: 7/16 at MIN
You decide what’s more impressive: Seven points in three games since returning from the Club World Cup or one red card in four consecutive games. The Sounders have been a mixed bag all season, but they’re at least still getting results. Their latest came in a 3-2 win at Kansas City that featured a…unique red card from Nouhou (and a goal from Jordan Morris upon his return to the starting XI).
They’re up to fourth in the West despite holding onto a goal differential of just +3.
Previous: 3-2 win at SKC | Next: 7/16 vs. COL
The grace period for the Whitecaps will be incredibly long, but man… this can only go for so many games before we’ll have to admit they might have run their batteries dry.
A 3-0 beatdown from Colorado – even with Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter back in the lineup – did nothing to ease concerns about where this team is heading. They’ve now lost four of the last five.
There's also more smoke around Pedro Vite getting transferred to LIGA MX side Pumas UNAM. He's a huge piece for Vancouver.
Previous: 3-0 loss at COL | Next: 7/16 at HOU
The Lions surrendered a late penalty to CF Montréal and could only muster a point against the East’s last-place team. They have just two wins in seven games and are falling off the Supporters' Shield pace. They need to course-correct quickly to earn a home Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spot.
Previous: 1-1 draw vs. MTL | Next: 7/16 vs. NYC
New York City FC have been the most up-and-down team in MLS over the last few weeks. Their latest down came in a 2-0 defeat at Charlotte over the weekend. They’ve alternated between wins and losses the last four games and haven’t put together a two-game winning streak (or two-game streak of any kind) since May.
Previous: 2-0 loss at CLT | Next: 7/16 at ORL
Uh oh. The Fire are back below the playoff line after their 2-1 loss to San Diego. They have a game in hand on ninth-place Charlotte and eighth-place New York, but, uh, well, there’s some bad precedent here. They need at least four points, probably six, from their upcoming matches against Atlanta and Montréal. Otherwise, things will start feeling a little too “Chicago Fire” down the stretch.
Previous: 2-1 loss vs. SD | Next: 7/16 at ATL
A 2-1 loss to St. Louis made it three straight road losses for the Timbers. Now they’re looking up at the Sounders in the standings for the first time in a long time. They need DP midfielder David Da Costa – a goal in each of the last two games – to stay hot if they want to get back in front of Seattle and back into the top four by season’s end.
Previous: 2-1 loss at STL | Next: 7/16 vs. RSL
New York haven’t won in five straight games and are eighth in the East. Their latest losing effort came at the Union. They have one win against a team above the Wild Card spots this season, and it came way back on March 1 against Nashville.
Previous: 2-0 loss at PHI | Next: 7/16 vs. NE
All bad news this week. Minnesota hit them with a sledgehammer at the start of the match, and the Quakes never recovered in a 4-1 loss on Saturday. They also came up short in a US Open Cup penalty shootout against Austin on Tuesday.
Previous: 4-1 loss at MIN | Next: 7/16 vs. DAL
The Crown are about to get a great return for striker Patrick Agyemang – a reported $8 million fee from Derby County is on the way – but there's going to be questions to answer as they try to stay above the playoff line.
Maybe there’s an answer in U22 striker Idan Toklomati? He scored the opener in Charlotte’s 2-0 win against NYCFC to push him up to six goal contributions in 736 minutes this season.
Previous: 2-0 win vs. NYC | Next: 7/16 vs. DC
Djorjde Mihailovic delivered three assists as the Rapids roared past the Whitecaps in a 3-0 win. That’s an impressive bounceback after a 3-0 loss to LAFC on Wednesday. It’s a needed result, too. The Rapids are hanging a point above the Wild Card line with 11 games to go.
Previous: 3-0 win vs. VAN | Next: 7/16 at SEA
William Agada’s opener was all RSL needed in a 1-0 win over Houston. They’ve earned 10 points in the last four games, and Diego Luna is back in the lineup after returning from the Gold Cup. There’s a lot of work to do, but don’t count RSL out of the playoff race just yet.
Previous: 1-0 win vs. HOU | Next: 7/16 at POR
Instead of building off their dramatic 4-3 win over San Diego, the Dynamo fell back to Earth in a 1-0 loss to RSL. They’re a point below the playoff line.
Previous: 1-0 loss at RSL | Next: 7/16 vs. VAN
Brandon Vazquez is out for the season after tearing his ACL. It’s a brutal blow to an attack that's already struggled mightily in MLS this season. Their league-worst 15-goal tally didn’t improve in last weekend’s 0-0 draw with New England.
They did earn one bright spot, though. They’re in the US Open Cup semifinals after a penalty shootout win over San Jose.
Previous: 0-0 draw vs. NE | Next: 7/16 at LA
A loss to Miami midweek and a 0-0 draw against Austin over the weekend made it one win in New England's last 12 games across all competitions. The Revs' playoff hopes are starting to fade.
Previous: 0-0 draw at ATX | Next: 7/16 at RBNY
Look who’s no longer at the very bottom of the league standings. LA earned a 2-1 win against D.C. United on Saturday to make it 15 points on the year and put them within… well, 12 points of the playoff line. It’s still a long, long shot. But Marco Reus is firing and they look a little more competent overall. Can you really count out the reigning champs?
Previous: 2-1 win vs. DC | Next: 7/16 vs. ATX
SKC went down 3-0 to Seattle, then managed to give the Sounders a late scare in a 3-2 loss.
Previous: 3-2 loss vs. SEA | Next: 7/19 vs. NYC
Lucho Acosta spent 60 minutes of their 2-0 loss to LAFC on the bench. Nothing is clicking for Dallas right now, and Acosta has been limited this season. It’s getting late quickly for this team.
Previous: 2-0 loss at LAFC | Next: 7/16 at SJ
Toronto had eyes on a 1-0 win over Atlanta before surrendering a clumsy late penalty in stoppage time. A Spoon win (loss?) could be in play for this group as they begin life without their two recently departed DPs.
Previous: 1-1 draw vs. ATL | Next: 7/16 at SD
Marcel Hartel’s brace pushed St. Louis past Portland in a 2-1 win. They needed that one. A loss would have put them tied on points at the bottom of the league standings.
Previous: 2-1 win vs. POR | Next: 7/19 at DAL
Absolute best wishes to Atlanta president and CEO Garth Lagerwey as he begins cancer treatment. The rest doesn’t feel all that relevant.
Previous: 1-1 draw at TOR | Next: 7/16 vs. CHI
Montréal stole a point thanks to a late penalty against Orlando. That point kept them from taking over the lead in the Wooden Spoon race.
Previous: 1-1 draw at ORL | Next: 7/16 at PHI
D.C. followed up a rough US Open Cup loss to Nashville by sputtering in a cross-country trip to face the Galaxy. In between, they parted ways with head coach Troy Lesesne.
Previous: 2-1 loss at LA | Next: 7/16 at CLT
