Atlanta won 5-1 at home over Portland and Montreal beat Philadelphia 3-2 at Olympic Stadium in the roundup of week 4 in Major League Soccer.
MLS Week 4: Atlanta wins 5-1, Montreal beats Philadelphia
MLS week 4 opened with Seattle and LAFC drawing 0-0 at Lumen Field with the Sounders putting four shots on goal to LAFC’s three. “Little bit of a mixed bag there,” Seattle Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. “I think that we gave up some chances there at the end. I don’t know what the expected goals are but they had a lot of clear chances because we were trying to find a goal at that end of the field. I wasn’t real pleased about that. Look we’ve only taken one goal in four league matches,so that’s OK. That’s a good thing. If we defend well, we will collect points along the way.”
Atlanta United beat Portland 5-1 at home with Caleb Wiley opening the scoring in the 25th minute. Thiago Almeda made it 2-0 United five minutes into first-half stoppage time with Georgios Giakoumakis extending the lead in the 59th minute. Luiz Araujo put Atlanta up 3-0 in the 75th. The Timbers’ Tega Ikoba scored in the 83rd, but it was Almada finishing off the Atlanta goals in the 86th minute.
“Like I said, and I have said it to you guys before, I think it’s the ability of players to understand what is being asked of them on the field,” Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. “To understand how we want to play as a group, but within that system allowing obviously talented individuals to express themselves and do what they do. You know a bit of freedom but understanding the rules and responsibilities that everyone has on the field. So that part has been good.”
Montreal beat Philadelphia 3-2 at Olympic Stadium. Romell Quioto converted a Montreal penalty in the third minute. Philadelphia’s Mikkel Urhe equalized in the 46th and scored in the 60th. The Union’s Julian Carranza saw red in the 69th minute. Chinoso Offor scored Montreal’s third goal in the 90th minute.
“The game tonight is hard to explain, but the best answer is that this is football,” Montreal coach Hernan Losada said. “That’s why the fans come to the stadium. The victory feels good, but especially the way we earned it because we didn’t deserve to lose this game. We found solutions with the substitutions, and we went for it.”
New England shutout Nashville 1-0 at home on a 52nd minute Gustavo Bou goal. Revolution goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic kept the clean sheet with three saves. “I thought that we had a couple of decent chances in the first-half and in the first 15, 20 minutes of the second-half, I thought we did a real good job getting at them,” New England coach Bruce Arena said. “And that was a great goal by Gustavo. We had a couple of other chances. I think we could have been a little bit better.”
NYCFC beat DC United 3-2 at Yankee Stadium, taking the lead from a 17th minute Talles Magno goal. Santiago Rodriguez doubled New York’s lead in the 37th with DC’s Christian Benteke pulling a goal back in the 46th. Thiago made it 3-1 NYCFC in the 88th with DC’s Steve Birnbaum scoring in the 90th minute.
The Red Bulls came back to beat Columbus 2-1 at Red Bull Arena. The Crew took the lead from a 33rd minute Alexandru Matan goal. New York’s Luquinhas equalized in the 58th and Dante Vanzeir scored in the 86th minute.
Charlotte won 2-1 at Orlando City, going up from a 26th minute Enzo Copetti goal with Kerwin Vargas making it 2-0 in the 37th. Orlando’s Martin Ojeda scored in the 57th minute.
Toronto beat Inter Miami 2-0 at home. Jonathan Osorio scored for Toronto in the 48th and Mark-Anthony Kaye added a goal in the 69th. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson kept the clean sheet with three saves.
Chicago and Cincinnati drew 3-3 at Soldier Field. Junior Moreno put Cincinnati up in the 8th with Chicago’s Kacper Przybylko equalizing in the 32nd. The Fire took the lead from a Rafael Czichos penalty in the 45th and Chris Mueller scored in the 46th minute. Cincinnati’s Sergio Santos pulled a goal back in the 84th and Moreno equalized in the 87th minute.
“A pretty erratic performance, I think,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “When you look at the game as a whole, I thought we had a strong start, you know, with and without the ball, and then had a chance to really get some momentum and go up two, and then we lost some momentum, lost a lot of composure as far as just the decision making and just playing simple. And they started putting us under a lot of pressure.”
FC Dallas came back to beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at home after falling behind to an 11th minute Daniel Salloi goal. Alan Valesco equalized for Dallas in the 55th and Jesus Ferreria scored in the 84th minute.
Houston shutout Austin 2-0 at home. Amine Bassi converted a 71st minute penalty and Hector Herrera scored in the 86th. Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark made five saves to keep the clean sheet.
Coaches can say whatever they want, but you want to get your first win,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “It helps quite a bit, the mood there is very good. The message now is to grow and get better and make sure that we can put this type of performance on at home consistently, because I do believe it’s a recipe for getting into the postseason.”
St Louis City won 3-0 at home over San Jose, with Nicholas Gioacchini opening the scoring in the 34th minute. Klauss scored three minutes into first-half stoppage time and Tomas Ostrak finished off the St Louis goals in the 68th. Goalkeeper Roman Burki kept the clean sheet with two saves.
Minnesota United beat Colorado 2-1 on the road after falling behind to a 49th minute Cole Bassett goal. United’s Luis Amarilla equalized from the penalty spot in the 54th and Miquel Tapias scored in the 82nd minute.
“It’s been a good start for us,” Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said. “To go away to Dallas and come here to Colorado, which are traditionally difficult places to play. I’ve been delighted that we’ve got six points from two away games.”
Week four ended in Carson where the Galaxy and Vancouver drew 1-1. Tristan Blackmon put the Whitecaps up in the 14th and Kelvin Leerdam equalized four minutes into first-half stoppage time.
