MLS Week 6: Shutouts, Minnesota wins at St Louis, and five goals for Vancouver
Week 6 of the 2023 Major League Soccer season started in Atlanta with United shutting out the Red Bulls 1-0. Georgios Giakoumakis scored in the 7th minute with Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan making two saves.
“It was important that we corrected things from last week in terms of our mentality, and in terms of our application in the game,” Guzan said. “We knew today was going to be a different type of game.”
Columbus beat Real Salt Lake 4-0 at home with Aidan Morris opening the scoring in the 14th and Lucas Zelarayan converting a 41st minute penalty. Morris scored again in the 53rd and Yaw Yeboah finished off the Crew goals three minutes into stoppage time. Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Shulte kept the clean sheet with five saves.
The shutouts continued with FC Cincinnati beating Inter Miami 1-0 at home. Yerson Mosquera scored five minutes into first-half stoppage time and Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano made three saves.
“That’s credit to the guys in there,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “If you would have walked in there after the game, it did not feel like a win. They knew we weren’t good enough. So, for them to not be in there celebrating shows that they get it and that we have higher standards and results aside just in performances. I like that about this group as they’re not content with just winning games.”
Seattle beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 on the road. The Sounders took the lead from a 21st minute Jordan Morris goal and Leo Chu doubled it in the 35th. LA’s Jalen Neal pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute.
New England and NYCFC drew 1-1 at Gillette Stadium. The Revs took a 70th minute lead from a Carles Gil goal and New York’s Talles Magno equalized in the 80th.
“It was a back-and-forth game,” New England forward Bobby Wood said. “I think New York City is a very strong team. And yeah, it was a bad goal. I think a silly giveaway, but you know, it is what it is. I think we just have to look forward to the next one.”
Nashville won 2-0 at Orlando City, taking the lead in the 28th from a Fafa Picault goal. Hany Mukhtar scored in the 74th and Joe Willis kept the clean sheet with three saves.
Philadelphia and Sporting Kansas City drew 0-0 at Subaru Park. Both teams finished with four shots on goal.
Everyone loves to talk about formation and style of play and all this stuff,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “I think, at the end of the day, what you have to bring to every game in MLS is this high level of intensity and effort. If you don’t, you’re going to get knocked off the park no matter who you play.”
Toronto and Charlotte drew 2-2 at BMO Field where Toronto took the lead from a 6th minute Federico Bernardeschi goal and doubled it when Michael Bradley scored in the 44th. Charlotte’s Benjamin Bender pulled a goal back in the 50th and Kamil Jozwiak equalized in the 70th minute.
Chicago and DC drew 0-0 at Soldier Field with DC putting three shots on goal to Chicago’s two.
“The thing is, we did not lose this game tonight, and it’s not a game where we were leading and then gave up goals,” Chicago coach Ezra Hendrickson said. “So overall, the attitude is better but we just have to pick up full points at home. We have two coming up at home before we go on the road again and it’s one game at a time.”
Dallas and Portland drew 1-1 at Toyota Stadium. Facundo Quignon scored for Dallas in the 74th and Franck Boli equalized a minute into stoppage time.
Minnesota shutout St Louis 1-0 at CityPark with Luis Amarilla converting a 78th minute penalty. United goalkeeper Dayne St Clair made three saves to keep the clean sheet.
“The thing is, as most of the guys here who know me better than most, my glass is always half full,” Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said. “I’m optimistic. I believe in the group that we have so that makes me optimistic. I know how hard they work at training. We have enough bulletin board material every week and it’s my job to motivate the guys and, me and my staff, I think we do a good job of that. They were ready to play again. Another huge game on the road next week, but we’ll be ready for it.”
Colorado drew 0-0 at home with LAFC. The Rapids put four shots on goal to LA’s two.
“I thought we started off probably showing a little bit too much respect, but they are obviously a very good team with very good expensive attacking players,” Colorado coach Robin Fraser said. “So, I think a fair amount of caution was needed in the beginning, but we quickly found that there was more ability to play, more room to play maybe than we thought. And once we grew into the game, I thought we did a decent job of controlling large stretches of the
game.”
San Jose beat Houston 2-1 at PayPal Park, taking the lead from a 7th minute Cristian Espinoza penalty. Houston equalized from the penalty spot with Amine Bassi converting in the 42nd. Espinoza converted a second San Jose penalty in the 65th minute.
“We talked after the Toronto game about having more initiative, urgency in the first-half,” San Jose coach Luchi Gonzalez said. “Let’s go get our first home goal in the first-half and I am proud of the guys to accomplish that.”
Week 6 ended at BC Place where Vancouver shutout Montreal 5-0. Playing a man up from a 23rd minute red card to Rudy Camacho, Vancouver’s Brian White opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Simon Becher made it 2-0 Whitecaps in the 43rd and Julian Gressel scored in the 45th. Ali Ahmed scored in the 48th and Becher finished off the goals in the 59th minute. Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka kept the clean sheet.