MLS Week 11: Chicago wins at home, Montreal beats Toronto, and Philadelphia comes back at Colorado

Week 11 of the 2023 Major League Soccer season started at Soldier Field, where Chicago shutout St Louis 1-0. Rafael Czichos scored the Fire’s goal in the 40th minute and St Louis’s John Nelson saw red in the 70th. Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady kept the clean sheet with two saves.

Charlotte won 3-1 at Atlanta United, taking the lead from an 18th minute Justin Meram goal. Atlanta’s Andrew Gutman saw red in the 51st. Karol Swiderski converted a 52nd minute penalty and Meram scored again the 57th.

Montreal beat Toronto 2-0 at home with Lassi Lappalainen scoring in the 53rd. Montreal played a man up from a 56th minute red card to Toronto’s Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty red card. Chinonso Offor made it 2-0 Montreal in the 68th and goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois recorded the clean sheet with Toronto finishing with no shots on goal.

“Derbies are not easy games and it is a pity we couldn’t score more goals,” Montreal coach Hernan Losada said. “We managed to neutralize their high caliber players. There is never a lack of motivation when playing Toronto at home.”

Columbus and Orlando finished 2-2 at Lower.com Field. The Crew’s Darlington Nagbe scored in the 39th and Jacen Russel-Rowe doubled the lead two minutes into stoppage time. Orlando’s Ercan Kara pulled a goal back in the 49th and Duncan McGuire equalized two minutes into stoppage time.

DC United and Nashville drew 1-1 at Audi Field with Nashville going up from a 73rd minute Alex Muyl goal. DC’s Theodore Ku-Dipietro equalized in the 83rd.

Inter Miami beat New England 2-1 at home, with Daniel Ruiz opening the scoring for Miami in the 6th minute. Carles Gil equalized for New England in the 26th, but Josef Martinez returned Miami’s lead in the 44th. Ruiz saw red in the 81st minute.

The Red Bulls shutout NYCFC 1-0 at home with Omir Fernandez scoring in the 76th and goalkeeper Carlos Coronel making one save.

FC Dallas beat Austin 1-0 on the road, playing a man up from a 54th minute red card to Austin’s Rodney Redes. Jesus Ferreira scored Dallas’s goal in the 89th and goalkeeper Maarten Paes made one save to record the shutout.

“We are coming from a difficult result against Nashville where we had a disappointing performance and result,” Dallas coach Nico Estevez said. “We wanted to respond and bounce back today and all our guys deserve a lot of credit. We are building towards the way we want to play and be at and sometimes that can take long and is never easy. The guys have a strong mentality and we can respond to any adversity we have in front of us.”

Seattle beat Houston 1-0 at Shell Energy Stadium, with the Dynamo’s Amine Bassi seeing red in the 21st and Hector Herrera following in the 78th minute. Paul Rothrock scored for the Sounders in the 87th and goalkeeper Stefen Frei kept the clean sheet with Houston not recording a shot on goal.

We had nine players, down a man, really compact, really frustrated them throughout most of the night, and then we put ourselves in another hole,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “We went down to eight field players and even then, you know the guys gave a real shift and made it really difficult. Sometimes in these types of games you can only hold them off for so long. A little play across the box, and they get their goal towards the end. It’s deflating in a bunch of different areas, but it is what it is.”

Sporting Kansas City shutout Minnesota 3-0 at home, taking the lead from a Dany Rosero goal in the 9th minute. Sporting’s Daniel Salloi doubled the lead in the 22nd and goalkeeper Tim Melia saved a Minnesota penalty in the 26th. Gadi Kinda finished off the Kansas City goals in the 84th. Sporting goalkeeper Melia subbed out in the 69th for Kendall McIntosh, with United finishing with three shots on goal.

It’s consistency of players,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “It’s performance. Performance leads to wins. If you perform well, that gives you your best chance to win. So, the consistency, the performance and then the results.”

Philadelphia came back to beat Colorado 2-1 on the road, falling behind when the Rapids’ Conor Ronan converted a 38th minute penalty. Kai Wagner equalized for the Union two minutes into stoppage time and Julian Carranza scored in the 52nd. The Rapids’ Brain Galvan saw red nine minutes into stoppage time and Philadelphia’s Jesus Bueno saw red 14 minutes into stoppage time.

LAFC won 3-0 at Real Salt Lake, taking the lead from an 8th minute Kwadwo Opku goal. Denis Bouanga scored in the 34th and Mateusz Bogusz converted an 87th minute LAFC penalty. John McCarthy recorded the shutout with five saves.

Portland beat Vancouver 3-1 at Providence Park, taking the lead in the 2nd when Franck Boli scored. Evander made it 2-0 Timbers in the 18th with Portland giving up an own-goal in the 24th. Evander scored again in the 54th minute.

Week 11 ended on Sunday with the LA Galaxy beating San Jose 2-1 at home. Martin Caceres scored for the Galaxy in the 60th and Dejan Joveleic doubled the lead a minute into stoppage time. San Jose’s Ousseni Bouda scored four minutes into stoppage time.