MLS Week 11: San Jose wins, Montreal shuts out Orlando, Inter Miami beats Atlanta

Week 11 of the 2023 MLS season started at Stade Saputo where Montreal shutout Orlando City 2-0 at home. An own-goal put Montreal up in the 62nd and Rommell Quioto doubled the lead in the 66th. Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois made two saves to keep the clean sheet.

“In the right moments, we took our chances and we were able to maintain our block,” Montreal coach Hernan Losada said. “That gives confidence to the defense and the goalkeeper. We want to create the feeling that it is impossible for the visitors to take points here. Tonight was another step in the right direction.”

Charlotte beat NYCFC 3-2 at Bank of America Stadium. Enzo Copetti put Charlotte up in the 8th with NYCFC’s Gabriel Pereira equalizing in the 37th. Copetti scored again for Charlotte in the 39th with NYCFC converting a penalty in the 57th. Charlotte went up for good from a 74th minute own-goal.

FC Cincinnati beat DC United 2-1 at home, taking the lead from a 59th minute Luciano Acosta goal. Alvaro Barreal made it 2-0 Cincinnati in the 73rd with DC’s Taxi Fountas pulling a goal back in the 90th minute.

“I think good teams know how to close out games home or away,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “When you’re winning by a goal, what does it look like in being able to close a game out. Now, we were up two goals and so, we can do it in a better way to not concede and make it as interesting as the last 10 or so minutes or with the extra time. Good teams win one-goal games, and I think we’ve shown that we can do that.”

Inter Miami beat Atlanta 2-1 at DRV PNK Stadium. Josef Martinez put Miami up from the penalty spot in the 59th, scoring again in the 75th. Inter Miami went a man down from an 84th minute red card to Franco Negri, and Atlanta’s Andrew Gutman scored two minutes into stoppage time.

“Three wins on the run now,” Inter Miami coach Phil Neville said. “The way that we’re playing in terms of our spirit and our togetherness is incredible, really.”

Philadelphia shutout New York 1-0 at Red Bull Arena on a 31st minute Daniel Gazdag penalty.

San Jose beat LAFC 2-1 at Levi’s Stadium, going up from an 8th minute Cristian Espinoza goal. LAFC’s Denis Bouanga equalized in the 30th, but Espinoza converted an 83rd minute penalty for the Earthquakes.

“We have a team that can compete with anyone,” Earthquakes coach Luchi Gonzalez said. “We still have a lot of work to do. I want to see us progress and try to get better every day with each game. Two weeks ago, we had some results that didn’t go our way, and we were disappointed with, but you never felt the guys stop being open to feedback, believing and working hard in training. They’re always looking to respond, and I’m proud of them for that.”

New England shutout Toronto 2-0 on the road. Bobby Wood opened the scoring for the Revs in the 19th minute and DeJuan Jones doubled the lead in the 62nd. Revs goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic made five saves to keep the clean sheet.

“I thought Toronto pressed very well and put us under a little bit of pressure,” New England coach Bruce Arena said. “We wanted to go out there and play and get after them. We picked our spots in the first half and did a solid job. I give Toronto credit as well. I thought they did a good job getting after us as well.”

FC Dallas vs St Louis was suspended in the 50th minute due to weather with the score 0-0.

“The lightning wasn’t going away until 1am,” Dallas coach Nico Estevez said. “Sometimes, and I’ve had this in Columbus, you know the length of the lightning is shorter and you’ll wait. But here that wasn’t happening. Twice they told us that we were going to go warm up in a few minutes but then there was lightning. I think it was the best decision, families and people who had worked today can go home earlier with a proper plan.”

Houston and Real Salt Lake finished 0-0 at Shell Energy Stadium. The Dynamo finished with four shots on goal to RSL’s five.

It’s a point,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “We continue to move forward in that department. We didn’t lose, and we had another shutout at home. Those are the positives. The things we need to work on are the things we need to work on. We continue to not reward ourselves in the final third in some of the actions that can result in goals because they are out there. There’s plenty out there. Salt Lake is going to say the same thing because they had plenty of actions that could have ended up with them getting on the score sheet.”

Nashville beat Chicago 3-0 at home with Hany Mukhtar converting a penalty three minutes into stoppage time, converting another penalty in the 70th, and scoring a minute into stoppage time. Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis made three saves for the shutout.

Colorado beat the LA Galaxy 3-1 away. Lalas Abubakar put the Rapids up in the 14th, Kevin Cabral doubled the lead in the 65th, and Jonathan Lewis scored in the 81st. LA’s Preston Judd pulled a goal back in the 89th minute.

Portland and Austin drew 2-2 at Providence Park. Portland’s Dario Zuparic scored in the 33rd and Austin’s John Gallagher equalized in the 59th. Claudio Bravo returned the Timbers’ lead in the 71st with Will Bruin leveling the score two minutes into stoppage time.

Vancouver beat Minnesota 3-2 at BC Place, taking the lead from a 17th minute Brian White goal. Minnesota’s Michael Boxall equalized in the 33rd, with White scoring for Vancouver in the 52nd and Simon Becher making it 3-1 in the 56th. United’s Jeong Sang-Bin pulled a goal back in the 65th minute.

“It’s always difficult when you go on the road, and you give the opposition three goals…,” Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said. “And when you play on the road and defend like we’ve done today and give the opposition the chances that they’ve had, and then you also miss the chances that we’ve had, invariably, you’re not going to win too many games on the road with that combination.”

Week 11 ended on Sunday with Sporting Kansas City beating Seattle 2-1 on the road. Sporting took the lead from a 4th minute Erik Thommy goal and Alan Pulido made it 2-0 in the 31st. Seattle’s Nicolas Lodeiro pulled a goal back in the 66th minute