MLS Week 15: Montreal wins, New England and Chicago draw, Philadelphia beats NYCFC

Week 15 of the 2023 MLS season started with Montreal beating Inter Miami 1-0 at home. Chinoso Offor scored in the 53rd minute and Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois made five saves for the shutout.

“We played a good 60 minutes with some great moves,” Montreal coach Hernan Losada said. “If we don’t make the difference in the moments when we dominate the match, fatigue and stress start to take their toll. But we managed to score at the right time tonight, unlike the first game of the season in Miami. The support of our fans helps a lot. When you can’t run anymore and you hear over 19,000 people supporting you, you find the extra energy.”

New England and Chicago finished 3-3 at Gillette Stadium. Georgios Koutsias put the Fire up in the 10th and an own-goal doubled their lead in the 22nd. The Revolution responded with a goal from Noel Buck in the 38th and Bobby Wood equalizing in the 40th. Chicago retook the lead from a Maren Haile-Selassie goal in the 78th, but Jozy Altidore equalized for New England in the 83rd minute.

“Once I hit it, I knew it was going in,” Buck said. “They gave me too much space, and if you give me that much space, I have the ability to do that, and it came up.”

Philadelphia beat NYCFC 3-1 on the road after falling behind to a 30th minute Gabriel Pereira goal. The Union’s Julian Carranza equalized a minute into first-half stoppage time and scored again three minutes into first-half stoppage time. Daniel Gazdag converted a Philadelphia penalty in the 53rd minute.

Orlando and Atlanta finished 1-1 at Exploria Stadium. Kyle Smith scored for City in the 30th minute and United’s Tyler Wolff equalized in the 86th.

“The first-half I thought we struggled to get a grip on the game,” Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. “We weren’t great on the ball, we weren’t great with finding the second and third pass. Orlando did a good job with their press, they did a good job of putting us under pressure and we couldn’t play out of it. We couldn’t get the ball to stick with our front players. It felt like we were always under it. Sometimes that happens. You have to find a way to get to halftime and adjust. We regrouped at the break and the second-half was a bit better.”

Toronto beat DC United 2-1 at BMO Field, going up from a Deandre Kerr goal in the 14th. Kosi Thompson doubled Toronto’s lead in the 72nd with DC’s Christian Benteke pulling a goal back in the 87th minute.

Houston came back to beat Austin 2-1 at home after falling behind to a 31st minute Gyasi Zardes goal. The Dynamo’s Hector Herrera equalized in the 37th and Ivan Franco scored in the 87th minute.

I’m thrilled for the guys,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “Big points for us under the circumstances because in two days we go to Vancouver for a long stretch. Eight days with a bunch of games, so it was important to continue our form at home. I’m proud of the way we did it.”

Minnesota and Real Salt Lake drew 1-1 in St Paul. RSL’s Jefferson Savarino scored in the 28th and an own-goal leveled the score in the 31st minute.

“About three games ago if we would have said we’ll take seven points then we would have taken it at the run that we were on at that particular time,” Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said. “I want to look at the positives rather than the negatives.”

St Louis beat Vancouver 3-1 at CityPark, going ahead from an Eduard Lowen goal in the 10th minute. An own-goal doubled the St Louis lead in the 45th. Brian White scored for the Whitecaps in the 83rd, but Miguel Perez finished off the St Louis scoring four minutes into stoppage time.

Cincinnati won 1-0 at Colorado on a 33rd minute Dominique Badji goal. Roman Celentano made three saves for Cincinnati.

Charlotte beat the LA Galaxy 1-0 away, taking the lead from a 73rd minute Karol Swiderski goal and playing a man up from an 85th minute red card to Chicharito Hernandez. Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Khalina made two saves in the shutout.

San Jose and FC Dallas finished 1-1 at PayPal Park. The Earthquakes took the lead in the 70th from a Benjamin Kikanovic goal and Dallas’s Nkosi Burgess equalized four minutes into stoppage time. San Jose’s Judson saw red ten minutes into stoppage time.

Seattle shutout the Red Bulls 1-0 at home with Jordan Morris scoring in the 22nd minute. The Sounders played a man down from the 75th with a red card to Joao Paulo. Stefan Frei recorded the shutout with three saves.

On Sunday, Sporting Kansas City came back to beat Portland 4-1 at home. The Timbers took the lead from an 8th minute Franck Boli goal with Sporting’s Erik Thommy equalizing in the 33rd. Daniel Salloi returned Sporting’s lead in the 66th an own-goal made it 3-1 in the 68th minute, and Felipe Hernandez scored three minutes into stoppage time.

I think today, it’s something that we talk about a lot, you have got to be good with the ball,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “When you’re good with the ball, there’s a couple of things that happen from it. One is you have purposeful chances that you create and the other is that, in weather like this when it gets hot, it becomes a really important aspect of every game. I thought, for the most part, we were pretty good with the ball.”

Week 15 ended later on Sunday with Nashville beating Columbus 3-1 at home. Yew Yeboah put the Crew up in the 2nd minute. Nashville’s Fafa Picault equalized in the 56th, Teal Bunbury scored in the 80th, and Hany Mukhtar added a goal seven minutes into stoppage time.