MLS Week 7: LAFC beats the Galaxy, Seattle scores five

Week 7 of the 2024 MLS season started at Citi Field, where NYCFC and Atlanta United drew 1-1. Santiago Rodriguez converted an NYCFC penalty in the 43rd and Atlanta’s Jamal Thiare equalized in the 65th minute.

“Where are we in the process, in this current moment? Really frustrated and really disappointed,” NYCFC coach Nick Cushing said. The fact that we feel like this draw is, it feels like a loss. It’s a testament to our fans and our football club and the expectations that we have. Where are we in the process? Yeah, I’m content with where we are in the process. I’m not content with league position and points, but we took the game to Atlanta tonight.”

The Red Bulls won 2-1 at FC Cincinnati after falling behind to a 3rd minute Yuya Kubo goal. Frankie Amaya equalized for the Red Bulls in the 19th and Dante Vanzeir scored in the 60th minute.

“This is not one player that’s holding us back. We’re just not good enough right now,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “And so, if we can be honest about that and guys can step up and say, ‘I have to be better.’ If I can step up and say, ‘I have to be better,’ then I think we’re OK. If we’re not recognizing that we’re not good enough, then there’s a problem there.”

Vancouver shutout Toronto 4-0 at BC Place, taking the lead from a 6th minute Brian White goal. Fafa Picault doubled the Whitecaps’ lead in the 29th, Ryan Gauld scored in the 81st, and Ranko Veselnovic finished off the scoring in the 89th minute.

Columbus drew 1-1 at home with DC United. Christian Benteke put DC up in the 61st and the Crew went a man down to a 75th minute Cucho Hernandez red card. Aidan Morris equalized for Columbus in the 87th minute.

New England shutout Charlotte 1-0 at home with Carles Gil scoring three minutes into first-half stoppage time. “Yeah, of course, there’s relief when you get the first win in the league,” New England coach Caleb Porter said. “It’s been a long three months. A lot of the guys were hungry today. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but we had a simple plan: defend well, get a clean sheet, and find the first goal. We didn’t try to create a million chances, but we started from a strong foundation of defending well, and I thought that was probably the best thing we did today.”

Inter Miami drew 2-2 at home with the Rapids. Rafael Navarro put Colorado up from the penalty spot in the 45th and Lionel Messi equalized for Miami in the 57th. Inter Miami went ahead from a Leonardo Afonso goal in the 60th, but Cole Bassett equalized in the 88th minute.

“I think we keep committing errors that cause us to leave points on the board…,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martinez said. “It’s typical of not having a reading of the match, of the moment, of being out of position and it surely costs us.”

LAFC beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 at home, taking the lead from a 4th minute Timothy Tillman goal. The Galaxy’s Julian Aude equalized in the 29th. LAFC’s Denis Bouanga converted a 35th minute penalty.

St Louis and FC Dallas finished 0-0 at CityPark. St Louis put seven of 27 shots on goal to Dallas’s five from ten. “It isn’t easy to play on the road,” Dallas coach Nico Estevez said. “We knew we were going to suffer in St. Louis, but we suffered a bit more than we would have liked. We couldn’t manage Aziel Jackson’s movements, he created a lot of danger. Despite all this, we adapted and adjusted and we take this point back to Dallas, ended the four-game losing streak and kept the first clean sheet of the 2024 season.”

Minnesota drew 1-1 at home with Real Salt Lake after falling behind to a 24th minute Cristian Arango goal. United’s Tani Oluwaseyi equalized in the 86th and Joseph Rosales saw red in the 89th minute.

“If you look at the balance of the game, and even if you were to look at it objectively on a stats basis, we’ve had 25 shots almost double their xG,” Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay said. “We’ve had more possession. So from the perspective of the boxes you’d want to tick for a dominant performance, we ticked them. We just lacked that real cutting edge in the final third when we needed it.”

Chicago beat Houston 2-1 at Soldier Field, going up from a 10th minute Xherdan Shaqiri penalty. The Dynamo’s Ibrahim Aliyu equalized in the 65th. Brian Gutierrez returned the Fire’s lead in the 78th minute.

Philadelphia won 2-1 at Nashville after falling behind to a 42nd minute Sam Surridge goal. The Union’s Julian Carranza equalized in the 62nd and DAniel Gazdag scored in the 90th minute.

Austin beat San Jose 4-3 at home. The Earthquakes went ahead from a Paul Marie goal in the 20th and Jeremy Ebobisse doubled the lead in the 57th. Austin’s Sebastian Driussi converted a penalty in the 61st, Jader Obrian equalized in the 63rd, and Guilherme Biro scored in the 67th. Amahl Pellegrino equalized for San Jose in the 74th. Driussi scored again for Austin 11 minutes into stoppage time.

“We’ve scored the first goal in five of the first seven games, but we haven’t been able to extend and sustain that advantage,” San Jose coach Luchi Gonzalez said. “But the game is over 90 minutes, and we have to do a better job collectively. We’ll bounce back.”

Seattle shutout Montreal 5-0 at home, with Raul Ruidiaz scoring in the 20th and converted a penalty in the 27th. Jordan Morris made it 3-0 Sounders in the 48th. Montreal played a man down from the 53rd when Nathan Saliba saw red. Alex Roldan extended the Seattle lead in the 81st and Dylan Teves finished off the scoring seven minutes into stoppage time.

Week 7 ended on Sunday in Kansas City, where Sporting KC and Portland drew 3-3. William Agada put Sporting up in the 13th, Daniel Rosero doubled the lead in the 38th, and Agada scored again three minutes into first-half stoppage time. Portland pulled a goal back from an Evander penalty in the 64th, Felipe Mora scored in the 66th, and Eric Miller equalized in the 81st minute.

Well, the good thing is we didn’t lose,” Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said. “So we made a step in the right direction of tying but it’s still not good enough. Not with three goals. No chance. I said last time we were at home, ‘You scored two goals. You have got to finish the game out at home.’ And now we scored three at home. We scored three away and we closed the game out and we don’t do it at home.”

Photo by LAFC.

Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.