MLS Week 12: FC Dallas beats Austin, Cincinnati wins in Columbus

Week 12 of the 2024 MLS season started in Atlanta with DC United winning 3-2 on the road. Atlanta took the lead when Thiago Almada converted a 16th minute penalty. DC responded with goals from Christian Benteke in the 19th and 44th. An own-goal leveled the score in the 48th, but Benteke scored again in the 55th minute.

“I think, in general, this match was very different than the previous five matches, very different,” Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda said. “Normally, we were better than the opponent and were just missing the sharpness, but today we scored two goals and created a few others, but we need to come back to that. I think this is fixable, we just need to regain that vibe of positivity and once we have that back, we will be fine. This is just a down moment that we need to correct.”

Inter Miami won 3-2 at CF Montreal after falling behind 2-0 to goals from Bryce Duke in the 22nd and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint in the 32nd. Matias Rojas pulled a goal back for Miami in the 44th, Luis Suarez equalized three minutes into stoppage time, and Benjamin Cremaschi scored in the 59th minute.

“We were leading 2-0 and we lost at home,” Montreal coach Laurent Courtois said. “I’m disappointed and it hurts. Still, we’re pleased with the performance and the quality of the movements. Allowing ourselves to limit turnovers against the two best players of the decade in their positions… The guys stepped up in their intentions.”

Charlotte shutout Nashville 1-0 at home with Patrick Agyemang scoring in the 52nd minute.

The Red Bulls beat New England 4-2 at home, going ahead from a 6th minute Lewis Morgan goal. Carles Gil equalized for the Revolution in the 24th. New York retook the lead from an Emil Forsberg penalty in the 43rd and Elias Manoel scored in the 84th. New England’s Giacomo Vrioni pulled a goal back in the 90th but Cameron Harber finished off the Red Bull goals three minutes into stoppage time.

Orlando City won 3-2 at Philadelphia after falling behind to a 12th minute Mikkel Uhre goal. Duncan McGuire equalized for Orlando in the 21st and Luis Muriel scored in the 41st and 46th minutes. Philadelphia’s Daniel Gazdag converted a penalty in the 66th minute.

NYCFC won 3-2 at Toronto with Santiago Rodriguez putting them up from the penalty spot in the 23rd and Michael Jones doubling the lead in the 44th. Toronto’s Federico Bernardeschi pulled a goal back in the 55th. Andres Perea made it 3-1 New York in the 77th with Raoul Petretta scoring for Toronto in the 89th. Toronto finished a man down with a red card to Bernardeschi nine minutes into stoppage time.

FC Cincinnati won 2-1 at Columbus, taking the lead from a Kevin Kelsy goal in the 74th. Luciano Acosta scored for Cincinnati in the 76th and Columbus got a goal from Maximilian Arfsten in the 89th minute. “Yeah probably our best performance,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “And it certainly needed to be against a very good team in a difficult environment. But I couldn’t be more pleased for the group to just come in and play the way we did.”

Dallas beat Austin 2-1 at home, going ahead from a Petar Musa goal in the 4th and with Jesus Ferreira doubling the lead in the 56th. Sebastian Driussi converted an Austin penalty in the 84th minute.

“It’s an important win considering we want to build momentum,” Ferreira said. “We want to grow in the league and show people and our fans that we are a team that can compete. We started that slow, but we are building chemistry and we are working towards that goal.”

Houston won 2-1 at Sporting Kansas City, going ahead from a Hector Herrera goal in the 31st. Daniel Salloi equalized for Sporting in the 61st but Ibrahim Aliyu returned the Dynamo lead in the 78th minute.

This was our most complete performance,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “We were brave on the ball, and when we were in possession, we had a renewed commitment to look after each other. Our defensive effort is what we hung our hats on last year, and tonight there was a renewed effort there too. Not to mention, it was nice to score some goals tonight.”

St Louis beat Chicago 3-1 at home with Rasmus Alm scoring in the 2nd and Joao Klauss adding goals in the 56th and 67th. Hugo Cypers scored for Chicago in the 46th minute.

The San Jose Earthquakes won 3-2 at Colorado after falling behind 2-0 to goals from Rafael Navarro in the 33rd and Omir Fernandez in the 42nd. Amahl Pellegrino pulled a goal back for San Jose in the 44th, Herman Lopez equalized six minutes into first-half stoppage time, and Cristian Espinoza scored in the 66th minute.

“Colorado is good at home,” San Jose coach Luchi Gonzalez said. “They use the altitude to their advantage. They go at you and press. They switch balls with drags and because of the thin air, the ball is flying. They take it to you. This is a really hard place to play.”

The LA Galaxy drew 2-2 at home with Real Salt Lake after falling behind to goals from Cristian Arango in the 20th and 40th. Gabriel Pec scored for the Galaxy in the 54th and Miguel Berry equalized four minutes into stoppage time.

LAFC shutout Vancouver 3-0 at home with Cristian Olivera scoring in the 18th and 36th. Mateusz Bogusz added a goal in the 57th minute. “Very good win. It was a professional win,” LAFC forward Denis Bouanga said. “I thought we came out strong and set the tempo. Two good goals in the first half and we’ve had good first halves here this year, both home and away and our second halves have not been up to standard. Today it was very good, we saw the game out and we got the third goal. So, very good. Very professional win.”

Seattle beat Portland 2-1 on the road after falling behind to a Felipe Mora goal in the 15th. The Sounders equalized from a Cristian Roldan goal in the 19th and Raul Ruidiaz scored in the 50th minute.

Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.