MLS Week 23: NYCFC shutout Montreal, RSL wins at home
We start with the MLS roundup for week 23, where Inter Miami beat Charlotte 2-1 on the road. Robert Taylor put Miami up in the 30th with Charlotte’s Patrick Agyemang equalizing in the 41st. Benjamin Cremaschi put Inter Miami up for good in the 86th. Agyemang saw red six minutes into stoppage time.
“It’s a really tough opponent,” Taylor said. “Again, we showed character to get the three points. Especially away here, it’s never easy, so I’m really happy about it.”
Cincinnati beat DC United 3-2 at Audi Field, taking the lead from a 10th minute Kevin Kelsy goal. United’s Martin Rodriguez equalized in the 24th. Cincinnati retook the lead from a Pavel Bucha goal in the 39th. Bucha scored again in the 63rd. Gabriel Pirani scored for DC in the 69th minute.
“You always want it to look a certain way when you win, but the reality is, with the current state of the group, and where we’re at, we have to be pleased with wins,” FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “Whoever we’re playing, wherever home or away, at this stage certainly winning is an important part of where we want to be at the end of the year. I give the guys credit, because we’ve gone on the road two games here and gotten results. It’s not easy to do, and I think we have a large enough sample size.”
NYCFC shutout Montreal 2-0 at Citi Field. Adrian Martinez scored for NYCFC in the 9th and 56th minutes. “We missed too many chances tonight, but if we keep the expected goals at 2.1, 2.5, or 2,7, we’ll win football games…,” NYCFC coach Nick Cushing said. “This comes down to all the guys having that real collective idea of how we attack the games. We do it, but as a young team, you’ve got to keep drilling it, you’ve got to keep being consistent and keep focusing on playing with that real ambition and that real intensity and aggression that we play with.”
Orlando beat Toronto 2-1 at BMO Stadium after falling behind to a Derrick Etienne Jr in the 5th. Martin Ojeda equalized for Orlando in the 27th and an own-goal in the 45th put them up for good.
New England beat Atlanta 2-1 at home, with Giacomo Vrioni scoring for the Revs in the 11th and 44th. Daniel Rios pulled a goal back for United in the 90th minute.
“Yeah, good win, very important win,” New England coach Caleb Porter said. “Obviously playing Atlanta, they are in around us. Six-point swing. Now, we go two points off them, versus letting them get a distance on us. So, it was a very important win for us to take care of business.”
St Louis shutout San Jose 2-0 at CityPark. Eduard Lowen scored for St Louis in the 28th and Hosei Kijima doubled the lead in the 41st minute. “The first-half was poor. We came out flat,” San Jose interim coach Ian Russell said. “Against St Louis, against any of these teams that play this high-pressing style, if you do that you’ll be punished really early. I thought the second-half was better. Much better. There was a response, but you can’t go on the road and go down two goals and expect to get a result.”
Vancouver won 3-1 at Minnesota, taking the lead from a 4th minute Brian White goal. Mathias Laborda made it 2-0 Vancouver in the 17th. United’s Bongokuhle Hlongwane pulled a goal back in the 30th. The Whitecaps’ Sebastian Berhalter scored in the 60th minute.
Chicago beat Philadelphia 4-3 at Soldier Field, going ahead from a 30th minute Maren Haile-Selassie goal. The Union’s Chris Donovan equalized in the 38th, Daniel Gazdag converted a penalty seven minutes into first-half stoppage time, and Jack McGlynn extended the lead in the 49th. Hugo Cuypers pulled a goal back in the 82nd, Gaston Gimenez equalized for the Fire in the 89th, and Cuypers scored again a minute into stoppage time.
“For the goal, I got a chance for a rebound, and I had to hit pretty good and it went in, which was most important,” Gimenez said. “But yeah, it was a great momentum grabber for the team. We had just scored previously, but honestly just really happy because it was a great win by our resilience and our attitude, and it means a lot
for us.”
Columbus shutout Nashville 2-0 at home with Christian Ramirez scoring in the 30th. Diego Rossi finished off the Crew goals in the 65th minute.
Real Salt Lake beat Houston 3-2 at home with Ibrahim Aliyu put the Dynamo up in the 8th. Real Salt Lake’s Andres Gomez equalized in the 22nd and Diego Luna scored in the 42nd. An own-goal in the 54th leveled the score. Braian Ojeda put RSL up for good in the 67th minute.
Also in the soccer news, USMNT assistant coach BJ Callaghan will become Nashville SC’s head coach later this month, leaving his role with the US Soccer Federation. Callaghan officially takes over for Nashville on July 22.
On Thursday, FC Dallas beat Portland 3-2 at home after falling behind to an 8th minute Antony goal. Petar Musa equalized for Dallas in the 49th and Nkosi Tafari scored in the 61st. Evander equalized for the Timbers in the 63rd, but an own-goal put Dallas up for good in the 87th minute.
“I think our pace in the first-half was lacking and we knew that,” Dallas midfielder Sebastian Lletget said. “We created a couple of chances here and there but our buildup was kind of slow, so we knew to increase the pace and that was the biggest change in the second-half.”
Colorado beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at home after trailing from a 48th minute Johnny Russell goal. The Rapids’ Oliver Larraz equalized in the 69th and Djordje Mihailovic converted a penalty four minutes into stoppage time.
The midweek MLS schedule concluded at the Rose Bowl, where the home team the LA Galaxy losing 2-1 to LAFC.Kei Kamara put LAFC up in the 39th and Denis Bouanga converted a penalty in the 44th. The Galaxy’s Gabriel Pec pulled a goal back in the 56th minute.
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
