MLS Week 24: Six goals for Cincinnati, four for the Crew
Week 24 of the 2024 Major League Soccer season started at America First Field, where Real Salt Lake beat Atlanta 5-2. Matt Crooks opened the scoring for RSL in the 1st minute with Atlanta equalizing from a Saba Lobjanidze goal in the 31st. Braian Ojeda returned the Salt Lake lead in the 59th, Cristian Arango scored in the 69th, and Alexandros Katranis made it 4-1 in the 78th. Daniel Rios scored for United in the 80th and Diego Luna finished off the goals for Salt Lake in the 84th minute.
Philadelphia and the Red Bulls finished 0-0 at Subaru Park with the Union putting six shots on goal to five for New York.
Orlando City shutout DC United 5-0 at home, going ahead from a Martin Ojeda goal in the 19th. Robin Jansson doubled the lead in the 23rd and Ivan Angulo scored in the 42nd. DC’s Lucas Bartlett saw red two minutes into first-half stoppage time. Ramiro Enrique finished off the Orlando goals in the 85th minute.
FC Cincinnati beat Inter Miami 6-1 at home. Yuya Kubo scored for Cincinnati in the 10th with Inter Miami’s Serhiy Kryvstov equalizing in the 21st. Luciano Acosta put Cincinnati up for good in the 36th. Pavel Bucha extended the lead in the 38th, Yamil Asad scored four minutes into first-half stoppage time, and Kubo added another goal in the 57th. Miami’s Sergio Busquets saw red in the 62nd. Cincinnati’s Gerardo Venezuela scored in the 72nd minute.
“A great performance,” FC Cincinnati’s Pat Noonan said. “Guys stepped up tonight, and we got contributions across the board, certainly with the goals. I think it was five different goal scorers and defensively, I think a lot of guys performed well outside of maybe a 10-minute stretch in the first half. It was as complete a performance as we’ve had. To end the week this way against a very strong Miami team, I’m really happy for our guys.”
Columbus shutout Toronto 4-0 at home, going ahead from a Cucho Hernandez goal in the 15th. Christian Ramirez doubled the lead in the 52nd, Mohamed Farsi scored in the 81st, and Diego Rossi added a goal in the 84th minute.
Montreal and Vancouver drew 1-1 at Saputo Stadium. Brian White put the Whitecaps up in the 29th and Matias Coccaro equalized in the 79th minute.
Austin beat NYCFC 2-1 at home after falling behind to a 5th minute Andres Perea goal. Austin’s Gyasi Zardes equalized seven minutes into stoppage time and scored again in the 69th. “I think it was a good game from the team,” Perea said. “We have to focus a little bit on finishing the plays, but in general, it was a good performance from the team. Now we turn the page and keep going.”
Seattle shutout Toronto 2-0 at home, going ahead from a Jordan Morris goal in the 15th. Albert Rusnak doubled the lead in the 81st minute.
On Sunday, Houston vs LAFC was rescheduled due to weather.
Sporting Kansas City beat FC Dallas 3-2 at home. William Agada scored for Sporting in the 11th and 23rd. Bernard Kamungo pulled a goal back for Dallas in the 30th and Petar Musa equalized in the 65th. Sporting’s Memo Rodriguez scored in the 81st and Zohran Bassong saw red five minutes into stoppage time.
San Jose shutout Chicago 1-0 at home on a 49th minute Hernan Lopez goal. “We needed to win tonight,” San Jose interim coach Ian Russell said. “The Clásico was disappointing. Then our game against St. Louis. I thought we were pretty flat coming out. So I thought we were on the front foot all night. Deserved the win. Just really happy with how our players responded.”
Colorado beat St Louis 4-1 at home, going up from a 6th minute Kevin Cabral goal. Johnny Klein equalized for St Louis in the 12th, but Cole Bassett returned the Rapids’ lead in the 35th. Colorado’s Jonathan Lewis extended the lead in the 81st and Darren Yapi added another Rapids goal in the 90th minute.
The Galaxy beat Minnesota 2-1 at home, taking the lead from a Gabriel Pec goal in the 25th. United equalized through Teemu Pukki in the 73rd, but Pec scored again in the 90th minute.
“After the LAFC game, we knew it wasn’t good enough, especially that first-half, and Greg (Vanney) said in the locker room after, ‘hopefully it’s not a big speed bump, let’s just keep going.’,” Galaxy defender John Nelson said. “We can’t drop points at home. We need to keep going. We can’t get a tie or a loss at home. I think we’re still building into it. We showed really well these past few weeks how many games we can win in a row, but going to keep going and keep getting some guys back healthy and flying.”
Portland beat Nashville 4-1 at home, going ahead from a Felipe Mora goal in the 18th. The Timbers’ Jonathan Rodriguez added goals in the 21st and 24th with Eryk Williamson scoring in the 29th. Nashville’s Brian Anunga saw red in the 35th and Sam Surridge scored in the 82nd minute.
Moving to Liga MX, Alex Zendejas’s Club America lost 2-1 at San Luis after taking the lead from a Henry Martin goal in the 5th. San Luis equalized in the 7th and went ahead in the 50th minute. Cade Cowell subbed out in the 80th minute of Chivas’ 0-0 home draw with Toluca.
Ventura Alvarado’s Mazatlán lost 1-0 at Cruz Azul. Cruz Azul played a man down from the 75th and scored four minutes into stoppage time. Brandon Vazquez subbed on in the 77th minute of Monterrey’s 1-0 win at Pachuca. Sergio Canales scored the game’s only goal in the 14th minute.
Did Not Play: Joe Corona (Tijuana 2 – Queretaro 1), Sam Rogers (HamKam 0 – Tromso 0), Aron Johannsson (Valur 4 – Fylkir 0)
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
