MLS Week 35: Inter Miami beats Columbus, Charlotte wins at Chicago
Week 35 in Major League Soccer had 14 games on the midweek schedule, starting in Atlanta where Montreal won 2-1 on the road. Josef Martinez put Montreal up in the 43rd with Atlanta’s Daniel Rios equalizing three minutes into first-half stoppage time. Martinez scored again for Montreal in the 76th minute.
“We fought for this win and it is a very important one for us,” Martinez said. “Of course, coming to this stadium, these fans and to play against this club was tough. It’s always hard and I have a lot of love for them but I am professional and I need to fight for my colors. We are happy with this victory, but we need to focus on Charlotte now.”
Charlotte beat Chicago 4-3 at home, going ahead from a Karol Swiderski goal in the 8th. Fabian Herbers leveled the score for the Fire in the 25th. Charlotte’s Junior Urso returned their lead in the 30th, Swiderski scored again a minute into first-half stoppage time, and Liel Abada made it 4-1 in the 58th. Kellyn Acosta pulled a goal back for Chicago in the 67th and Tom Barlow scored three minutes into stoppage time.
“Overall, I thought, I mean when you go down some goals, it’s hard to climb back out,” Chicago midfielder Kellyn Acosta said. “So obviously we’re a bit frustrated with our ourselves because we expect better from ourselves and at the end of the day it just wasn’t good enough.”
NYCFC beat FC Cincinnati 3-2 at Red Bull Arena, going ahead from a Mitja Ilenic goal in the 16th. Adrian Martinez doubled the NYCFC lead in the 65th. Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta converted a penalty in the 69th. Santiago Rodriguez converted an NYCFC penalty in the 75th. Cincinnati’s Corey Baird scored six minutes into stoppage time.
“We have to continue, be focused on what we have to do so far, and I think that our teammates also are helping us to improve for the playoffs,” Rodriguez said. “Finish these games and now comes the playoffs.”
Orlando City beat Philadelphia 2-1 at home, going ahead from a Facundo Torres goal and doubling their lead through Duncan McGuire in the 64th. The Union’s Quinn Sullivan scored in the 72nd minute.
The Red Bulls won 4-1 at Toronto, taking the lead from an Emil Forsberg penalty in the 27th. John Tolkin scored for the Red Bulls in the 48th. Prince Osei Owusu converted a Toronto penalty in the 66th. New York’s Lewis Morgan extended their lead from the penalty spot in the 69th. Toronto went a man down in the 74th when Federico Bernardeschi saw red in the 74th. Elias Manoel finished off the Red Bull goals in the 88th minute.
Inter Miami won the 2024 Supporters’ Shield, beating Columbus 3-2 on the road. Lionel Messi put Miami up in the 45th with Diego Rossi equalizing for the Crew in the 46th. Messi returned the Miami lead five minutes into first-half stoppage time. Luis Suarez doubled the Miami lead in the 48th. Cucho Hernandez converted a Crew penalty in the 61st. Columbus played a man down from a Rudy Camacho red card in the 63rd, and the Crew failed to convert a penalty in the 84th.
“Yeah, I mean, it definitely feels good to win, especially away from home and to contribute in the way I did,” Miami goalkeeper Drake Callendar said. “Of course, it was just one moment out of a 90-minute game that the whole team worked hard for…. And I think, again, everyone worked so hard throughout the year to get to this point, to put ourselves in this position, to win the trophy, and our team executed tonight.”
Houston beat New England 2-1 at home, taking the lead from an Ezequiel Pnce goal in the 50th. New England’s Carlos Gil equalized from the penalty spot in the 54th, but Erik Sviatchenko put the Dynamo up for good in the 68th minute.
“It was a wild one,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “New England entered the match with real desperation and fire, and we were lucky to have kept it scoreless in the first half. Steve Clark had a big hand in that with a great performance tonight. The second half still wasn’t our best soccer, but it was better because we played more like ourselves and got the win. Now we have to patch ourselves up for another difficult task in St Louis, but this win is massive as we try to move up the table.”
DC United won 4-3 at Nashville after falling behind to an Axel Muyl goal in the 6th. Lucas Bartlett leveled the score for United in the 24th. Nashville retook the lead when Hany Mukhtar scored in the 45th and doubled it with a Muyl goal in the 62nd. United responded with a goal from Christian Benteke in the 76th and two from Gabriel Pirani in the fourth and seventh minutes of stoppage time.
The LA Galaxy beat Colorado 3-1 on the road, taking the lead when Connor Ronan scored in the 45th. The Galaxy’s Gabriel Pec equalized in the 50th and Ricard Puig scored in the 58th and a minute into stoppage time.
Real Salt Lake drew 0-0 at home with Minnesota. Salt Lake finished with four shots on goal to United’s three. RSL’s Bryan Vera saw red three minutes into stoppage time.
LAFC shutout St Louis 1-0 at home with Denis Bouanga scoring a minute into first-half stoppage time.
Austin won 1-0 at Portland on a Daniel Pereira goal in the 42nd minute.
San Jose beat FC Dallas 3-2 at home, going ahead from a Hernan Lopez goal in the 13th. Alan Velasco equalized for Dallas in the 41st. San Jose retook the lead from a Lopez goal in the 79th and Jeremy Ebobisse scored in the 83rd. Sebastien Ibeagha scored for Dallas in the 90th minute.
Week 35 ended in Vancouver with Seattle shutting out the Whitecaps 3-0. Georgi Minoungou opened the scoring in the 14th, Albert Rusnak converted a Sounders penalty in the 65th, and Paul Rothrock finished off the scoring in the 67th. Vancouver’s Fafa Picault saw red in the 88th minute.
As for the playoff picture, the schedule is unbalanced with Inter Miami, Columbus, Cincinnati, Orlando, NYCFC, the Red Bulls, and Charlotte already qualified for the playoffs in the East. Chicago is the only Eastern Conference team eliminated. In the West, the Galaxy, LAFC, Seattle, Real Salt Lake, Houston, Colorado, Vancouver, and Minnesota have qualified. FC Dallas, St Lous, Sporting Kansas City, and San Jose are eliminated. There’s a full schedule of games this weekend, two games during the international break and then the regular season finale on October 19.
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
Photo by Inter Miami
