MLS Week 36: Atlanta beats the Red Bulls, LAFC shuts out Sporting KC 

Week 36 of the 2024 Major League Soccer season started at BMO Stadium, with Inter Miami beating Toronto 1-0. Leonardo Campana scored Miami’s goal three minutes into stoppage time.

“Everyone has confidence in each other,” Inter Miami defender Noah Allen said. “Everyone is ready, the whole team is ready, and we were all ready today. We went out there and we knew we could get the job done, so that’s what we did.”

Charlotte shutout Montreal 2-0 at home, going ahead from a Karol Swiderski goal in the 34th. Patrick Agyemang doubled the Charlotte lead four minutes into stoppage time.

“I have very little to blame the players for tonight,” Montreal’s Laurent Courtois said. “We did some good things, but we faced a good team. It’s disappointing because we thought we’d get another good result here tonight. The players were ambitious and there’s satisfaction in seeing what they tried to produce. Destiny is now in our hands in front of our fans.”

Columbus beat Philadelphia 3-2 at home, taking the lead from a Cucho Hernandez goal in the 4th. Nathan Harriel equalized for the Union in the 25th. The Crew’s Mohamed Farsi returned their lead in the 41dt and Hernandez scored again in the 76th. Jack McGlynn pulled a goal back for Philadelphia in the 78th minute.

Atlanta shutout the Red Bulls 2-1 at home with New York going down a man in the 66th when Dylan Nealis saw red. Alexey Miranchuk converted an Atlanta penalty in the 75th and Tyler Wolff scored seven minutes into stoppage time. Serge Ngoma scored for the Red Bulls 13 minutes into stoppage time.

“The longer the game went, I felt like (the players) had more belief in it, and then obviously goals will change games, so it got insane towards the end, as things tend to do here,” Atlanta coach Rob Valentino said. “It just felt different. The goals finally came, then the red card happened, and the game started to open up a little bit, but I like it that way.”

Orlando won 3-1 at FC Cincinnati, taking the lead from a Ramiro Enrique goal in the 10th. Luciano Acosta equalized for Cincinnati in the 45th. Ivan Angulo put Orlando back up in the 66th and Enrique scored again in the 72nd minute.

“Yeah, tough loss because I thought we played a good game,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “And the ways in which we conceded are pretty obvious and certainly deflated the group. But they stepped up in terms of their play and the intensity from the last two games. I know the scoreline is going to be the talking point, as it should be, but there was a lot of good things that happened tonight and it’s unfortunate that we have this feeling based on the performance.”

DC won 2-1 at New England with Pedros Santos scoring in the 3rd and Christian Benteke doubling the lead in the 8th. United gave up an own-goal in the 74th minute.

Minnesota shutout Vancouver 1-0 at BC Place with Hassani Dotson converting a 24th minute penalty.

LAFC won 3-0 at Sporting Kansas City. David Martinez opened the scoring for LAFC in the 14th on a rebounded penalty and Cristian Olivera doubled the lead a minute into first-half stoppage time. Aaron Long finished off the goals in the 69th minute.

“They’re a better team than we are,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said. “I mean, you have to admit it when the other team is. They’re a better team than we are. They are very hungry when they go to goal. They have an intensity and a relentlessness to get to the goal and they get numbers. The other side is, from a defensive perspective, they defend with everything. They’re up on you. They’re kicking you. They’re all over you. That’s how I see the game.”

St Louis shutout Houston 3-0 at home, with Simon Becher scoring in the 14th and 47th. Playing a man up from the 79th when Houston’s Franco Escobar saw red, Jakob Nerwinski finished off the St Louis scoring two minutes into stoppage time.

“Overall, I don’t think physicality was the issue today,” Olsen said. “It was not a bad game from us because we created enough chances to score at a tough place to play. But again, the final quality just let us down. As far as energy and commitment, the guys were into it, but in the end, the moments weren’t there. We will turn the page pretty quickly on this one.”

Seattle won 1-0 at Colorado with Albert Rusnak scoring in the 48th minute.

The Galaxy beat Austin 2-1 at home, taking the lead from a Gabriel Pec goal in the 31st. Sebastian Driussi scored for Atlanta in the 55th with Dejan Jovelic returning the Galaxy lead in the 76th. Austin’s Guilherme Biro saw red in the 13th minute of stoppage time.

Real Salt Lake shutout San Jose 1-0 on the road. Diego Luna scored RSL’s goal in the 78th minute.

On Sunday, NYCFC beat Nashville 3-1 at home. Santiago Rodriguez scored for NYCFC in the 1 and 18th, with Alonso Maritnez making it 3-0 in the 21st. Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar scored in the 58th minute.

“The team is at a high level right now,” Rodriguez said “We’ve been playing very well and dominating all our opponents. Today, I think they dominated us in the second-half, but even so, when it was our turn to defend, we did it well. I believe this clearly shows that what used to happen to us in some matches, when we might have relaxed and conceded a goal, we’ve now managed to control and improve in these last few games. So, that’s a big step forward for all of us, and we feel very happy about it.”

Week 36 ended in Portland with the Timbers and FC Dallas drawing 0-0. Portland put eight shots on target to seven for Dallas.

“It was a great response,” Dallas interim coach Peter Luccin said. “We know that it’s not easy to come to this field and to play like this. We had so many chances, so many 1v1 situations. Of course they had chances as well. In the end, it was sacrifice, it was a fight, we had good sequences with the ball. We need to keep improving but tonight we saw a team with fight and a great attitude.”

Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.