Credit: Howard Smith - ISIPhotos.com
Week 12 of the 2025 MLS season began at Soldier Field, where the Fire beat Atlanta 2-1 at home. Hugo Cuypers converted a Chicago penalty in the 14th and an own-goal leveled the score in the 80th. The Fire retook the lead from a Rominigue Kouame goal in the 86th minute.
“We have really high emotions right now because it’s something that we’ve been looking forward to, being able to get the home win,” Kouame said. “But we have to keep working in order to give our supporters more victories like that at home.”
Minnesota beat Inter Miami 4-1 at home. Bongokuhle Hlongwane put United up in the 32nd and Anthony Markanich doubled the lead two minutes into stoppage time. Lionel Messi pulled a goal back for Inter Miami in the 48th. Miami gave up an own goal in the 68th and Robin Lod finished off the Minnesota scoring in the 70th minute.
“This period is very difficult because we play many games now, every three days for three weeks,” Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay said. “And for us it’s a case of maintaining momentum but being aware of the need to change, using the squad, and ensuring we’re fresh for each game. And obviously, we’re playing Houston away on Wednesday. It’s a very difficult game, and we need to be happy today, but tomorrow we’ll focus on the next game.”
Toronto shutout DC United 2-0 at home. Lorenzo Insigne put Toronto up in the 48th and an own-goal doubled their lead in the 66th minute.
Cincinnati beat Austin 2-1 at home, taking the lead from an Evander goal in the 12th. Brandon Vazquez equalized for Austin from the penalty spot in the 48th. Cincinnati went ahead for good in the 76th minute when Gerardo Valenzuela scored.
“Yeah, very pleased,” Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “It was a strong performance tonight in a lot of ways. Certainly an improvement with how we move the ball and have better decisions–more composure, you know, trying to figure out how to play through their press. It was a different structure than we were anticipating. So I thought the guys did a really good job of that. We scored some really good goals when we needed to. We thought we defended really well, especially in front of goal.”
Montreal won 1-0 at NYCFC, with Prince Owusu scoring in the 48th minute.
“It seems that all of the job that we did in these past six weeks came out,” Montreal coach Marco Donadel said. “We showed that we can play short when they give us the space. We showed that when they wanted to come and press us higher, we can play more direct with a striker. We showed that we can defend high but that we can also defend low. And we showed that we can fight to the last minute. We showed that we can deal with the lack of energy like at the end of the first half. We show a lot of things, and this is why we won.”
The Red Bulls shutout the LA Galaxy 7-0 at home, taking the lead from an Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting goal in the 7th. Emil Forsberg scored for New York in the 16th, Choupo-Moting made it 3-0 in the 31st, and Forsberg added another goal in the 50th. Cameron Harber extended the Red Bulls’ lead in the 88th. An own-goal finished off the scoring three minutes into stoppage time.
Orlando City drew 3-3 at home with New England after taking a 2-0 lead from Martin Ojeda goals in the 24th and 33rd. Alhassan Yusuf pulled a goal back for the Revolution in the 38th and Matt Polster equalized in the 44th. Ojeda converted an Orlando penalty in the 55th and New England’s Carles Gil equalized from the penalty spot in the 85th minute.
“I think from the start, looking back at a few of our games so far, I think we started pretty poorly,” Polster said. “No different tonight. Obviously, we were very frustrated in that moment. But I think it was a good learning moment and you could see the character and the personality from the group that we’re willing to sacrifice a lot for each other and find a way to get a point out of this game.”
Philadelphia drew 2-2 at home with Columbus, going ahead from a Tai Baribo goal in the 45th. Max Arfsten equalized for the Crew in the 61st, but the Union retook the lead from a Francis Westfield goal in the 64th. Sean Zawadzki equalized for Columbus three minutes into stoppage time.
“Yeah, I mean, after the game I have to say that it was a very good goal at the end,” Columbus midfielder Daniel Gazdag said. “It was very important for us to get the draw because obviously they were up 2-1, so we had to fight for the draw and fight for one point. I think we did a good job in that we rolled up the sleeves and I think in that part we should be proud of ourselves.”
FC Dallas drew 1-1 at home with Real Salt Lake after falling behind to a Diego Luna goal in the 24th. Anderson Julio equalized for Dallas in the 53rd. RSL’s William Agada saw red in the 58th minute.
“Obviously the red card helps us a lot,” Dallas coach Eric Quill said. “But I still think before the red card happened, in the second half, we had a different look and different mentality to us. That was positive. But again, we gotta take three at home. We have to be honest and we gotta find a way to win that game.”
Seattle won 3-1 at Houston, taking the lead from a Daniel Musovski goal in the 22nd. Houston’s Obafemi Awodesu equalized in the 32nd and saw red in the 38th. Albert Rusnak returned the Sounders’ lead in the 46th and scored again in the 58th minute.
Nashville beat Charlotte 2-1 at GEODIS Park after trailing from a Liel Abada goal in the 48th. Hany Mukhtar equalized for Nashville in the 49th and Jacob Shaffelburg scored in the 54th minute.
San Diego won 2-1 at St Louis, going ahead from a Milan Iloski goal in the 79th. Anders Dreyer doubled the San Diego lead in the 87th. Kyle Hiebert pulled a goal back for St Louis a minute into stoppage time.
San Jose won 2-0 at Colorado, going up from a DeJuan Jones goal two minutes into first-half stoppage time. Cristian Arango doubled the lead in the 67th minute.
“We’re getting better, and obviously when you win three games in a row, there’s a consistency there,” San Jose coach Bruce Arena said. “The group’s getting better. We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m pleased with the progress we’re making.”
Portland shutout Sporting Kansas City 1-0 at home. Santiago Moreno scored the game’s only goal in the 10th minute.
Week 12 ended on Sunday with Vancouver drawing 2-2 at home with LAFC. Marco Delgado put LAFC up in the 8th and Denis Bouanga converted a penalty in the 19th. Vancouver’s Brian White pulled a goal back in the 26th and equalized in the 70th minute.
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
Photo by Howard Smith – ISIPhotos.com
