Credit: Andrew Katsampes - ISIPhotos.com
Just a couple of days after the All-Star Game, the MLS regular season resumed with six games on Friday. That started with Montreal coming back to win 3-1 at New England. Tomas Chancalay put the Revolution up in the 3rd. Montreal’s Prince Owusu equalized in the 9th, Dante Sealy scored in the 36th, and Olger Escobar added a goal five minutes into stoppage time.
“Obviously, I’m very happy for the three points,” Escobar said. “As a collective, we played very well. We defended very well. So, I thought it was really amazing for me. I felt like I had to come on and obviously support the team as much as I could. If it was having to defend for the last 20 minutes that I was in or holding the ball or attacking, I was willing to do anything. When you get put in that position, you have to do whatever is best to support the team.”
NYCFC won 4-3 at FC Dallas, taking the lead from a Jonathan Shore goal in the 11th. Petar Musa equalized for Dallas in the 15th and Logan Farrington scored in the 17th. NYCFC’s Alonso Martinez equalized in the 22nd. Farrington returned the Dallas lead eight minutes into first-half stoppage time. Martinez equalized again for NYCFC in the 46th and scored again in the 84th minute.
“We had four mental lapses tonight,” FC Dallas coach Eric Quill said. “For me, tonight was disappointing, especially since how we played last week and how collective we were on both sides of the ball. I didn’t see this coming. I’m really, really surprised that this is what tonight turned into.”
Orlando won 3-1 at Columbus after falling behind to a Diego Rossi penalty in the 66th. Ramiro Enrique equalized for Orlando in the 76th and scored again in the 79th. Martin Ojeda added an Orlando goal six minutes into stoppage time.
“This is like the reality,” Columbus coach Wilfried Nancy said. “When we chase the game, it’s going to be open and we’re going to be open. For me, we conceded the first goal, no, we cannot concede a goal like this – this is not possible. The second goal, this is not good. The third goal, we are open so we want to chase. It’s normal that they score, you understand what I mean? No, we didn’t control those moments, and that’s why we got punished.”
Portland won 1-0 at LAFC on a Cristhian Paredes goal in the 45th minute.
San Diego shutout Nashville 2-0 at home. Hirving Lozano scored San Diego’s opener in the 53rd and Anders Dreyer doubled the lead nine minutes into stoppage time.
“I feel very happy that I was able to score and get the result for the team and for the club,” Lozano said. “We had a rare setback, but we were able to get back on track. There are a lot of things we need to work on, but we are on the right path. We are going to continue to work hard to be on the right track.”
Houston vs the LA Galaxy was postponed due to weather.
Week 26 continued on Saturday with nine more games on the schedule, starting with Inter Miami drawing 0-0 at home with FC Cincinnati. Inter Miami put three shots on goal to Cincinnati’s four.
“Yeah, hard fought point,” FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. “Certainly both teams had their chances to find a goal or two tonight, just I think, with both groups, the final third play, you know, let both teams down. But I should just speak for our group, and that’s where we could have been better. We had some good moments to find some goals and then defensively, if you look at the chances that we conceded, you know, certainly there might have been some goals there for them. So I thought it was a relatively even match.”
Atlanta drew 2-2 at home with Seattle, going up from an own-goal in the 7th. Seattle’s Pedro de la Vega equalized in the 54th and Osaze De Rosario put them up five minutes into stoppage time. Alexey Miranchuk equalized for United nine minutes into stoppage time.
Charlotte shutout Toronto 2-0 at home. Idan Toklomati put Charlotte up in the 60th and Kerwin Vargas doubled the lead in the 65th minute.
Austin won 4-2 at DC United, going ahead from a Myrto Uzuni goal in the 22nd. OWen Wolff doubled the Austin lead in the 45th. DC’s Joao Peglow pulled a goal back in the 48th. Osman Bukari extended the Austin lead in the 60th and Robert Taylor scored three minutes into stoppage time. DC’s Christian Benteke converted a penalty seven minutes into stoppage time.
Philadelphia came back to beat Colorado 3-1 at home after falling behind to a Rafael Navarro goal in the 37th. Tai Baribo equalized for the Union in the 64th and Mikkel Uhre scored in the 89th and five minutes into stoppage time.
“Good team that we played,” Colorado’s Cole Bassett said. “For me, it just frustrates me that we stopped playing in the second half. That’s, gosh, I don’t know, maybe four or five results this year that we have a lead, especially away from home, and we stopped doing the things that we’re good at. We played too many long balls. We invite the pressure. I think we need to do better at that.”
Chicago shutout the Red Bulls 1-0 at Soldier Field. Hugo Cuypers converted a Fire penalty in the 44th minute.
Minnesota won 2-1 at St Louis, going ahead from an Eduard Lowen penalty in the 36th. St Louis played a man down from the 72nd when Christopher Durkin saw red. Minnesota’s Kevin Yeboah equalized from the penalty spot in the 74th and converted another penalty in the 90th minute.
“The first-half was really difficult,” Yeboah said. “We lacked intensity in the first 10 to 15 minutes, and then that continued. We had to come back stronger in the second-half. Once we went back inside (at halftime) with the coaches, we fixed some things. Most of all, our intensity was not there in the first-half, but we managed to get back in in the second.”
Real Salt Lake beat San Jose 2-1 at home. San Jose’s Josef Martinez opened the scoring in the 51st with an own-goal leveling the score in the 57th. Braian Ojeda scored for RSL in the 81st. Reid Roberts saw red for the Earthquakes in the 83rd minute.
“I think we tried to react in the game, but it was too late,” San Jose forward Cristian Espinoza said. “We need to keep pushing the game from the beginning. We need to improve in so many things as a team. We need to take this break to rest, recharge our minds and come back to work stronger.”
Week 26 ended in Vancouver, where the Whitecaps shutout Sporting Kansas City 3-0. Emmanuel Sabbi opened the scoring for Vancouver in the 35th, Jean-CLadue Ngando doubled the lead in the 43rd, and Mathias Laborda finished off the scoring in the 87th minute.
The 2025 Leagues Cup begins on Tuesday.
Moving to the USMNT players abroad, Marlon Fossey’s Standard Liege won 2-0 at Raal La Louviere in the Jupiler League. Thomas Henry opened the scoring for Standard in the 5th and Marco Ilaimaharitra converted a penalty in the 39th minute.
Cade Cowell and Richy Ledezma subbed out in the 54th for Chivas’ 4-3 home win over Atletico San Luis in Liga MX. An own-goal put Chivas up in the 11th and Cowell doubled the lead a minute into first-half stoppage time. San Luis pulled a goal back in the 50th, equalized from the penalty spot in the 69th, and went ahead in the 75th. Armando Gonzalez equalized for Chivas in the 84th and scored again in the 90th minute.
Alex Zendejas subbed on in the 65th for Club America’s 1-1 draw at Necaxa. Raul Zuniga put Club America up in the 26th and Necaxa equalized in the 43rd minute.
On Sunday, Aziel Jackson subbed on in the 70th for Jagiellonia Bialystok’s 3-2 home win over Widzew Lodz in the Ekstraklasa. Dawid Drachel opened the scoring for Jagiellonia Bialystok in the 3rd. Widzew Lodz equalized in the 25th and went ahead in the 60th. Jagiellonia Bialystok leveled the score a minute into stoppage time and scored again two minutes later.
Konrad De La Fuente subbed out at halftime for Lausanne’s 3-2 home win over Winterthur in the Swiss Super League. Trailing from the 43rdh, Gaoussou Diakite equalized for Lausanne in the 61st. Winterthur retook the lead in the 64th. Kaly Sene pulled Lausanne level in the 81st. Playing a man up from the 88th, Diakite scored again for Lausanne three minutes into stoppage time. De La Fuente saw yellow in the 22nd minute.
Aron Johannsson subbed on in the 80th for Valur’s 3-1 home win over Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjardar in the Besta deild. Patrick Pedersen opened the scoring for Valur in the 10th. Lukas Jeimisson made it 2-0 Valur in the 59th and Tryggvi Haraldsson added a goal in the 67th. Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjardar scored in the 71st minute.
Matko Miljevic’s Huracan beat Boa Juniors 1-0 at home in Argentina. Miljevic scored Huracan’s goal in the 65th minute.
Did Not Play: Jose Corona (Tijuana 1 – Juarez 1), Alan Sonora (Cerro Porteno 3 – Deportivo Recoleta 1), Bryan Reynolds (Westerlo 2 – Anderlecht 5)
On Monday, Matthew Hoppe subbed on in the 58th for Sonderjyske’s 6-2 loss at Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga. Sonderjyske’s Alexander Lyng opened the scoring 9th. Midtjylland equalized in the 17th, adding goals in the 35th, 27th, and 65th. Midtjylland converted a penalty in the 75th and scored again in the 79th. Magnus Jensen converted a Sonderjyske penalty in the 85th minute.
Quotes courtesy of MLS team press releases.
Photo by Andrew Katsampes – ISIPhotos.com
