MLS

A 7-Goal Thriller & Capital City Blowout Highlight MLS Week 6

A 7-Goal Thriller & Capital City Blowout Highlight MLS Week 6

There were plenty of storylines throughout MLS Week 6, as LAFC soundly defeated DCU, while Nani scored twice in a wild win over Colorado.

Apr 8, 2019
A 7-Goal Thriller & Capital City Blowout Highlight MLS Week 6

A weekend full of games in MLS once again produced plenty of goals, drama, and moments. With only Atlanta United and the Houston Dynamo off, the 11 games from Friday night to Sunday produced four penalty saves, a seven-goal thriller, and a blowout in what was supposed to be the game of the weekend.

Los Angeles FC continue to dominate the headlines, as they went into the nation's capital, and ran past D.C. United to the tune of a 4-0 victory. Diego Rossi scored a hat trick, en route to what will likely be an MLS Player of the Week award. Meanwhile, the San Jose Earthquakes, the previous victim of LAFC's incredible start to the season, picked up their first win of the campaign. Five teams in the league remain without a victory this year; New York City FC, Atlanta United, the Colorado Rapids, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Portland Timbers.  

Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - 2 LA Galaxy

The hosts had a chance to take an early lead against the Galaxy on Friday night, when they won a penalty. Left back Ali Adnan, a new signing, took the honors, and sent David Bingham diving away from the shot. The problem? Adnan tried a Panenka, but completely mishit his shot, allowing Bingham to recover and save the tame attempt in the second minute. From there, Vancouver got Zlataned, as Ibrahimovic scored and assisted in the win for the Galaxy.



New York City FC 0 - 0 Montreal Impact

Not much to write about from this game. City have only one loss through their first four games of the season, but also have just four points, having failed to win yet. Three of their four draws have been at home, a troubling sign for head coach Dome Torrent. Montreal managed the draw without the injured Ignacio Piatti, who is unlikely to be available on Tuesday against D.C. United. Maxi Urruti got sent off for the visitors, meaning the forward will also be unavailable tomorrow.

The unfortunate talking point from this game was the field at Yankee Stadium. The venue is not well suited for soccer, but it got dangerous on Saturday, when part of the turf that covers the baseball infield came up. That there were no injuries related to this is almost a miracle. 



D.C. United 0 - 4 Los Angeles FC

What was meant to be a top-of-the-table clash between two unbeaten teams quickly turned into a route in the nation's capital. Televised on FOX, LAFC were undeterred by a penalty save by Bill Hamid on Carlos Vela. By halftime, the hosts were down 3-0, and their night got worse when Wayne Rooney was sent off in the second half, before Diego Rossi rounded out his hat trick late on. 

Check out more about this game, from both perspectives here, from MLSsoccer's Charles Boehm.

Toronto FC 2 - 2 Chicago Fire

Alejandro Pozuelo assisted once again for Jozy Altidore as the Reds maintained their unbeaten run to start the season. However, the Fire came from a goal down to take the lead on the road. Tallies from Nemanja Nikolic and CJ Sapong had the Illinois side ahead in the second half. Jonathan Osorio's leveler in the 76th minute split the points, but maybe it was a sign of improvement for Chicago. There's been a lot of rumors about them in recent weeks about potentially leaving Bridgeview, maybe rebranding the club.

In back-to-back weeks now, they've picked up four points against the New York Red Bulls and TFC. Not a bad way to go if you're looking to turn your luck around.

New York Red Bulls 1 - 2 Minnesota United

The story here should be the Loons. Minnesota finally gets to open their brand-new stadium, Allianz Field, on Saturday against NYCFC. They've won three of their five road games to start the season, almost doubling last year's point total on the road (nine points versus five). Now in their third year, they'll get to play at a place of their own, in what appears to be a wonderful stadium.

However, the form of the Red Bulls might get just a bit more attention this week. Chris Armas deserved a lot of credit for taking over for Jesse Marsch midseason last year and guiding RBNY to their third Supporters' Shield. This year, though, after already being eliminated from the Champions League, the Red Bulls have just one win through five. You'd expect them to turn around their form, but losses at Red Bull Arena to Orlando City and Minnesota aren't promising.

Columbus Crew 1 - 0 New England Revolution

The Crew picked up their fourth win of the season, giving them 13 points from their first six games. Josh Williams' header from a set piece was the only goal of the game, and Michael Mancienne was sent off for the Revs in the second half. Zack Steffen made a big save late, and you wonder how the Crew might replace him when he heads to Manchester City this summer.

A special place in this post needs to be set aside for Federico Higuain. The Argentine playmaker had the assist for Williams' goal, giving him 61 during his tenure in Columbus. That tied the club record with Robert Warzycha. Higuain joined the Crew in 2012 as the unheralded older brother of Gonzalo. All he's done in his eight years in Columbus is put up 54 goals and 61 assists, and is still producing at the age of 34. 



Orlando City 4 - 3 Colorado Rapids 

D.C. United versus LAFC was supposed to be the game of the weekend. The Lions and the 'Pids were the actual game of the weekend. Colorado are still looking for their first win of the season, and took the lead twice in Florida, at 1-0 and 3-2. But a week after coming up short against D.C. United, Orlando wasn't to be denied again, as Chris Mueller and Nani scored in the final 10 minutes for the Lions. 

That was Nani's second goal of the game, after he opened his MLS account in the first half with a header. However, some of Nani's reactions to a no-call on a penalty claim a couple of minutes before his winning goal were not appreciated by his opponent, Kellyn Acosta. 



Philadelphia Union 2 - 1 FC Dallas

The Union fought back late to win at home, their third win in six tries this season. Cory Burke cleaned up a save on Marco Fabian's penalty, and then Alejandro Bedoya won it for the Union in stoppage time. The story from this one though was how Dallas had to deal with three unexpected absences. 



There wasn't much other information about what transpired, but it certainly harmed Dallas' chances on the night. They still almost got something from the trip to Pennsylvania, but having to leave key contributors at home will always make road trips in MLS difficult. 

San Jose Earthquakes 3 - 0 Portland Timbers

Tommy Thompson didn't guarantee a win just before kickoff in a sideline interview, but the Quakes' player did make a statement nonetheless. 

"Today we're going to be different. And if it's not this week, it'll be next week. I believe in this team, I believe in this coach, I believe in this organization. We're going to fix this," he said.

What transpired from there was SJ's first win of the season. Shea Salinas, Danny Hoesen, and Cristian Espinoza scored in the first half, as the Quakes kept their first clean sheet of the season, ending a 13-game winless streak. Turns out, all they needed was to play the Timbers, who have just one point through five games, with 15 goals conceded. And the re-opening of Providence Park is still way off in the future. 

Seattle Sounders 1 - 0 Real Salt Lake

LAFC are catching all the headlines this year, and for good reasons. Right there with them though are the Sounders, who have 13 points from five games. Nothing too catchy from Saturday's win, but the Sounders keep plugging away early in the season, a complete contrast to their early season form in previous years. On the other hand, Mike Petke's side has now lost four games in a row, after picking up four points from their first two games. 

FC Cincinnati 1 - 1 Sporting Kansas City

It's been a roller coaster of emotions for Sporting recently. Last week, they blasted Montreal 7-1. They followed up that performance with an emotionally draining 5-0 loss to Monterrey on the road in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League semifinal. There's no hope of overturning that result at home, but Peter Vermes sent out a team against Cincinnati that featured eight changes from the side that played in Mexico.

Darren Mattocks scored from the spot for Cincy, but 16-year-old Gianluca Busio took advantage of some miscommunication between Spencer Richey and Greg Garza to pounce on the equalizer. Cincy had a couple of chances to win the game, but just couldn't get it done on the day.