MLS Takeaways: Week 20
Photo by Alex Gallardo from The Los Angeles Times
Saturday was a prime example of my belief that once casual fans start watching MLS after Leo Messi joins, they won’t ever want to leave.
This league is dumb, and that is meant in the most complimentary way possible.
Let’s dive into last week in MLS.
LA Galaxy defeat LAFC 2-1
I said earlier this year that I wouldn’t discuss midweek games, but El Trafico at the Rose Bowl deserves some discussion, mainly because it led to similar results over the weekend.
Rivalry games are weird, but LAFC’s struggles are impossible to ignore.
Their goal scoring has gone down the tube since Denis Bouanga has hit his slump, while the Galaxy have now ridden Riqui Puig performances to back to back wins.
It was an amazing game, as El Trafico always is, and may be a turning point for the two clubs seasons.
The Galaxy now have back to back quality wins over LAFC and Philly, while LAFC continues to slump after losing and then drawing to San Jose.
Remember this game come the end of the season…
Charlotte draws Cincinnati 2-2
Another rough defensive performance from Cincy (the Gold Cup is hurting them) but what an awesome job to fight back and get a point.
Columbus draws NYCFC 1-1
Down a goal. Down a man. Missing their head and assistant coach.
But the Crew don’t die. A 90th minute deflection goal got them a point at home.
NYCFC still can’t buy a break.
DC United draws Miami 2-2
Twice, Miami had their hands on a much needed win.
Twice, they let it slip and came away with only a point.
At this point, I’m not even sure Messi can drag them to the playoffs.
Atlanta defeats Montreal 1-0
Not the most exciting game from Atlanta, and the only goal once again came as a part of Thiago Almada’s brilliance, but whatever.
Wins are wins.
You can’t complain.
New York Red Bulls defeats New England 2-1
The Revs have been fighting with Cincy to be top dog in the East, but dropping points to teams like the Red Bulls sure ain’t gonna help.
Granted, this one was a little bit unlucky due to a late equalizer being canceled out due to offside, but that’d still only be one point against a team outside of the playoff line.
Not good enough.
St. Louis defeats Toronto 1-0
Before the year, I said that Toronto was good but had no depth.
Through the year, I’ve realized Toronto has talent but the coaching from Bob Bradley wasn’t meshing with the squad.
Now? Toronto is just bad.
They aren’t a good team.
Shame, considering the money they spent.
Chicago defeats Nashville 1-0
Chicago spent all of Saturday writing the blueprint for beating Nashville.
It’s called only let Hany Mukhtar play half of the game so he has less time to make something happen.
That’s a 200 IQ play!
Houston draws Kansas City 2-2
This game, my friends, was peak MLS.
Bad defense leading to goals? Check.
A 97th minute equalizer? Check.
17 step overs followed by getting wacked down in the box for a penalty? Check.
One of the most beautiful passing plays leading to a goal that you’ll see all year? Check.
Sebastian Ferreira needlessly shoving down a player before kick off? Check.
An amazing afro? Absolutely.
What a league.
Austin defeats Minnesota 4-1
Austin is finally, finally starting to heat up.
Minnesota is really starting to cool down.
Well, not everyone in Minnesota…
Oh hello, Adrien.
Colorado defeats Dallas 2-1
Colorado won a game big whoop whatever that’s not the story.
The real story is that the Colorado Rapids have signed a designated player at striker in Rafael Navarro.
They finally did it.
I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle.
Real Salt Lake defeats Orlando 4-0
Chicho Arango, the guy who scored like crazy for LAFC last year en route to MLS Cup and then they got rid of because, sure, is finally back in MLS.
And shock surprise! He scored immediately for RSL.
Weird!
Galaxy defeat Philadelphia 3-1
We already discussed the Galaxy, so let’s just dive into how much Philly really misses Andre Blake.
Jim Curtin is a great coach. The Union are a talented squad.
But every Gold Cup when Andre Blake is with Jamaica, it’s very obvious how crucial he is to the Union’s success.
LAFC draws San Jose 1-1
LAFC had plenty of games in hand and significantly more points per game than everyone else in the West.
It looked like they were heading towards another easy first place in the West.
And then CCL ended and they’ve just blown it all away.
They’re well behind St. Louis, and now they’re behind Seattle in points per game.
This slump is getting worse and worse.
Seattle defeats Vancouver 3-2
The Sounders, as they’ve done all year, dominated the xG battle.
But unlike all year, they actually scored more than 1 goal!
The issue is they also gave up 2, and they got the winner in the 91st minute.
The Sounders haven’t been able to put together a fully complete performance since they beat St. Louis 3-0 back on April 8th.
But they’re still 2nd in the West so.
Good enough, I guess.
