Soccer
The sample size is growing, people!
It’s always tricky to suss out what’s real and what’s just a flash in the pan in the early season. But after the second slate of weekend games, we’re a little closer to forming meaningful takeaways from the action across MLS.
Today, we’re looking back on Matchday 2 to examine some of the most interesting things we’ve learned in 2025.
Let’s dive in.
I wasn’t inclined to hand the Philadelphia Union a parade after their 4-2 win over Orlando City on opening weekend, largely because Oscar Pareja was forced to remove star center back Robin Jansson from his starting lineup shortly before kickoff. Pedro Gallese‘s performance in goal also didn’t help Philly’s case for being back.
But after the Union’s 4-1 demolition of FC Cincinnati? I’m closer to viewing this team as one of the better units in the Eastern Conference. Sure, Pat Noonan’s Cincy squad is juggling Concacaf Champions Cup games and wasn’t at full strength on Saturday. But with Evander and Kévin Denkey in the team? They still had plenty of quality on the field.
Philadelphia, though, didn’t seem to care one bit about the opposition’s star-studded attack. Bradley Carnell’s team looked incredibly cohesive in their 4-2-2-2 shape, pressing as a unit, dominating the defensive counting stats, and moving with precision in possession both on and off the ball. They ripped Cincinnati apart with clever third-man runs like this one that created the third goal:
The Philadelphia Union absolutely ripped FC Cincinnati apart last night with third-man runs just like this one.
Cincy are in the middle of CCC so grain(s) of salt are needed here, but the Union looked excellent basically all night long. pic.twitter.com/GjH8fKO5B9
— Joseph Lowery (@joeclowery) March 2, 2025
Tai Baribo is red-hot (and just might stay that way), Kai Wagner is still elite at left back, Quinn Sullivan is thriving as one of the dual attacking midfielders, and the double pivot is putting in work. There’s more to like in Philadelphia than many might have thought heading into the season – and they have a chance to stay perfect against the New England Revolution on Saturday (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
Question: How often do you see 6-foot-3 right backs come along?
Answer: Never! Well, almost never.
Orlando City’s Alex Freeman fits that bill and made the most of his first-ever MLS start on Saturday in the Lions’ 4-2 win over Toronto FC. The 20-year-old has impressed Oscar Pareja so much this year that (1) Orlando’s front office traded fellow right back Michael Halliday to the Houston Dynamo before the season even started and (2) Pareja actually started him. Orlando City haven’t played many young domestic players over the last half-decade, which makes Freeman’s start over Dagur Dan Thórhallsson even more notable.
The son of former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman, Alex is an incredible athlete in his own right. His open-field speed was on full display against Toronto and led to a goal for the US youth international:
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 2, 2025
Freeman still has work to do with his distribution, especially from deeper down-field, but he can put impressive pace and texture on his final-third deliveries into the box. It’s really, really hard to find a young right back in MLS with as much potential as him.
I’m not trying to spin a 0-0 draw in your inaugural MLS home match as a great thing, especially not when Chucky Lozano was subbed off with what looked like a hamstring injury just 30 minutes into the game. But while San Diego FC‘s chance-creation struggles continued in a major way against St. Louis CITY SC (they put up just 1.0 xG, according to FBref), their near-flawless control of the game did not.
We’ve seen 180 minutes of soccer from San Diego FC, and we’ve seen them control almost all of it. By smothering the ball, they control their opponents. If you don’t have the ball, you can’t score. By camping out with possession in the final third, they ensure that even if you do manage to win the ball, you have a ton of ground to cover between you and CJ dos Santos at the other end. St. Louis felt the effects of San Diego’s ball retention ability on Saturday, putting up just two shots for a grand total of 0.1 xG, according to FBref.
Mikey Varas’ team still needs work in the final third, there’s no doubt about that. But at least until Lozano gets back? You could do a lot worse than controlling nearly every facet of the game at home and on the road.
Between trades, injuries and potential pre-rotation for Concacaf Champions Cup play, we haven’t gotten a clear picture of Greg Vanney’s best midfield group this year. What we have seen, though, is an LA Galaxy team that’s struggling to progress the ball regardless of their central midfield personnel.
In their 2-1 loss at Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday, Vanney moved Elijah Wynder into the starting lineup to play next to Edwin Cerrillo in the double pivot of a 4-2-3-1, with Lucas Sanabria sliding up to play as the No. 10 as Marco Reus moved to the bench. Not unlike their possession struggles against San Diego FC on opening weekend, the Galaxy failed to do… much of anything on the ball in Vancouver. LA only managed five passes into the box, compared to 15 from Vancouver. They put up less than half of the Whitecaps’ final-third passes, too.
There’s undoubtedly more steel in the Galaxy’s midfield this year compared to last year. But it’s not doing them much good in 2025, and long-term injuries to Riqui Puig and (reportedly) Sanabria loom large.
I mean, this is downright filthy:
Lucho scores his first for Dallas! ???? pic.twitter.com/ZiemBvwEmO
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 2, 2025
After a quiet debut for FC Dallas in their season opener against the Houston Dynamo, Lucho Acosta showed out for his new team in a chaotic 3-3 road draw with the Colorado Rapids. His rapidly improving connection with striker Petar Musa was on full display – the two combined beautifully on that goal up above – and it’s becoming clear that Acosta opens up a pathway to competing in the West that simply wasn’t available to this team in 2024.
In addition to his absurd close control and goal threat in the box, Acosta’s presence in possession opens up attacking lanes for Eric Quill’s team. Playing as the lone No. 10 in a 4-2-3-1, Acosta’s gravity and distribution helps Dallas find touches in some of the most valuable attacking spaces: the central pockets just outside the box. You can see that on the goal up above, too. The 30-year-old breaks the Rapids’ midfield line with ease, forces a center back to step out of the backline, and then finish the job.
We know Lucho is a superstar. We also know he changes this FC Dallas attack for the better. The only question is: by how much?
Read MoreStephania Catt