Inter Miami’s new digs, LAFC’s ruthlessness & more from Matchday 6 | MLSSoccer.com

After an eventful FIFA international window, Major League Soccer returned with a bang on Saturday, giving us more action to chew over than we have space to fit it into.

We’ll start in South Florida, where Lionel Messi and the defending MLS Cup presented by Audi champions christened their long-awaited new building with a match to remember.

Here’s to more nights under the lights at Nu Stadium. ✨ pic.twitter.com/a53pnYFnrm

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026

Herons finally fly home

After years of searching, striving and setbacks, Inter Miami CF cut the ribbon on their new house Saturday night. And glittering, sold-out Nu Stadium, while not quite entirely the finished product just yet, proved a fitting stage for a breathless occasion.

Give credit to Austin FC for denying their hosts the full three points that would’ve made it a picture-perfect opening day for Lionel Messi and the Herons – and a tip of the cap to the gritty, grizzled Luis Suárez for sniffing out the late 2-2 equalizer that raised the roof in the dying moments.

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026

In the bigger picture, Miami’s hunt for a permanent home doesn’t just date back to their 2020 MLS expansion debut, or the official awarding of that slot in 2018. This story traces all the way to 2001, when league leaders reluctantly folded Miami Fusion FC and its Florida sibling, the Tampa Bay Mutiny, vowing to someday return.

“They’ve done the unthinkable. The stadium is spectacular, it’s breathtaking,” said MLS commissioner Don Garber.

Son, Bouanga don’t let up

While Miami are the defending champions, LAFC stand alone atop the league table after a 6-0 demolition of leaky Orlando City that was every bit as one-sided as the scoreline suggests.

It was 5-0 at halftime thanks to a Denis Bouanga hat trick – and a whopping four assists from Son Heung-Min, a display of skill so impressive even his demanding head coach Marc Dos Santos had to admit was “savage” from the South Korean icon.

Sonny becomes just the second MLS player ever to notch four helpers in one half. The first? One Lionel Andrés Messi, in 2024.

LAFC (5W-0L-1D) are MLS’s last remaining unbeaten side, possess the best goal differential (+14) and are the only team yet to concede a single goal in league play.

Orlando, meanwhile, sit rock-bottom in the latter two categories.

Whitecaps, Earthquakes keep pace

As good as LAFC have been, we’ve got a lively race out West thanks to the excellence of Vancouver and San Jose, who sit just one point back of Son, Bouanga & Co. with matching 5W-1L-0D records after impressive weekend wins.

The Earthquakes posted their fifth clean sheet of the year with an emphatic 3-0 home win over San Diego FC.

The result was made simpler by a Manu Duah red card, but take nothing away from the quality flashed by young homegrown playmaker Niko Tsakiris, who bagged two goals and posted an absurd seven chances created, more than compensating for the absence of Timo Werner due to injury.

Niko Tsakiris, HOW?! 😵 pic.twitter.com/IJC1WwJu6I

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026

“I’ve done this for a while, and the biggest thing is, we look like a team,” said legendary Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena. “We’re banging away with a couple of local kids and domestic players, which is highly unusual in our league right now, so I think the group is doing very well. And I think the credit goes to the whole group, not just one end of the field.”

The dramatic comeback delighted a home crowd of 25,465 at BC Place, Vancouver’s biggest gate of the season so far.

“To score two goals in stoppage time shows a lot,” said Berhalter. “It shows that we believe in each other, and that it doesn’t matter if we’re 2-1 down in the 91st minute, we still have a chance.”

Lunacy by the lake

There could be no better way to announce, “international break’s over, MLS IS BACK” than the unhinged first game of Matchday 6, a matinee clash between Toronto FC and the Colorado Rapids on Saturday afternoon.

Five goals, three red cards, seven yellow cards, 30 fouls, 23 shots – and those numbers only begin to hint at the wild back-and-forth of this barnburner, where the visitors overcame Jackson Travis’ early ejection to snatch a 2-0 lead, then fumbled it away via ANOTHER red, and what I’ll call an own-golazo from Zack Steffen.

Josh Sargent scores his first MLS goal to complete the @TorontoFC comeback! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/zy39swP7AQ

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026

Just when it seemed the Reds and Rapids would share the points, TFC’s club-record signing Josh Sargent popped up with a late 3-2 winner, a great moment for his first-ever MLS goal.

“Big relief,” Sargent said of his debut strike. “We’re a team that refuses to give up. I think that was very evident today, even in a very strange game and weird circumstances.”

Luna, Gozo swap golazos for RSL

Making his first start of the season, USMNT 2026 FIFA World Cup hopeful Diego Luna opened the scoring with a clinical left-footed strike, and surely delighted his two-year-old son Manolo by celebrating with ‘the Big Guy Dance’ from Ice Spice and SpongeBob SquarePants.

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026

Then RSL’s teenage sensation Zavier Gozo did him one better, securing the victory with an absolute missile from outside the penalty box that will build the hype around the homegrown that much further.

The Claret-and-Cobalt are riding a five-game unbeaten run that’s taken them to 4W-1L-1D on the season.

OH MY, GOZO! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/RDnmWJVIlG

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026

“I’ve been a part of many clubs,” RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said postgame, “and I would say in the last year and a half that ownership, front office, players and coaches are aligned, and this is such a rare thing.”

Around the grounds

We love Mercedes-Benz Stadium – it might just be the crown jewel of MLS stadia – but whew, has it been a tough week for the home teams there. 

In the wake of the USMNT’s losses to Belgium and Portugal, the Columbus Crew ended their winless start to 2026 with a 3-1 defeat of Atlanta United, thanks in large part to a Wessam Abou Ali brace. The Palestine international’s second was an absolute banger:

That’s a way to get a brace Wessam Abou Ali! 😤 pic.twitter.com/VyFgMXjvnN

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026

Meanwhile, former USMNT coaching staff colleagues Gregg Berhalter and B.J. Callaghan faced off in Nashville SC’s visit to Chicago Fire FC.

Unlike last season, where Callaghan’s Coyotes beat the Fire twice by a combined margin of 9-2, this time Berhalter took the bragging rights via Philip Zinckernagel’s goal just 17 seconds after kickoff – and a couple of excellent late saves from Chris Brady.

But our top MD6 road performance has to be FC Dallas’ 4-0 thumping of D.C. United at Audi Field. Both members of FCD’s superb Petar Musa–Logan Farrington strike partnership scored as the North Texans continued their climb up the standings.