Soccer <\/p>\n
Ladies and gentlemen, it\u2019s the MLS weekend.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Just three weeks into the regular season, we\u2019re down to eight undefeated teams and two perfect starters. Early struggles already provoked some catenaccio tactics. There\u2019s an unexpected early pacesetter in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race and the defending MLS Cup champion is on the ropes.<\/p>\n
With Armchair Analyst and all-around legend Matt Doyle rested this time out, the task of filling his iconic boots falls to me. So let\u2019s take a spin across Matchday 3.<\/p>\n
Photo credit: Jane Gershovich, Sounders FC Communications<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It was natural to expect a dour, defensive affair when Seattle<\/a> and LAFC<\/a> faced off again at Lumen Field on Saturday afternoon, considering both teams are sturdily built and happen to be juggling league and Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> action, with massive away legs looming in their respective Round-of-16 ties vs. Cruz Azul and Columbus<\/a> that led both coaches to make significant rotations in their XIs.<\/p>\n WRONG!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Instead we got the loudest fireworks of the matchday, a 5-2 barnburner<\/a> that sparked to life with a legit dream-of-a-lifetime moment from Kalani Kossa-Rienzi<\/a>, the 22-year-old signed to a short-term loan this week from MLS NEXT Pro<\/a> affiliate Tacoma Defiance. On a weekend when several top teams failed to be sufficiently direct and paid a price, kudos to Kossa-Rienzi and Jes\u00fas Ferreira<\/a> for playing over the top and asking their Angelino guests to deal with it, which… they did not.<\/p>\n Combined with his overall energy and bite \u2013 Kossa-Rienzi also completed 30\/31 passes and won a game-high five tackles in his 70 minutes on the pitch \u2013 it looks like that goal sealed the Rave Green\u2019s decision to offer him a first-team contract.<\/p>\n \u201cCraig [Waibel, Seattle\u2019s general manager] and I are going to have a long, hard conversation on my drive home today because [Kossi-Rienzi] deserves to be signed to a contract,\u201d said head coach Brian Schmetzer postgame, and indeed, the player himself confirmed that he\u2019s been inked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just because of the goal, that was just icing on the cake. The kid has potential, he has talent, he\u2019s going to be an excellent MLS player.\u201d<\/p>\n A goalkeeping error from Andrew Thomas<\/a> allowed LAFC to level via Nathan Ordaz<\/a> before the break, which helped prompt Schmetzer to bring on Jordan Morris<\/a> for Danny Musovski<\/a> at halftime, one of several subs that transformed this from a tense chess match into a freewheeling rout.<\/p>\n Morris deservedly got the garlands for netting the goal that makes him the Sounders’ all-time leading scorer<\/a> with 87 goals across all competitions. This was mainly a Defiance show, though, considering the impact of second-team success stories Kossa-Rienzi, Danny Leyva<\/a>, Georgi Minoungou<\/a> and the excellent Paul Rothrock<\/a>, whose banger of a goal and assist to Morris are reminders of how crucial his blend of sauce and spunk has become for Seattle.<\/p>\n Alas for the Sounders, all this good stuff may be eclipsed by the sight of Pedro de la Vega<\/a> hobbling off the pitch barely half an hour in, yet another injury concern for a Designated Player whose time in Seattle has been blighted by them. It\u2019s a worrisome development ahead of their daunting midweek trip to Mexico City, where they\u2019ll face Cruz Azul.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dynamo<\/a> defender Obafemi Awodesu<\/a> pumped both fists in a quiet celebration when referee Jon Freemon blew the full-time whistle. Head coach Ben Olsen managed to look both irritated and relieved as he stepped in from the touchline, having earned a yellow card from Freemon for his remonstrations a few minutes prior. And the home fans at Lower.com Field booed heartily as their team concluded a disappointing week with two points dropped to their bus-parking visitors from Houston.<\/p>\n No doubts about who welcomed this 0-0 draw<\/a> more. Having taken a 4-1 home hiding<\/a> from Inter Miami<\/a> last week, the Dynamo set out their stall in the most defensive-minded iteration of a 4-3-3 imaginable and deservedly banked their first clean sheet of the season. They didn\u2019t merely soak up pressure here and hope for the best, either: La Naranja answered Olsen\u2019s call for more fight and intensity with a nasty, combative edge, particularly in central midfield, that the Crew couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t match.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past two seasons, it is how strong we were on the defensive end that put us in the playoffs. That\u2019s what we have to focus on now until we become a more well-oiled machine and relationships continue to build,\u201d said Olsen postgame.<\/p>\n \u201cThe offensive part will continue to grow, but when you look after each other, outwork the opponent and defend the box like we did tonight, that stuff goes a long way. We talked about an emotional and physical response coming out of the last two matches, and we got it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Conversely, Mohamed Farsi<\/a> and Patrick Schulte<\/a> said afterward that they\u2019re not worried about the Crew, but I sure am. Browse the passing and positional maps<\/a> from this game and you\u2019ll spot the telltale signs of the dreaded \u2018horseshoe of sadness,\u2019 when a team plays its way into the final third yet merely camps out around the opposition\u2019s box rather than penetrating it with regularity.<\/p>\n All that possession led to a piddling 0.9 expected goals, a story all too similar to the 3-0 smash-and-grab<\/a> inflicted on them by LAFC<\/a> in their midweek Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> clash. After Chicago<\/a> gifted them an array of inviting chances on opening weekend, the Crew\u2019s xG has now failed to reach the 1.0 marker for two matchdays in a row, a sign of just how costly the loss of Cucho Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> and Christian Ram\u00edrez<\/a>, who totaled 47 goal contributions in league play last season, has been.<\/p>\n Cucho\u2019s departure for Real Betis has exposed not just how productive he was, but also how central he was to the relationships that make NancyBall hum. The Colombian striker\u2019s intelligence in sniffing out time and space, then guiding his colleagues into the combination play to exploit it, is elite. And it\u2019s unfair to expect his nominal successor Jacen Russell-Rowe<\/a>, or any other individual on the current roster, to replace it \u2013 including Diego Rossi<\/a>, whose outward displays of frustration hint at the burden of responsibility he\u2019s feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, we were worse, the way we started. I don’t know if you remember, it was worse,\u201d said Nancy in a glass-half-full postgame defense of his team\u2019s drift. \u201cLast year at the same time, we were talking about Cucho and Diego, that they were not scoring, and we scored more goals. It will come.\u201d<\/p>\n The thing about that is, at this time last year the Crew were cutting through LIGA MX giants on their march to the CCC final, and right now they need to reel off at least three goals against a stingy LAFC side on Tuesday to have any chance of making a similar run. Maybe they\u2019ll complete their rumored pursuit of Argentine striker Flaco L\u00f3pez in the coming days, and the Cucho-sized hole will begin to shrink. But in the meantime, the ceiling on their season will have dropped.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In keeping with the glorious tradition of #MLSAfterDark, Saturday\u2019s nightcap served up a tactical battle for true sickos, between Eric Ramsay, the league\u2019s youngest coach (by seven years), and its oldest (by 11 years), Bruce Arena. Minnesota<\/a>\u2019s project is further along than San Jose<\/a>\u2019s, and you could tell here. Ramsay\u2019s Loons have conducted some clinics on how to control a match without the ball, and so it was again here as he got the best of a living legend more than twice his age.<\/p>\n The visitors won both the scoreboard (1-0<\/a>, and it should\u2019ve been more comfortable than that) and the expected goals tally (1.9-1.5 via the official Sportec numbers, which flatter the Quakes a bit) despite a mere 33% of ball possession and trailing in most other statistical categories, thanks to their superb defensive organization and manipulation of space. Shouts out to Blake of EverythingMNUFC<\/a> for a couple of illuminating video clips that tell the story.<\/p>\n That the Quakes attempted 598 passes on the night, but only 12 of them into the MNUFC penalty box \u2013 just two more than the ultra-efficient Loons \u2013 says a great deal about who held the high ground, despite the diligent defending required.<\/p>\n What made all that possible, though, was an early brain fart from Bruno Wilson<\/a>, compounded by he and his teammates\u2019 slow reaction to the mushrooming danger as the ball bounced in their box after the San Jose center back shanked a clearance straight up into the cool California air under little pressure. Seconds later, Wilson\u2019s opposite number Michael Boxall<\/a> squared to a wide-open Kelvin Yeboah<\/a> for a seeing-eye side volley that proved the game-winner.<\/p>\n I\u2019d guess Arena spends some time, and probably drops a bon mot or two, on this sequence in the film room. Because as fun as Chicho Arango<\/a>, Cristian Espinoza<\/a> and the rest of the Quakes\u2019 creators are in their 3-5-2 shape, it\u2019s just not going to work as well if they have to play from behind like this very often.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Loons superfan Alex Schieferdecker called this a \u201cPlatonic ideal of a road win\u201d on Bluesky, and he\u2019s not wrong. The ageless Boxall was my man of the match with a mere 29 touches of the ball \u2013 an assist (he deserved a second, too, after teeing up his defensive colleague Morris Duggan<\/a> for a great look that Daniel<\/a> saved well in the 62nd minute), 11\/16 passes completed, nine clearances, two interceptions, 2\/2 duels won and zero fouls committed. They won\u2019t always want that to be the case, but on Matchday 3, it works.<\/p>\n \u201cWe suffered more than we needed to,\u201d Ramsay said, to his credit, postgame. \u201cI just said to the players that there, it’s almost like we enjoy the suffering, we enjoy defending the box, because I think we could have made the game far easier for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota will likely need to be more proactive on their home turf at Allianz Field, and I can understand why Loons faithful might not be thrilled to watch this every time out. But it\u2019s a great card to play on the road, despite it not exactly entertaining neutrals like me.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A big W also got overshadowed in Vancouver<\/a>, where the Whitecaps beat CF Montr\u00e9al<\/a> 2-0<\/a> to start their league slate 3W-0L-0D for the first time in their MLS existence. But a hush fell over BC Place after star creator Ryan Gauld<\/a> picked up a knee injury<\/a> in the first half and had to be helped off the field, raising fears of a lengthy spell on the sidelines for VWFC\u2019s most irreplaceable player.<\/p>\n We\u2019re awaiting an official diagnosis, and a committed optimist could pick up morsels of hope in the postgame remarks, I suppose. \u2018Caps head coach Jesper S\u00f8rensen said Gauld \u201cwas more positive after the game than he was in the [halftime] break,\u201d while defender Tristan Blackmon told Canadian Soccer Daily the Scot was in \u201cgood spirits; he was happy to greet everybody after the game, after the big win.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, even if the news is good, I\u2019ll be shocked if Gauld suits up for Vancouver\u2019s Champions Cup second-leg visit to CF Monterrey on Wednesday. And that\u2019s a shame, because the \u2018Caps were brave and resilient to battle back for a 1-1 draw<\/a> in the first leg and could argue they were the better side despite their LIGA MX adversary’s wealth of talent and pedigree.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Arriving with zero firsthand experience of the North American landscape, faced with a growing list of costly injuries, S\u00f8rensen has done good work to fashion this squad into a dogged, tough-to-beat collective with a touch of class, as was evident in the defeat of CFMTL. It\u2019s not just Gauld; Sam Adekugbe<\/a>, Jayden Nelson<\/a> and Emmanuel Sabbi<\/a> have also been out, but the likes of J.C. Ngando<\/a>, \u00c9dier Ocampo<\/a> and now rookie Tate Johnson<\/a> have stepped into the breach to keep them competitive with games coming thick and fast thanks to CCC.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing for me is that I didn\u2019t know the players, so I didn\u2019t know that we didn\u2019t have a bench,\u201d S\u00f8rensen said with a touch of Nordic humor postgame, though he also acknowledged the cold reality that \u201cwe have to really use all our resources now.\u201d<\/p>\n With sky-high stakes and intensity before preseason has even concluded, continental competition so often poses an absolutely brutal start to the season for its MLS participants. But the Whitecaps deserve respect for the way they\u2019ve faced up to the challenge.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Precious few of us expected to see<\/strong> Vancouver atop the Western Conference standings, even with just three weeks gone. And who would\u2019ve predicted that their East counterpart would be the Philadelphia Union<\/a>? They too are a spotless 3W-0L-0D, with the league\u2019s best goal differential (+7) after Saturday\u2019s 2-0 road win<\/a> in New England<\/a> and the runaway early Golden Boot leader in Tai Baribo<\/a>, already on six goals from just seven shots on target, tying a very old MLS record held by Ante Razov.<\/p>\n Poacher, predator, fox in the box: The Israeli might get his own shorthand term at this rate. He\u2019s been incredibly clever and efficient with his positioning and instincts around goal as Bradley Carnell dials up Philly\u2019s high-press meter to 11:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Now HERE is a shot map to admire.<\/p>\n Early MLS Golden Boot pacesetter Tai Baribo of @PhilaUnion<\/a> has already scored 6 goals in the first 3 games of the season (everyone else is at 3 or fewer), and hoo boy, that’s some kind of efficiency: pic.twitter.com\/mPyKBTizuC<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Charles Boehm (@cboehm) March 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n It\u2019s probably not sustainable, but it\u2019s still impressive, and Union opponents will need to do some extra game-planning to deal with his movement. Up next for Philly are Nashville SC<\/a>, who\u2019ll need to raise their game for a Sunday visit to Subaru Park.<\/p>\n Speaking of the Coyotes, and MLS records<\/strong> much older than Cavan Sullivan<\/a>\u2026 NSC bagged their first win of the season by defeating the woebegone Portland Timbers<\/a> 2-0<\/a> at GEODIS Park, and yet the story of the day in Music City was the away goalkeeper, James Pantemis<\/a>, who might not be a backup much longer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Something tells us Nashville will spend some time on spot kicks this week! That\u2019s a much easier conversation to have after a victory, of course, and head coach B.J. Callaghan can finally savor some green shoots of renewal in the attacking end thanks to increasingly vibrant work in NSC\u2019s buildup play, which provided a sturdy foundation for the verve of Andy Najar<\/a> and Ahmed Qasem<\/a> to show itself.<\/p>\n Witness the interchange, dynamism and coordinated movement in play on Najar\u2019s crucial opener \u2013 a welcome evolution from last year\u2019s stale soccer:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n D.C. United, Chicago Fire and New York City FC<\/strong> also collected their opening wins of the campaign, all three rallying from early deficits or second-half equalizers to secure that most vital of three-pointers: the first ones.<\/p>\n D.C.<\/a> showed resolve to surge past Sporting KC<\/a> 2-1<\/a> at Audi Field, winter signing Jo\u00e3o Peglow<\/a> drawing a penalty kick and assisting on the winner in his debut. The Black-and-Red continue to be xG superstars under Troy Lesesne, creating good chances with regularity. Yet their fragility in defensive transition kneecaps them again and again, which is puzzling given that those are exactly the sorts of moments their pressing scheme seeks to inflict on the opposition.<\/p>\n The Fire<\/a> survived a wild one in cold, rainy Frisco, Texas, where they trailed 1-0 to FC Dallas<\/a> with half an hour to go but emerged 3-1 winners<\/a> thanks to some late-breaking magic from Hugo Cuypers<\/a>, who assisted on CF97\u2019s equalizer, was prominently involved in the buildup to the winner and drew, then converted a penalty kick to seal the deal, notwithstanding an even later penalty kick at the other end that Chris Brady<\/a> saved impressively.<\/p>\n Chicago\u2019s club-record transfer acquisition, Cuypers was the subject of keen scrutiny during last season\u2019s woes, so if this night was a glimpse of his true potential in red, it points to another example of Gregg Berhalter being a striker whisperer. The new coach emphasized the collective in his postgame remarks to MLS Season Pass.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows the determination of the team to keep fighting, get back in the game and eventually overturn it,\u201d said Berhalter. \u201cWe’re down on numbers, and the guys keep working and keep doing their thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n First win for Gregg Berhalter with the @ChicagoFire<\/a> \u2714\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/X9rSRuAoAo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLS on Air (@MLSonAir) March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n NYCFC<\/a>, for their part, were good value for their 2-1 win<\/a> over Orlando City<\/a>, even if Lions goalkeeper Pedro Gallese<\/a> helped them out by adding to his recent string of forgettable performances and fullback Kevin O’Toole<\/a>\u2019s ill-advised second yellow card made for an interesting finish.<\/p>\n The Pigeons got a timely boost from 17-year-old homegrown Jonathan Shore<\/a>, who impressed in the heart of midfield in his first career MLS start and provided a pleasing narrative as the club commemorated its 10th anniversary.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Woke up thinking about Jonny’s masterclass ???? pic.twitter.com\/r030u1NPS1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Sunday\u2019s twin slate was the place<\/strong> to get your week\u2019s dose of drama. First, Inter Miami<\/a> remained stubbornly sloppy, self-destructive and\u2026 still undefeated, somehow, even as the load-managed Lionel Messi<\/a> remained on the sidelines, taking a 1-0 win<\/a> over Charlotte FC<\/a> despite eating a first-half red card for the second time this season.<\/p>\n This time it was veteran goalkeeper Oscar Ustari<\/a>, 38, who\u2019d generally been a safe pair of hands with Drake Callender<\/a> out injured \u2013 until he wandered way out of his box to confront Wilfried Zaha<\/a> and got a deserved early shower after clipping CLT\u2019s star winger. Never mind, though: Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> and Tadeo Allende<\/a> hoodwinked the entire Charlotte defense with a two-man game in the opening moments of the second half, and it turned out to be all the Herons needed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Will anyone ever solve how to punish Miami for all these self-inflicted wounds? Or is there just so much quality on their roster that someone will always conjure up a moment of class? Guess we\u2019ll just have to tune in to the next episode of MLS\u2019s top telenovela to find out.<\/p>\n The LA Galaxy\u2019s woes deepened<\/strong> as the weekend wrapped under the SoCal sun at Dignity Health Sports Park, St. Louis CITY SC<\/a> scoring their first goals and bagging their first win of the season at the champs\u2019 expense, a 3-0 drubbing<\/a>. LA<\/a> are now 0W-4L-0D across league and CCC play with just one goal scored.<\/p>\n While context matters here, as we discussed during the leadup to this Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental affair \u2013 the Gs are perilously shorthanded as they seek to craft a new identity following so many offseason departures \u2013 the vibes are obviously, tangibly bad in Carson, even with another trophy still fresh in the display case.<\/p>\n \u201cResults are about goals. But the ease with which we give up goals can be demoralizing,\u201d head coach Greg Vanney said postgame. Which reminded me of a concept the Armchair Analyst himself alluded to in his annual \u2018tiers of MLS\u2019 piece<\/a> a couple weeks back: the \u2018failure cascade,\u2019 a phenomenon in which one or two breakdowns in a complex, interwoven system triggers further, snowballing problems further down the line.<\/p>\n Matt used the term about Columbus and Montr\u00e9al, and now I think we have to apply it to the Galaxy, who find themselves waist-deep in floodwater with too many holes to plug and not enough fingers. Given that the recent release<\/a> of leaguewide reserves of General Allocation Monday confirmed LA have no 2025 GAM left to spend, it looks like the solutions will have to come from within.<\/p>\n For now, they’re the first defending champs to lose three straight games to start a title defense:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n LA Galaxy have lost their first three matches of the 2025 MLS season:<\/p>\n \u274c 2-0 L to San Diego FC Rough start for the reigning champs ???? pic.twitter.com\/IqKdolWTG8<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 B\/R Football (@brfootball) March 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The New York Red Bulls<\/strong> continued one of the more confounding patterns in modern MLS history by taking a road point home from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Saturday\u2019s scoreless draw<\/a> runs Atlanta United<\/a>‘s all-time record against RBNY to 3W-10L-6D, reflective of the difficulties the taurine press has inflicted on several generations of Five Stripes projects over the past decade.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also an extension of the defensive expertise Sandro Schwarz flashed in last year\u2019s upstart Audi MLS Cup Playoffs run, as the German adjusted his team\u2019s outlook to stem the tide of ATL\u2019s early dominance, where Alexey Miranchuk<\/a> and fullback Matt Edwards<\/a> (!) tested the RBNY rearguard with a barrage of probing deliveries into the penalty box. And it\u2019s a reality check for the Five Stripes, whose high-octane attack wasn\u2019t quite the same after Emmanuel Latte Lath<\/a> took a knock in the dying moments of the first half.<\/p>\n San Diego FC<\/strong> might just be for real. The Chrome-and-Azul now sit fourth in the Supporters\u2019 Shield race after a gutsy come-from-behind win at Real Salt Lake<\/a>, traditionally one of the tougher away days in the league, keyed by two injury-time goals.<\/p>\n For now at least, it\u2019s no Chucky Lozano<\/a>, no problem, thanks to a man-of-the-match outing from his fellow DP Anders Dreyer<\/a>, who fired home the winner \u2013 his third goal of the season \u2013 as the expansionists showed they can ride the chaos in addition to the carefully controlled possession game they\u2019ve already displayed. His fellow Dane Marcus Ingvartsen<\/a> was also incisive, adeptly finishing a slick late transition sequence:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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\u274c 2-1 L to Vancouver Whitecaps
\u274c 3-0 L to St. Louis City <\/p>\n