Soccer <\/p>\n
Normally we\u2019d list some things that made it a week unlike any other (or, ya know, show the opposite). But it\u2019s tough to know what\u2019s real and what\u2019s fake during an international break. Add a grain of salt to any takes you\u2019re cooking up after this weekend.<\/p>\n
As always: The Power Rankings are voted on by, give or take, 15 people associated with MLSsoccer.com. However, we should probably note that half of those people were on international duty this week.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Inter Miami<\/a> had a Matchday 5 bye. They\u2019re one of two unbeaten teams left in the league.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Previous: Bye | Next: 3\/29 vs. PHI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It took eight minutes for the Union<\/a> to score the season\u2019s first goal against St. Louis<\/a>. That\u2019s all they needed in a 1-0 win, and now they\u2019re sitting on top of the Eastern Conference after five games. A huge matchup with Inter Miami is waiting for them this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Matchday 5\/34 ????#DOOP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/41GQaUaNLJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) March 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n After so much hype the last couple of weeks, a 3-1 loss to Chicago<\/a> probably feels like crashing down to Earth. They\u2019re still on a 2.00 points-per-game pace and have a strong chance of bouncing back against Toronto<\/a> this Saturday. Or maybe they\u2019ll take it easy in that one as they prepare for their Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> quarterfinal matchup with Pumas next week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s not exactly your typical 4-1 win, is it?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Still, the vibes in Charlotte<\/a> are outstanding. The Crown put on a show in the middle 30 minutes, head coach Dean Smith signed a contract extension through 2027<\/a> and The Crown have 10 points through five games. Imagine where the hype would be if, back on Matchday 3, they turned a man advantage against Inter Miami into a win.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n LAFC<\/a> put in a professional performance in a 2-0 win at Sporting KC<\/a>. That\u2019s a solid bounce back from their 1-0 loss to Austin<\/a> and a nice lead into a big stretch that includes their first matchup with San Diego<\/a> and a CCC quarterfinal series against Inter Miami.<\/p>\n Also: David Mart\u00ednez<\/a> is legit, folks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u00bfFutbolista o Karate Kid? ???? pic.twitter.com\/kmEISjlXjT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 L\u00c1FC (@SomosLAFC) March 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The Crew<\/a> couldn\u2019t find a breakthrough against New York City FC<\/a> in a 0-0 draw. That\u2019s not for a lack of trying. They outshot NYCFC 23-5 and put up 1.6 xG to NYCFC\u2019s 0.2. Still, the Cucho effect seems real so far. They\u2019ve scored multiple goals once in their first five games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It had to happen eventually. San Diego have officially lost a game for the first time in club history, but there\u2019s not too much to worry about after falling 2-1 to Austin. They\u2019re going to keep grabbing more points than your average expansion side.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Beating Montr\u00e9al<\/a> 3-0 isn\u2019t quite as impressive as beating Philadelphia 3-1, but my goodness \u2013 Nashville<\/a> seem intent on making a statement the last few weeks. They\u2019ve earned three straight wins, outscored opponents 8-1 in that stretch and set a club record for their best five-game start to a season. They\u2019ve got two more big tests against Cincy<\/a> and Charlotte on the way, but they\u2019ve found a groove quickly during B.J. Callaghan’s first full season in charge.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Scoring goals and having fun doing it ???? pic.twitter.com\/9vzxGiK4lS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) March 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Yes, folks, after their 3-1 win over a red-hot Vancouver<\/a> side, that\u2019s three-straight road wins for Chicago and four games unbeaten since their opening-day loss at Columbus. Which means it\u2019s time to go to the Chicago Fire FC Flow Chart.<\/p>\n I can see it \u2192 Oh, no \u2192 Oh, yikes, no \u2192 Well, maybe \u2192 Nope \u2192 But let\u2019s just\u2026 \u2192 Oh, ok immediate no on that \u2192 But what if they tweak this \u2192 This looks better! \u2192 OH NO. THEY GOT ME AGAIN \u2192 No. \u2192 I\u2019m not falling for that \u2192 No, forever. \u2192 Offseason \u2192 I can see it.<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019ve never been more at \u201cI can see it.\u201d And it\u2019s starting to feel possible that we’ll be at \u201cI can see it\u201d all season? They\u2019re getting results and Hugo Cuypers<\/a> is up to five goals in five starts. This feels like the start of something different. What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Someone finally scored on St. Louis and they couldn\u2019t find a way back into the game. Their clean sheet streak is over after their 1-0 loss at Philly.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It should have been three points for the Loons<\/a>. They\u2019ll be kicking themselves for allowing a late (and ugly) set-piece goal three minutes after taking a late lead. They\u2019re unbeaten in their last four, but the last two matches have been disappointing draws.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n An Emil Forsberg<\/a> brace guided the Red Bulls<\/a> to a deserved 2-1 win over Toronto. They\u2019re undefeated in their last four and Forsberg is up to 13 goals and six assists in 25 MLS starts. It\u2019s hard to understate how important he is to this group.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Austin are sitting second in the West after an impressive 2-1 win over San Diego on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire. They\u2019ve somehow gotten there after five games despite only scoring four goals, but they\u2019re still +1 in the goal differential column and showed signs of life for the first time all season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Yeah, D.C. United<\/a> aren’t a juggernaut. But sheesh, Orlando<\/a>. They mollywhopped D.C. in a 4-1 home win that felt like it could have been worse for the visitors. All three of their DPs scored in this one, including Marco Pa\u0161ali\u0107<\/a>. He\u2019s looked every bit like the genuine product after entering the season with concerns about how successful a player with limited production in the Croatian top-flight could be in MLS. He\u2019s up to four goals and an assist in five games. The Lions may have found a gem.<\/p>\n Pa\u0161ali\u0107 has helped power them to the best scoring mark in the league through five games. Thirteen goals scored and 11 goals allowed through five isn\u2019t the typical \u201cgreatness can only be achieved through the grind\u201d arc that Oscar Pareja\u2019s teams have tended to take most seasons, but it\u2019s definitely a lot more interesting.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n With four missing center backs and K\u00e9vin Denkey<\/a> on international duty, Cincy will probably be fine with a 2-2 draw against Atlanta<\/a> \u2013 even if they did have a one-goal lead late.<\/p>\n Cincy can at least take solace in how Evander<\/a> stepped up to carry the load when needed. And they really, really need him after what was mostly an uninspiring performance.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Injury-hit Seattle<\/a> didn\u2019t find the back of the net in a 0-0 draw with Houston<\/a>. They\u2019re sitting 12th in the West after picking up just five points through five games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n NYCFC held on for dear life to earn a draw against the Crew despite failing to put a shot on target. They haven\u2019t been outstanding so far, but eight points from five games isn\u2019t bad for a team that entered the year with plenty of question marks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Getting run off the field at home by a not-great Portland<\/a> side despite having a nearly full-strength XI is not how the Rapids<\/a> wanted to build on a two-game winning streak. Getting Zack Steffen<\/a> back from international duty should help them reset before a tough three-game stretch against Charlotte, Vancouver and San Diego.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Each week it feels like Atlanta get somewhat closer to putting together a full performance. We still haven\u2019t seen a professional 90 minutes from them, though. They were the better side against Cincy in a battle of teams missing a ton of center backs, but still lost a 1-0 second-half lead \u2013 Emmanuel Latte Lath<\/a> scored his fourth goal in five games \u2013 and needed a late own goal to rescue a 2-2 draw.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n FC Dallas<\/a> took advantage of an early RSL<\/a> red card and eventually got a (headed!) goal from Lucho Acosta<\/a> in a 1-0 win. Acosta has two goals in five matches as he finds his way on a new team.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n An early read card doomed RSL in a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas. They\u2019ve spent the first five games alternating wins and losses. If the pattern holds, Minnesota are in trouble this Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Every now and then, the Timbers\u2019 attack shows up and decides to deliver a few haymakers. We got one of those games on Saturday when Portland trucked the Rapids in a 3-0 win. It\u2019s the first time this year they\u2019ve scored multiple goals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A 4-1 scoreline didn\u2019t quite match their performance against Charlotte, but the Quakes<\/a> certainly weren\u2019t at their best in the road defeat. They still put up 27 shots, though. If there\u2019s anything this team is going to do, they\u2019re going to put up shots. They have nine more than the next closest MLS team. On a related note: San Jose have also created more xG than any other team.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They had to overcome some self-sabotage to steal a point from Minnesota, but the Galaxy<\/a> pulled out a 2-2 draw in the end thanks to a 90th-minute equalizer from Emiro Garc\u00e9s<\/a>. They probably shouldn\u2019t expect to get a result from a 3.3 to 0.8 xG performance too often.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n D.C. got absolutely pummeled by Orlando. Now, their next five games are Columbus, San Jose, Cincy, RBNY and Philly. This might stay rough.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A road draw in Seattle is never a bad thing even if it was also a very, very sleepy game. The Dynamo are still looking for their first win of the season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Revs<\/a> took the week off to get ready for a five-game stretch against New York, Cincy, Atlanta, NYCFC and Charlotte. They\u2019re still looking for their first win and none of those matches feel like an obvious candidate to change that.<\/p>\n Previous: Bye | Next: 3\/29 vs. RBNY<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Sporting KC still haven\u2019t won a game in a really, really, really long time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n As soon as Toronto equalized against New York, they gave the lead right back. The Reds have one point and have conceded a league-high 12 goals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Montr\u00e9al haven\u2019t scored since their 3-2 loss at Atlanta on MLS is Back weekend. They\u2019ve still got two more road games before they can finally play at home for the first time this year.<\/p>\n Oh, and they went ahead and parted ways with head coach Laurent Courtois<\/a>. Gut call here: Probably not gonna fix it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Le CF Montr\u00e9al tient \u00e0 remercier Laurent Courtois pour ses services au Club.<\/p>\n CF Montr\u00e9al would like to thank Laurent Courtois for his contributions to the Club.#CFMTL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cvCyWQbgj6<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 CF Montr\u00e9al (@cfmontreal) March 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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