Soccer <\/p>\n
Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a> turned heads in the Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a>, Orlando City SC<\/a> kept a clean sheet and the Philadelphia Union<\/a> rattled off another home win. It was truly a week unlike any other.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n As always: The Power Rankings are voted on by, give or take, 15 people associated with MLSsoccer.com. The author does get a little rush out of moving your team down a few spots, though.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We\u2019re watching something special. It\u2019s worth repeating that Vancouver lost DP midfielder Stuart Armstrong this offseason, didn\u2019t replace him, and are playing like the best team we\u2019ve seen in MLS since 2019 LAFC<\/a> (at least so far).<\/p>\n It’s hard to envision them slowing down. They went up 2-0 on Inter Miami<\/a> in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal meeting and followed it up by pummeling a good Minnesota United<\/a> team despite rotating their starting lineup. Somewhere in between all of that, Sebastian Berhalter<\/a> cemented himself as one of the best No. 8s in MLS.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The K\u00e9vin Denkey<\/a> signing just might work out.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n K.D. phone home. ???????? pic.twitter.com\/eFeDF5MvtJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) April 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Cincy<\/a> have won five in a row \u2013 all by one goal \u2013 and are sitting on top of the Eastern Conference. The underlying numbers aren\u2019t as impressed by their overall performance, and the eye test suggests there are still a few kinks to work out. But we all know this team’s ceiling is way up there.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Another week of the Crew<\/a> being the Crew. They took care of business against San Jose<\/a> in a 2-1 win. They also added a depth piece when they traded for Houston\u2019s U22 attacker Aliyu Ibrahim<\/a>. Knowing the Crew and Wilfried Nancy, there\u2019s a non-zero chance Ibrahim has the best year of his career.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Rough week.<\/p>\n Inter Miami are down 2-0 to Vancouver after getting worked in Leg 1 of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal, and their rotated side couldn\u2019t hold onto a 3-1 lead against Dallas<\/a> over the weekend.<\/p>\n They pulled off an improbable comeback in the CCC quarterfinals against LAFC, but Vancouver are a different kind of team right now. Pulling off the same trick again is going to take something truly special.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Union are back to steamrolling teams. They cruised to a second-straight 3-0 win on Saturday. It\u2019s a different cast, but Philly are a lot more themselves these days after struggling through 2024.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A 1-0 loss to New England<\/a> isn\u2019t ideal and neither is this.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Charlotte FC\u2019s DP Wilfried Zaha isn\u2019t happy with the criticism after yesterday\u2019s 1-0 loss to New England Revolution and expressed his frustration via Snapchat. pic.twitter.com\/7CGyapUnfY<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 TopBin90 (@Topbin90) April 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Wilfried Zaha<\/a>‘s been pretty decent for Charlotte<\/a>, but something is clearly on the DP winger’s mind.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Orlando cruised past Atlanta United<\/a> in a 3-0 win. It\u2019s probably not a coincidence that their first goals in almost 300 minutes coincided with Eduard Atuesta<\/a>\u2019s return to the starting lineup. The rivalry win is their first positive step toward finding some balance between their chaos-ball start to the season and their three-game stretch of 0-0 games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Timbers<\/a> have somehow found their way to second place in the crowded Western Conference. They rolled past the Galaxy<\/a> in a 4-2 win to make it seven games unbeaten.<\/p>\n The underlying numbers don\u2019t love them as much as the standings do, but they\u2019re back to being one of the most exciting teams in the league. Getting DP forward Jonathan Rodriguez<\/a> back will keep elevating an already dynamic attack that\u2019s tied for the MLS lead in goals scored (20).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Some weeks you have to play Vancouver. Right now, those weeks don\u2019t go well. At least Minnesota found a way to add Julian Gressel<\/a>. He should fit nicely in Eric Ramsay\u2019s setup.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Nashville<\/a> had been creating plenty of chances without much to show for it. Well, they finally found something to show for it. Seven somethings in fact. They mollywhop-super-double-crushed Chicago<\/a> in a 7-2 victory that could have been worse.<\/p>\n Very few teams have scored seven in an MLS game and, somehow, Nashville SC, a team famous for defensive soccer over their first few seasons, joined that exclusive list.<\/p>\n Things are different now with B.J. Callaghan at the helm. The numbers love this team so far and they\u2019re beginning to get the results to back it up. There\u2019s a long way to go, but this could end up being the best Nashville side we\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n LAFC piled on chances against St. Louis<\/a>, but still needed a stoppage-time equalizer from Denis Bouanga<\/a> \u2013 his second goal of the day \u2013 to pull out a 2-2 draw. That result made it five points in five games for the Black & Gold. It\u2019s been an underwhelming year so far for the eighth-place team in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Every time it feels like things are getting better for Seattle<\/a> another injury pops up. Jordan Morris<\/a> left their 1-1 draw in Colorado<\/a> with an apparent hamstring strain after coming on as a sub. On the plus side, backup Danny Musovski<\/a> scored for a third straight game.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Rapids are a 4-4-2 team that likes to press high up the pitch these days. It\u2019s paid off just fine since they made a formation change a few weeks ago. After a 1-1 draw with Seattle, they\u2019ve picked up five points over their last three games. They were a stoppage-time equalizer against Houston<\/a> away from making that seven in three.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Things suddenly feel a bit more Expansion Team for San Diego<\/a>. They\u2019ve lost three in a row since taking down LAFC and Seattle in back-to-back games. Teams have tape on them now and they\u2019re starting to suffer defensively. The growing pains had to come eventually.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n After their 2-0 loss at Houston, Austin<\/a> have only scored seven goals this year. They\u2019ve scored multiple goals in a game just once this season. They\u2019re also still sitting in third place. The 2025 MLS Western Conference, folks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Who would have guessed Dallas would be the side to finally play an Uno reverse card on Inter Miami? Dallas overcame a 3-1 second-half deficit against a rotated Herons side to pull out a stunning 4-3 win. They haven\u2019t played the best ball in MLS this season, but they\u2019ve been scrappy under new manager Eric Quill.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Revs are 3W-0L-0D and haven\u2019t allowed a goal since switching to a back three. Their latest win came over former first-place Charlotte. Everything is suddenly trending in the right direction after a miserable start to the season. They still only have seven goals on the season (and only three are from open play), but they\u2019ve also allowed just seven goals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They didn\u2019t quite take full advantage of a get-right game, but New York<\/a> got the job done in a 1-0 win over CF Montr\u00e9al<\/a>. They needed that one after last week\u2019s loss to D.C. United<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They didn\u2019t overwhelm Toronto<\/a> in a 1-0 win, but it\u2019s still three points. NYCFC<\/a> have won two of their last three as they get ready to host red-hot Cincy this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n His brace led the way for RSL<\/a> in a huge 3-1 win over San Diego. He\u2019s not the future anymore, he\u2019s just a star. And he\u2019s about to get a little more help in attack. Adding underlying numbers hero William Agada<\/a> from Sporting KC<\/a> at the end of the Primary Transfer Window might end up as one of the better signings this year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Moon Man threads the needle to find the back of the net ???? pic.twitter.com\/ZJSXVwlAJY<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) April 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n They finished their matchup against Nashville with two unanswered goals and that\u2019s all you really need to worry about.<\/p>\n \u2026 Ok, fine, we\u2019ll check the Chicago Fire Flow Chart\u2122.<\/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 After a 7-2 loss at Nashville to cap a winless (0W-3L-1D) April, we\u2019re officially at \u201cOh, yikes, no.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n St. Louis were a couple of minutes away from pulling out a win at LAFC. They had to settle for a 2-2 draw, though. Still, two goals! It\u2019s the second time this year they\u2019ve scored more than once in a game.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Quakes couldn\u2019t keep pace with Columbus. It happens. Still, they have serious problems defensively right now. In the West, only Sporting KC and the Galaxy have given up more goals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Two games and two goals for new DP Ond\u0159ej Lingr<\/a>. His second helped guide Houston to a 2-0 rivalry win over Austin on Saturday and their second-straight win. It might be a while before he\u2019s truly comfortable in Houston\u2019s setup, but he\u2019s made an instant impact so far.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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