Soccer <\/p>\n
Orlando<\/a> scored three goals in a game, El Tr\u00e1fico got weird and Inter Miami<\/a> struggled defensively. It was truly a week unlike any other.<\/p>\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 The \u2018Caps<\/a> couldn\u2019t find a breakthrough against Austin<\/a> in Saturday\u2019s 0-0 draw. They\u2019re still sitting on top of the Western Conference and have only lost twice in all competitions this year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Union<\/a> messed around with the Galaxy<\/a> before storming back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 win. They followed that up with a 1-0 win over Atlanta United<\/a> despite a heavily rotated lineup.<\/p>\n Philly keep finding ways to win, and they\u2019re sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference (and technically the Supporters\u2019 Shield standings) because of it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n GOOD MORNING FROM THE ???? OF THE TABLE!#DOOP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/9ytJYz8yTG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) May 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n The Crew<\/a> are suddenly in the middle of a three-game winless streak. An understandable draw with FC Cincinnati<\/a> and a slightly less understandable draw with CF Montr\u00e9al<\/a> kept them from earning a victory last week. They still have the fewest losses in the East this year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They\u2019ll be kicking themselves for not taking full advantage of an early goal in Hell is Real, but there are worse things than a four-point week. Cincy are tied on points (29) for the best record in the East.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Minnesota<\/a> had a rare misstep against Houston<\/a> midweek, but recovered nicely for a comfortable 3-0 win over St. Louis<\/a>, which featured Julian Gressel<\/a>\u2019s first goal for the club.<\/p>\n The Loons sit second in the West after 14 games and there\u2019s no reason to believe they\u2019re going to fall off anytime soon.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s been seven games since LAFC<\/a> have lost in MLS. They didn’t pull out a win in El Tr\u00e1fico over the weekend thanks to Marco Reus<\/a>, but they did find the time midweek to beat up on Seattle<\/a> in a 4-0 win<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can expect LAFC to keep climbing as the season rolls along. They\u2019re in fifth right now, but the underlying numbers have them as one of the West\u2019s very best.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Orlando suddenly look like one of the scariest teams in the league after a week that saw them thump Charlotte<\/a>, 3-1<\/a>, and then whomp Miami, 3-0, on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire. The Lions haven\u2019t lost since March 8 and have scored three goals in four of their last five matches. Columbus and Vancouver are the only teams with fewer losses.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time to start paying close attention to this group. They\u2019re one of MLS\u2019s best.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n After two big wins, Seattle entered Rivalry Week with big expectations. But they only managed one point from two matches. They kicked off the week with a loss to LAFC and ended it with a 1-1 draw against Portland<\/a> that featured one shot on target and one goal for the Timbers.<\/p>\n All things considered, the Sounders are still firmly in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs picture and have made strong strides in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They\u2019ll probably be disappointed not to pick up all six points in a very winnable two-game week, but four points after a win over Colorado<\/a> and a draw with Sporting KC<\/a> is enough to keep them near the top of the West. They\u2019ve taken 10 points from their last four games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Nashville<\/a> are on a five-game unbeaten run after a four-point week. They\u2019re fourth in what\u2019s turning out to be a stacked Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n The Coyotes are playing some of the league\u2019s best ball, but what should really scare the rest of the East is that they\u2019ve been playing at such a high level without Walker Zimmerman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n All of the warning sirens are sounding. Miami have allowed 15 goals in their last five MLS games. They\u2019ve lost five of their last seven in all competitions. They aren\u2019t catching the same breaks in attack as last season and their defense seems to be regressing quickly. They\u2019ve slid to sixth in the East.<\/p>\n As of now, it\u2019s getting hard to envision a second-straight Supporters\u2019 Shield title.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n No losses for the Timbers this week, but no wins either. That includes a 1-1 draw with Seattle on Saturday. That\u2019s enough to keep them three points ahead of their rival in the standings, though. And enough to keep Seattle at just one win in the rivalry since August 2021.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They played a chaotic midweek matchup with Orlando City that ended 3-3<\/a> and then got back to keeping clean sheets. The Revs<\/a>\u2019 0-0 draw with San Jose<\/a> on Saturday made it five shutouts in their last six games. They\u2019ve picked up 14 points in that stretch.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Quakes gave us one of the wildest matches of the year in their 3-3 draw<\/a> with Inter Miami on Wednesday. It\u2019s only natural that they followed that up with a 0-0 draw on Saturday. That\u2019s an excellent week, though. And it\u2019s been a solid stretch for the Quakes, who’ve earned eight points from their last four games and even kept two clean sheets over that span.<\/p>\n They still lead the league in xG created. If they can start to figure things out defensively\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Don\u2019t look now, but Chicago<\/a> have leapt into a playoff spot. They\u2019re sitting ninth after wins over Atlanta and Charlotte over the last week. After giving up seven goals to Nashville, they\u2019ve responded by earning seven points in three games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A four-point week and a Hudson River Derby win is a nearly perfect way to follow up a disappointing loss to Montr\u00e9al last weekend. New York City FC<\/a> have been as up and down as anyone this season, but they\u2019re still sitting above the playoff line after 14 games. They can thank Alonso Mart\u00ednez<\/a> for a decent chunk of the points they\u2019ve earned. He scored a goal and tacked on an assist in their 2-0 win over the Red Bulls<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n ALONSO MARTINEZ ???????????? pic.twitter.com\/ZucGCuCTVB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n All of Charlotte\u2019s flaws were on display this week during multi-goal losses to Orlando and Chicago. The Crown have lost five straight and the underlying numbers saw it coming. Per American Soccer Analysis, Charlotte\u2019s elite defending from last season has disappeared. They\u2019re sitting 24th in the league in xGA.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It hasn\u2019t been the encore to their MLS Cup appearance they were hoping for. This week wasn\u2019t the encore to their 7-0 win over the Galaxy they were hoping for. The Red Bulls fell 2-1<\/a> to Nashville, then went scoreless in a 2-0 loss in the Hudson River Derby.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n If Houston end the year in a playoff spot, there\u2019s a good chance they\u2019ll be looking back at this week as the moment they turned a corner. A 2-0 upset win<\/a> over Minnesota United and a 2-0 win over Dallas<\/a> doubled their win total for the season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Jack McGlynn and his lethal left foot. ???? pic.twitter.com\/RjSOC7yyfj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n If you\u2019re going to snap a five-game winless streak, you might as well do it against your archrivals. The Rapids followed up a 2-0 midweek defeat<\/a> to San Diego<\/a> with a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dallas are one of the few teams that played just once this week. That one game could have gone better. Houston got the better of them in a 2-0 loss to their in-state rivals. Dallas have one win in their last seven.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Things could have been, and have been, much worse than two games and two draws. Erasing a two-goal deficit against St. Louis late in the game might be the highlight of the season thus far.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Only Montr\u00e9al have scored less often than Austin this year. A free kick from Brandon Vazquez<\/a> provided Austin\u2019s lone goal in a double game week that featured draws with Atlanta and Vancouver.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Life could be better for Toronto FC<\/a>, but they\u2019re still riding high this week after pummeling CF Montr\u00e9al 6-1 on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They earned a draw against Portland midweek, then couldn\u2019t find a way to get the better of Colorado in Saturday\u2019s 1-0 loss. RSL\u2019s eight losses are the second-most in the West this year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n They didn\u2019t score a goal this week, but they didn\u2019t allow a goal either. Two clean sheets and two points is pretty good news for D.C.<\/a>‘s defense, which has struggled to get traction so far this season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Atlanta United\u2019s last win came on March 29. They\u2019ve been outscored 13-4 in that eight-game span. They\u2019re now sitting 14th in the East.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n St. Louis went up 2-0 on SKC in the first half, annnnddd that\u2019s where things started to fall off. They lost that lead in the second half, leading to a 2-2 draw, and followed that up with a 3-0 loss to Minnesota. Things feel grim in Olof Mellberg\u2019s first season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Even if they managed to take a point off the Crew, it was another week to forget for Montr\u00e9al. Toronto dominanted them in a 6-1 loss.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Galaxy are still looking for that first win of the season, but at least Marco Reus salvaged a 2-2 draw in El Tr\u00e1fico, and at least they don\u2019t have to worry about who their head coach is for a while. Greg Vanney signed a multi-year contract extension keeping him with the Galaxy long-term.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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