Soccer <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
We\u2019ll start in South Florida, where Lionel Messi<\/a> and the defending MLS Cup presented by Audi champions christened their long-awaited new building with a match to remember.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Here’s to more nights under the lights at Nu Stadium. \u2728 pic.twitter.com\/a53pnYFnrm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Herons finally fly home<\/strong><\/p>\n After years of searching, striving and setbacks,\u00a0Inter Miami CF<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Give credit to Austin FC<\/a> for denying their hosts the full three points that would\u2019ve made it a picture-perfect opening day for Lionel Messi\u00a0and the Herons \u2013 and a tip of the cap to the gritty, grizzled Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> for sniffing out the late 2-2 equalizer<\/a> that raised the roof in the dying moments.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n In the bigger picture, Miami\u2019s hunt for a permanent home doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve done the unthinkable. The stadium is spectacular, it\u2019s breathtaking,\u201d said<\/a> MLS commissioner Don Garber.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Son, Bouanga don’t let up<\/strong><\/p>\n While Miami are the defending champions,\u00a0LAFC<\/a> stand alone atop the league table after a 6-0 demolition<\/a> of leaky Orlando City<\/a> that was every bit as one-sided as the scoreline suggests.<\/p>\n It was 5-0 at halftime thanks to a Denis Bouanga<\/a> hat trick \u2013 and a whopping four assists from Son Heung-Min<\/a>, a display of skill so impressive even his demanding head coach Marc Dos Santos had to admit was \u201csavage\u201d<\/a> from the South Korean icon.<\/p>\n Sonny becomes just the second MLS player ever to notch four helpers in one half. The first? One Lionel Andr\u00e9s Messi, in 2024.<\/p>\n LAFC (5W-0L-1D) are MLS\u2019s last remaining unbeaten side, possess the best goal differential (+14) and are the only team yet to concede a single goal in league play.<\/p>\n Orlando, meanwhile, sit rock-bottom in the latter two categories.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Whitecaps, Earthquakes keep pace<\/strong><\/p>\n As good as LAFC have been, we\u2019ve got a lively race out West thanks to the excellence of\u00a0Vancouver<\/a> and San Jose<\/a>, who sit just one point back of Son, Bouanga & Co. with matching 5W-1L-0D records after impressive weekend wins.<\/p>\n The Earthquakes posted their fifth clean sheet of the year with an emphatic 3-0 home win<\/a> over San Diego FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The result was made simpler by a\u00a0Manu Duah<\/a> red card, but take nothing away from the quality flashed by young homegrown playmaker Niko Tsakiris<\/a>, who bagged two goals and posted an absurd seven chances created, more than compensating for the absence of Timo Werner<\/a> due to injury.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Niko Tsakiris, HOW?! \ud83d\ude35 pic.twitter.com\/IJC1WwJu6I<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n \u201cI’ve done this for a while, and the biggest thing is, we look like a team,\u201d said legendary Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena. \u201cWe’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.\u201d<\/p>\n Up in British Columbia, the Whitecaps stormed back from 2-1 down to complete a season sweep of Cascadia rivals Portland Timbers<\/a>, winning 3-2<\/a> via injury-time tallies from Thomas M\u00fcller<\/a> and Sebastian Berhalter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The dramatic comeback delighted a home crowd of 25,465 at BC Place, Vancouver’s biggest gate of the season so far.<\/p>\n \u201cTo score two goals in stoppage time shows a lot,\u201d said Berhalter. \u201cIt shows that we believe in each other, and that it doesn\u2019t matter if we\u2019re 2-1 down in the 91st minute, we still have a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Lunacy by the lake<\/strong><\/p>\n There could be no better way to announce, \u201cinternational break\u2019s over, MLS IS BACK\u201d than the unhinged first game of Matchday 6, a matinee clash between Toronto FC<\/a> and the Colorado Rapids<\/a> on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n Five goals, three red cards, seven yellow cards, 30 fouls, 23 shots \u2013 and those numbers only begin to hint at the wild back-and-forth of this barnburner, where the visitors overcame Jackson Travis<\/a>\u2019 early ejection to snatch a 2-0 lead, then fumbled it away via ANOTHER red, and what I\u2019ll call an own-golazo from Zack Steffen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Josh Sargent scores his first MLS goal to complete the @TorontoFC<\/a> comeback! \ud83d\udea8 pic.twitter.com\/zy39swP7AQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Just when it seemed the Reds and Rapids would share the points, TFC\u2019s club-record signing Josh Sargent<\/a> popped up with a late 3-2 winner<\/a>, a great moment for his\u00a0first-ever MLS goal<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBig relief,\u201d Sargent said of his debut strike. \u201cWe’re a team that refuses to give up. I think that was very evident today, even in a very strange game and weird circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Luna, Gozo swap golazos for RSL<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve said it before, and they showed it again in a confident 3-1 dispatching<\/a> of Sporting Kansas City<\/a> on Saturday afternoon: Real Salt Lake<\/a> are legit.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Making his first start of the season, USMNT<\/a> 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> hopeful Diego Luna<\/a> opened the scoring with a clinical left-footed strike, and surely delighted his two-year-old son Manolo by celebrating with \u2018the Big Guy Dance\u2019 from Ice Spice and SpongeBob SquarePants.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Then RSL\u2019s teenage sensation Zavier Gozo<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n The Claret-and-Cobalt are riding a five-game unbeaten run that\u2019s taken them to 4W-1L-1D on the season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n OH MY, GOZO! \ud83e\udd2f pic.twitter.com\/RDnmWJVIlG<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been a part of many clubs,\u201d RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said postgame, \u201cand 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.\u201d<\/p>\n We love Mercedes-Benz Stadium \u2013 it might just be the crown jewel of MLS stadia \u2013 but whew, has it been a tough week for the home teams there.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the wake of the USMNT’s losses to Belgium and Portugal, the Columbus Crew<\/a> ended their winless start to 2026 with a 3-1 defeat<\/a> of Atlanta United<\/a>, thanks in large part to a Wessam Abou Ali<\/a> brace. The Palestine international\u2019s second was an absolute banger:<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n That’s a way to get a brace Wessam Abou Ali! \ud83d\ude24 pic.twitter.com\/VyFgMXjvnN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Meanwhile, former USMNT coaching staff colleagues Gregg Berhalter and B.J. Callaghan faced off in Nashville SC<\/a>\u2019s visit to Chicago Fire FC<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike last season, where Callaghan\u2019s Coyotes beat the Fire twice by a combined margin of 9-2, this time Berhalter took the bragging rights<\/a> via Philip Zinckernagel<\/a>\u2019s goal just 17 seconds after kickoff \u2013 and a couple of excellent late saves from Chris Brady<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 1-0 result<\/a> ensured Nashville’s first loss of the year across both MLS and Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> action.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The steady Seattle Sounders<\/a> took home three points from Houston<\/a> with a 1-0 win<\/a>, and Minnesota United<\/a> knocked off the LA Galaxy<\/a> in Southern California, 2-1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n But our top MD6 road performance has to be FC Dallas<\/a>\u2019 4-0 thumping<\/a> of D.C. United<\/a> at Audi Field. Both members of FCD\u2019s superb Petar Musa<\/a>–Logan Farrington<\/a> strike partnership scored as the North Texans continued their climb up the standings.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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Around the grounds<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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