After Major League Soccer’s fourth week of matches, teams are now starting to lay out and create storylines for themselves for the course of the rest of the season. Five teams continue to remain unbeaten through league play, and another five have yet to register a win in MLS (with the Fire being the only Eastern Conference team in this situation). In case you missed anything, here is a short recap of all of last weekend’s action.
Montréal Top Philly 3-2
Upset alert! Montréal got their first win of the season over the visiting Philadelphia Union in extremely exciting fashion by scoring two goals after the 90th minute to set the final score to 3-2. Montréal originally scored within the first three minutes of the match, but Philly forward Mikael Uhre would then notch a brace to put the Union ahead at 2-1. Julián Carranza would then be sent off in the 69th minute (Rest in peace my fantasy team), and the tides would then turn in favor of Montréal who would come out on top.
Romell Quioto wins it in stoppage time! #CFMTL ??? pic.twitter.com/QnGRvE21eM
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 19, 2023
Also, shoutout to former Chicago Fire forward Chinoso Offor for scoring the initial equalizer for Montreal.
Atlanta Put 5 Past Portland
This Atlanta United side currently has the highest goal difference across Major League Soccer, sitting at eight. Hosting the Portland Timbers at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Five Stripes would put in enough goals to match their namesake, including an absolute screamer from star boy Thiago Almada.
A truly world-class strike from a world-class player ?
Thiago Almada, take a bow! ?? pic.twitter.com/BusOgt7kcH
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 19, 2023
The Argentine world-cup winner currently sits at 4 goals and 4 assists, which makes him the league’s front-runner in both categories. 18-year-old Atlanta Academy product Caleb Wiley also grabbed another goal and an assist, suggesting that he is the real deal. Atlanta sits top of the Eastern Conference with a record of 3-1-0, and with the form this team is in, nobody knows when that first loss is going to come.
St. Louis Win Again
Much to my own personal dismay, St. Louis CITY SC became the only expansion side in league history to start the season with a 4-0-0 record. The club overcame the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 to propel them into first place in the west, notably clear of second place LAFC by five points. Nicholas Gioacchini and Tomáš Ostrák each scored, followed by another goal from designated player João Klauss de Mello, whose name continues to make me laugh.
Walking in a winter wonderland ? ❄️
Watch live on #MLSSeasonPass with the @AppleTV app: https://t.co/FDAe1sQWC0 pic.twitter.com/wYSUEMyynN
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) March 19, 2023
Austin Continues to Stumble
It has been a rough few weeks for Austin FC. The team lost their home opener on matchday 1 to St. Louis in shocking fashion, was knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League on aggregate by Haitian club Violette AC, and just gave the Houston Dynamo their first win of the season with a score of 2-0. The goals have been kind of coming in, but the defense has been particularly poor. This loss put last season’s Western Conference finalists into sixth place with a goal difference of -1 and a record of 2-0-2 in MLS. It’s hard to tell where this team will be at the end of the season given the talent they have, and this may only be a rough patch, but things are definitely not going the way many fans expected for Austin.
Zorro aka the fox ?@HHerreramex gives the @HoustonDynamo a 2-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/pqgDbp7qka
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 19, 2023
