In the eighth week of Major League Soccer action, there was plenty of notable action across both conferences and some results that were extremely surprising to fans across the league. Here is a recap of some of matchday eight’s most noticeable results.
Cincinnati’s Undefeated Run Gets Snapped
I don’t think anyone would have seen this scoreline coming beforehand. After a two-hour weather delay due to tornados, Saint Louis would fly out of the gates against FC Cincinnati with a goal from Jared Stroud in the third minute of play. Four goals from Saint Louis later paired with Cincinnati’s lone strike from Sergio Santos would put the final score at 5-1 in favor of Saint Louis. After two straight losses, Saint Louis are back to their previous form and did so by ending FC Cincinatti’s unbeaten run in astounding fashion. Saint Louis CITY SC are now 6-0-2, while Cincinnati moves to 5-2-1.
5 goals. All ⚡️ #AllForCITY pic.twitter.com/XN5pZmOgQg
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) April 16, 2023
An Early-Season Cascadia Upset
Following the opening goal from Raúl Ruidiaz for the Sounders in the 58th minute, a Dairon Asprilla bicycle kick would be followed up with three more Timbers goals to grant Portland a 4-1 win over their Cascadian rivals. This victory was only Portland’s second of the season, and on the other side of the coin, it was only Seattle’s second loss so far. With a win, Seattle would have jumped into first place in the West, but as LAFC and Saint Louis both collected three points this matchday, Seattle now sits in third. Portland moves into ninth place with a 2-2-4 record.
Goal of the year?!? ?@daironasprilla brought out the bicycle against Seattle. pic.twitter.com/MbDIeGiJAU
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 16, 2023
The Galaxy Remain Winless
This kind of downfall in MLS was relatively unheard of until the Galaxy came knocking at the door. Finishing in fourth place in the West and minutes away from a Western Conference final matchup against Austin in 2022, 2023 should have been the year the Galaxy would finally challenge for the MLS Cup again. Mix the tampering of league financial rules from club president Chris Klein, a general lack of effort from designated player Douglas Costa, and a plethora of other issues and you get the Galaxy side we have now. As the Galaxy lost 3-2 in El Tráfico to LAFC, their record shifts to 0-3-4, putting them next to Sporting Kansas as the only sides without a win yet this year. The wooden spoon race is surely heating up for the Galaxy, but at least Tyler Boyd scored a banger.
TYLER BOYD! ?
THIS IS WHAT WE EXPECT FROM EL TRÁFICO! pic.twitter.com/mjtncFah6C
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 16, 2023
San Jose Continues to Impress
Moving from Los Angeles to San Jose, the Earthquakes beat Sporting Kansas City 3-0 thanks to a goal from Cristian Espinoza and a brace from Jeremy Ebobisse. This result puts San Jose in fifth place in the West, marking a complete turnaround from the San Jose side of last year which achieved a dead-last 14th-place finish. The Earthquakes are now 4-2-2, with a match against a 2-0-5 Real Salt Lake side on the horizon.
JEREMY EBOBISSE WITH THE TOUCH.
Sweet sweet magic.✨ pic.twitter.com/B3ioGxTplW
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) April 16, 2023
