Below is a selection of the notable performances and moments from the 10 matches played thus far on the 24th matchday of the 2024 MLS regular season on Wednesday, July 3.
Matchday 24 continues tonight, as three MLS matches highlight the Fourth of July slate. At 8:30 p.m. ET, All-Star goalkeeper Maarten Paes and FC Dallas welcome the red-hot Portland Timbers to Toyota Stadium. Later, the Colorado Rapids take on Sporting Kansas City at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The top two teams in the Western Conference reside in Los Angeles, which makes tonight’s historic, July 4 El Tráfico clash between LAFC and the LA Galaxy at the iconic Rose Bowl a matchup worthy of Independence Day fireworks (10:30 pm ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
Cincinnati Road Warriors Strike Again
After holding off a resilient D.C. United side, 3-2, at Audi Field, FC Cincinnati secured their seventh consecutive road victory to tie 2022 CF Montréal for the longest single-season road winning streak in MLS history.
Cincinnati got on the board within the first 10 minutes of the match as U22 Initiative forward Kevin Kelsy notched his fifth goal of the season (Watch Here). With the goal, the 19-year-old became the first player to score at least five goals prior to turning 20 years old in club history and the first teenager to score five regular-season goals across the league this season.
First-year Cincinnati midfielder Pavel Bucha recorded the first brace of his MLS career, combining with fellow newcomer and MLS All-Star Luca Orellano for his first of the night (Watch Here) before scoring the eventual game-winning goal in the second half (Watch Here).
Cincinnati (2nd in the Eastern Conference, 14-4-3) returns home on Saturday, July 6, for a crucial Supporters’ Shield clash against Inter Miami CF (1st in the Eastern Conference, 14-3-5) that could see Cincinnati leap Miami into first place with a win (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
Brian White Becomes Whitecaps All-Time Leading Scorer
After becoming the first player in club history to record multiple hat tricks last week, Vancouver Whitecaps FC forward Brian White had even more club history in his sights, as his first-half goal in the club’s 3-1 victory over Minnesota United FC officially crowned him as Vancouver’s all-time leading scorer (Watch Here).
The goal was White’s 40th in a Whitecaps uniform, surpassing Camilo Sanvezzo (39 goals) to become the all-time leading goal scorer in the Whitecaps’ MLS history. White reaches the mark in his 104th game for the club. Assisting on all three of the Whitecaps’ goals tonight was 2024 MLS All-Star Ryan Gauld, who is the club’s all-time leader in assists with 34. With his assist on White’s goal, the first of the match, Gauld recorded his 10th game-winning assist, surpassing Fredy Montero (nine) for the most in club history.
Vancouver is one of four MLS clubs to actively feature both their all-time leading goal scorer (White, 40 goals) and all-time leading assister (Gauld, 34 assists), joining FC Cincinnati, St. Louis CITY SC, and Nashville SC. Luciano Acosta (43 goals, 58 assists) and Hany Mukhtar (63 goals, 45 assists) lead their respective clubs in both goals and assists all-time, while St. Louis has been paced by João Klauss (15 goals) and Eduard Löwen (17 assists) in their brief MLS history.
The Whitecaps (4th in the Western Conference, 9-7-4) travel to Canadian rivals CF Montréal on Saturday, July 6, for Matchday 25 action (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
Chicago Leaves it Late in Win Over Philadelphia
For the second time this season, Chicago Fire FC used a late rally from a two-goal deficit to secure a 4-3 win – this time against the Philadelphia Union in a wild Wednesday night affair at Soldier Field. Tonight marked the second time this season that the Fire have overcome a two-goal deficit to secure a win and scored three goals after the 80th minute. Prior to this year, Chicago had not won a match after being down by two goals since August 23, 2009, nor had they scored three goals after the 80th minute since July 4, 2001.
Hugo Cuypers scored the first of his two late goals from a set piece, heading in the Fire’s second goal of the night in the 82nd minute (Watch Here). The Fire would tie the game off another corner kick routine, with Gastón Giménez volleying a loose ball past the Union goalkeeper in the 89th minute to level the score at 3-3 (Watch Here). Chicago then delivered their final blow in added time through Cuypers, with the Belgian forward latching onto another cross at the back post for the game-winning score (Watch Here).
Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez (21 years, 16 days old) recorded the 20th MLS regular-season assist of his career on Cuypers’ game-winning goal, becoming the youngest player in club history to reach the milestone, surpassing Justin Mapp (21 years, 302 days old).
The Fire (13th in the Eastern Conference, 5-10-6) will be back in action on Sunday, July 7, at the San Jose Earthquakes as they look to ride the adrenaline of Wednesday night’s victory (8:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
Miami Still Making Waves
Behind an 86th minute, game-winning score from 19-year-old Benjamin Cremaschi, Inter Miami CF knocked off Charlotte FC, 2-1, at Bank of America Stadium and recorded their 14th win of the 2024 season. With the victory, Miami tied their club record in wins, matching the previous high set by the 2022 squad (14 wins) in just 22 games this season.
Miami (47 points, 14-3-5) remains atop the league-wide table and sits just two points shy of establishing a new club record, also surpassing the 2022 season (48 points). They’ll look to make history on Saturday in one of the season’s marquee matchups, as defending Shield winners FC Cincinnati welcome Inter Miami CF to TQL Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). Through Wednesday, the two clubs are separated by only two points in the Supporters’ Shield standings, with Cincinnati (45 points, 14-4-3) having a game in hand over Miami.
New York City FC Reaches 90 Home Wins
Off the back of a historic brace from Alonso Martínez on Wednesday night, New York City FC recorded the club’s 90th home victory since its inaugural MLS season in 2015 with a 2-0 win over CF Montréal. Coming into the night, NYCFC and their crosstown rivals, the New York Red Bulls, were tied for the most home victories since the start of the 2015 season with 89 each.
Martínez got on the board in the ninth minute, as NYCFC capitalized on a turnover in midfielder, setting up the Costa Rican forward who fired his shot into the top corner of the net (Watch Here). He would get his second of the night in the second half as the club transitioned into attack following another Montréal turnover, with Hannes Wolf playing a lofted pass to set up Martínez for the goal (Watch Here).
With the brace, Martínez became just the 10th player in MLS history and the third different player this season to produce 10 goal contributions within their first 650 career minutes of regular-season action.
New York City FC (4th in the Eastern Conference, 11-8-2) will hit the road on Saturday, July 6, as they face Austin FC on Matchday 25 (8:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
