What a week in MLS. LAFC and Columbus played in a major final, a star arrived in LA and made a big impact off the bench, and Evander scored a stunner. It was truly a week unlike any other.
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What’s there left to say?
With Leagues Cup, the Crew added another trophy and should probably make room for a couple more titles. We’re watching what might be the greatest run in MLS history and we’ll probably never see this kind of perfect storm of talent, chemistry and coaching ever again. Enjoy it while you can.
Previous: Bye | Next: 8/28 at PHI
Is it time to call the Supporters’ Shield race? The Herons rode two early goals from Luis Suárez to a 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati. It’s only a matter of time before Lionel Messi is back on the field. And the gap between them and the chasing pack feels wider as each matchday goes by.
Miami have a four-point advantage and a game in hand on second-place LA, they made it an eight-point gap on Cincy last weekend, and their most likely challengers at this point – LAFC and Columbus – will have to be basically perfect from here on out as they deal with congested schedules to even make this interesting.
Winning the Shield and winning MLS Cup are two very different tasks, though. They’ll still have to prove they can get it done against the best of the best in a tournament setting. It’s hard to fully buy in when so many of their wins look like this.
Game’s not played on a spreadsheet, though, is it?
Previous: 2-0 win vs. CIN | Next: 8/31 at CHI
The Crew are pretty good, huh?
Make it 0-3 for LAFC over their last three meetings with Columbus. They were second-best the entire night in Sunday’s Leagues Cup final. Now, they have to recover in time for a US Open Cup semifinal at Seattle on Wednesday and then get ready for a congested stretch run as they push for the top spot in the West. Somewhere along the way, they have to figure out a plan to slow down Columbus. Just in case they see them again in December.
Previous: Bye | Next: 8/31 vs. HOU
This is going well so far.
Marco Reus tallied a goal and an assist in his debut off the bench as LA pulled away from Atlanta. That’ll happen a lot with Reus coming in on fresh legs.
They’ve pushed their lead in the West to five points on LAFC (three games in hand) and eight on RSL (one game in hand). A top-two finish in the West is almost in the bag.
Previous: 2-0 win vs. ATL | Next: 9/1 at STL
That’s that for Cincy’s Shield hopes. They needed to reprise their 6-1 win over Inter Miami last month and instead gave up two immediate goals to Luis Suárez. They’re eight points back of the Herons now with eight games remaining. The rest of the year will be about getting Lucho Acosta fully healthy and getting Chidozie Awaziem, Teenage Hadebe and Nicholas Gioacchini fully integrated.
Previous: 2-0 loss at MIA | Next: 8/31 vs. MTL
The Rapids went to another penalty shootout in Sunday’s Leagues Cup Third Place Match and Zack Steffen got another win. They pulled off three wins in penalties throughout the tournament, earning themselves a 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup spot.
Colorado have come a long way from being a Wooden Spoon contender last season. Their remarkable run through this tournament is a well-earned reward for an excellent offseason.
Previous: Bye | Next: 8/31 at DAL
The Sounders pulled out a 3-2 win in Minnesota despite the Loons’ 23 shots. That makes it 11 wins in their last 13 games against teams not named LAFC and seven wins in their last nine MLS games.
The run has Seattle up to fifth in the West, just one point behind fourth-place Colorado, with eight games left. It’s starting to feel like they’ve become the best second-tier team in the league. Now they have figured out how to crack the first tier and look like a true contender. It’s hard to see it happening without Pedro de la Vega fully healthy, but eight games is a lot of time for a team that’s been consistently trending upward for two months now.
They also have a US Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday against the only team that can beat them right now. Seattle are winless in their last nine meetings against LAFC.
Previous: 3-2 win at MIN | Next: 8/31 at POR
Soooooo… everything went as bad as it possibly could have last weekend. “RSL lost Chicho Arango to a hamstring injury in the middle of a 2-0 loss to last place San Jose” is a sentence straight out of an MLS Mad Libs chapter where the goal is to create the most depressing story possible.
Either way, losing to San Jose can’t happen for a team chasing one of the top spots in the West. They technically aren’t out of contention for first place in the conference, but they definitely didn’t make anything easier. They’re now closer to fifth place than they are to first.
Previous: 2-0 loss vs. SJ | Next: 8/31 vs. NE
The goal for the Red Bulls is to stay out in front of New York City FC and Charlotte for fourth place in the East. They didn’t quite hammer the first nail in Charlotte’s coffin on Saturday, but they did keep a four-point gap between themselves and The Crown and a three-point gap between themselves and NYCFC when they earned a 1-1 draw in Charlotte.
With eight games left and a gentle schedule ahead of them, the Red Bulls just have to keep the status quo until a huge Hudson River Derby a month from now.
Previous: 1-1 draw at CLT | Next: 8/31 vs. PHI
Alonso Martínez keeps scoring early and New York City keep failing to hold onto that lead. They followed up their Leagues Cup exit with a 2-2 draw against Chicago that featured Martínez’s first-half brace and a stoppage-time equalizer for the Fire. They missed a major opportunity to gain two points on Charlotte and the Red Bulls in the race for the East’s final home playoff spot.
At least Martínez continues to be a bright spot. He’s up to 10 MLS goals and three assists in 934 minutes. Only Messi has a better goals-per-90 rate.
Previous: 2-2 draw vs. CHI | Next: 8/31 at CLB
For a moment, it seemed like this blurb would be focused solely on how St. Louis seem to have their number. Then Evander did this in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time.
Portland won’t be thrilled about giving up four goals and dropping two points at home, but it could have been worse. And, if anything, they kept up their reputation as one of the league’s most entertaining teams while Evander heightened his reputation as one of the league’s best players.
He’s up to 12 goals and 15 assists on the season. He’s only five goal contributions away from matching club legend Diego Valeri’s absurd 2017 total. By the way, Valeri’s 32 contributions earned him the MVP award that year.
Previous: 4-4 draw vs. STL | Next: 8/31 vs. SEA
Charlotte took an early home lead in a big six-pointer against New York, but they couldn’t hold on to it and ended up with a fine, but disappointing draw.
Tim Ream and new DP Pep Biel made their debuts, and The Crown are still only four points behind the Red Bulls for fourth place. It could be worse. A six-point swing would have been nice though…
Previous: 1-1 draw vs. RBNY | Next: 8/31 vs. ATL
The Whitecaps took the week off and let everyone else in the West wear themselves out. They have two games in hand on third-place RSL and are only six points behind. There’s a chance the ‘Caps have plenty to say down the stretch if they can get hot.
Previous: Bye | Next: 8/31 at ATX
Uhhhhh…???
Any talk about Houston figuring things out in attack thanks to their new arrivals feels a little silly this week. They hosted Toronto on Saturday and, while they did create a few chances, they never found the back of the net in an ugly 1-0 loss.
It’s a huge missed opportunity for a team that’s still within touching distance of a home playoff spot. They’ll have to be much, much sharper when they visit LAFC this weekend and then host LAFC the week after. Oh, and then after that it’s RSL and Vancouver.
Previous: 1-0 loss vs. TOR | Next: 8/31 at LAFC
The Union came up short in Sunday’s Leagues Cup Third Place Match. Maybe that’s for the best, though. They have work to do with this roster and adding Concacaf Champions Cup to the mix at the start of a season isn’t ideal for self-care.
The good news is Tai Baribo can’t stop scoring. He added a brace on Sunday to win the Leagues Cup Golden Boot with seven goals.
Previous: Bye | Next: 8/28 vs. CLB
New DP Osman Bukari won the ball at midfield and worked around the oncoming 'keeper to score his first MLS goal in a 2-0 win at Nashville. Reviews for Bukari have been positive and Austin are still hanging onto the ninth spot in the West.
Things are going just fine as the Rodolfo Borrell roster renovation era continues. At least for now anyway. Talk to us after this eight-game stretch against eight teams above the playoff line.
Previous: 2-0 win at NSH | Next: 8/31 vs. VAN
Yuck.
Orlando started their post-Leagues Cup run with a 3-0 loss at Sporting KC. They didn’t give up a ton of huge chances, but that doesn’t make face-planting on your first step down the homestretch feel any better. Any hopes of a home playoff spot are all but gone and catching up to Charlotte for the sixth spot will be a steep climb.
Previous: 3-0 loss at SKC | Next: 8/31 vs. NSH
It feels like Toronto never win in style, but they’ve routinely found ways to pull out three points this year. Their latest win came via Prince Owusu’s deflected header off a corner.
Those still count though and Toronto have put a six-point cushion between them and the playoff line despite a -12 goal differential.
Previous: 1-0 win at HOU | Next: 8/31 vs. DC
Dallas went to D.C. and scored four goals in the first half before eventually closing up shop and holding onto a well-earned, chaotic 4-3 victory.
They’re still hovering just below the playoff line, but a brutal stretch is on the way. They’ll take on Colorado, Vancouver, RSL and LAFC over the next four games.
Previous: 4-3 win at DC | Next: 8/31 vs. COL
The Revs went to Montréal and rolled to a 5-0 win that included a goal from club-record signing Luca Langoni on his debut. So far, so good as the Revs push for a playoff spot with a roster that looks a little different after a busy summer. They’re only two points below the playoff line with two games in hand.
Previous: 5-0 win at MTL | Next: 8/31 at RSL
It likely won't save Sporting KC's season, but a 3-0 romp over Orlando had to feel good. And it came just in time for them to take some momentum into their US Open Cup semifinal meeting with Indy Eleven.
Previous: 3-0 win vs. ORL | Next: Bye
St. Louis have been giving Portland hell the last few weeks, but they couldn’t hold on to their second straight win over the Timbers in a wild 4-4 draw. Cedric Teuchert scored his first MLS goal and Marcel Hartel dropped three assists, though.
Previous: 4-4 draw at POR | Next: 9/1 vs. LA
If we’re being open and honest about Atlanta right now, any analysis of this team should be focused on 2025. Games like last weekend’s 2-0 loss to the Galaxy show how far the talent gap at the top end of the roster is right now between Atlanta and the teams their fans expect to be competing with. The 2025-focused analysis for this one is new DP Alexey Miranchuk showed flashes of promise during his first 30 minutes in MLS.
Previous: 2-0 loss at LA | Next: 8/31 at CLT
Minnesota couldn’t hold off Seattle at home despite a debut brace from new DP forward Kelvin Yeboah. They’re now a point below the playoff line. They have one win in their last 11 MLS games and it came against last-place San Jose.
Previous: 3-2 loss vs. SEA | Next: 8/31 at SJ
We always say it around here: Don’t count out Chicago Fire FC.
The Fire earned a remarkable point out of the wreckage of a 2-0 first-half deficit thanks to a late goal from Hugo Cuypers and an even later penalty from Brian Gutiérrez. A road point against a team fighting for a home playoff spot is a great point.
Chicago are still tied for last place in the East, but that technically means they’re only two points out of a playoff spot. The dream is still alive.
Previous: 2-2 draw at NYC | Next: 8/31 vs. MIA
Let’s just move on and never talk about Montréal's 5-0 loss to New England ever again.
Previous: 5-0 loss vs. NE | Next: 8/31 at CIN
The Quakes messed around and got an upset win over RSL. The party line here at The Power Rankings Committee is San Jose are at least slightly better than their Spoon-pace record, and it’s nice to see that confirmed from time to time.
Previous: 2-0 win at RSL | Next: 8/31 vs. MIN
[sigh]
D.C. United lost 4-3 to FC Dallas after giving up four first-half goals. They are last in the East. It’s been a long season.
Previous: 4-3 loss vs. DAL | Next: 8/31 at TOR
The B.J. Callaghan era is not off to a flying start.
Previous: 2-0 loss vs. ATX | Next: 8/31 at ORL
