MLS Roundup Week 14: Goals, Jerry, Goals

A lot happened in the world of soccer in the past week. AS Roma won their first major European trophy (the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup does not count, I’m sorry), Real Madrid was crowned UCL champions for the 14th time, and the Chicago Fire Football Club lost against Toronto FC. So while the former might be something new, the latter certainly isn’t.

While all of that was going down, this is what happened during week 14 of Major League Soccer.

LAFC 3 - 2 San Jose Earthquakes

After a 3-1 loss against the LA Galaxy in the U.S Open Cup, LAFC returned to winning ways with a win over the San Jose Earthquakes - albeit a bit sloppy. The hosts got an early goal in the 7th minute with a penalty converted by Cristian Arango. Five minutes later, Ryan Hollingshead doubled the lead. San Jose quickly retaliated and after a nice buildup, Jeremy Ebobisse put the visitors on the board two minutes later. He doubled his goal tally in the 31st minute when he secured the ball from a corner kick. At the start of the second half, Brian Gutierrez scored LAFC’s winner with a deflection.

Atlanta United 1 - 2 Columbus Crew

Atlanta United continues their winless streak with a loss against that yellow team. The Crew earned a corner kick early within the first few seconds and scored. Towards the end of the first half, Erik Hurtado scored the second goal for the visitors. Atlanta pushed forward throughout the rest of the game but could not muster a goal despite their shots on target. Dom Dwyer scored Atlanta’s consolation goal in stoppage time with an overhead kick.

New York Red Bulls 4 - 1 D.C. United

The Red Bulls scored three times in nine minutes during their rout against D.C. United. The first half of the game was relatively tame - then the game erupted in the second half. Luquinhas scored and gave the energy drinks the lead in the 54th minute. He doubled his tally four minutes later. Then Lewis Morgan, not to be outdone, scored the third goal of the night five minutes later. Ola Kamara scored D.C’s consolation goal in the 87th minute, but their night went worse to garbage when they scored an own goal three minutes later.

CF Montreal 4 - 3 FC Cincinnati

In a game reminiscent of the Chicago/Toronto game - a poor team nearly got the upper hand. Cincy got the early lead in the 12th minute with a goal from Junior Moreno. USMNT fans look away now, but five minutes later Djordje Mihailovic got substituted due to an injury. Joel Waterman then equalized in the 21st minute for Montreal. Romell Quioto gave the hosts some insurance with a goal towards the end of the first half after finessing two defenders. Mathieu Choiniere scored early at the start of the second half. Montreal now appeared to be running riot against Cincy. But their defenders didn’t get the memo. Alvaro Barreal gave the visitors another goal in the 52nd minute, and once again, Moreno scored 10 minutes later, giving some hope for Cincy. However, they couldn’t capitalize on this and ultimately lost.

New England Revolution 1 - 1 Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia Union tied with a defiant New England Revolution Saturday night. Both teams were at a deadlock with one another until a handball call against Philly’s Jack Elliot. Carlos Gil cooly converted it in the 75th minute. Mikael Uhre, who was just subbed in shortly after, scored a tap-in after a build-up two minutes later.

Orlando City 1 - 3 FC Dallas

Swansea City legend Paul Arriola scored two times as a visiting FC Dallas took down a tired Orlando City. Ercan Kara scored first for Orlando with a sublime header in the 45th minute. Arriola, who coincidently always goes to peak form before potential national duty, equalized in the 67th minute. Dallas took the lead three minutes later with a cheeky chip from Franco Jarra. Arriola got his brace 14 minutes later sealing the win for the visitors.

Inter Miami 2 - 1 Portland Timbers

Wait, a Miami win? In this economy? It is more likely than you think!

Well, it is against an out-of-form Portland, so it doesn’t really count, but to give Miami some credit, they are winning while the Fire isn’t. Leonardo Campana gave Miami the lead with a header in the 27th minute. Rober Taylor made it two-nil for the hosts after a quick counterattack in the 59th minute. Miami couldn’t keep their clean sheet, and Bill Tuiloma scored for Portland in the 78th minute.

Minnesota United 0 - 1 NYCFC

Former Fire favorite Sean Johnson got his eighth clean sheet of the season against Minnesota United Saturday night. Alexander Callens got the lone goal of the night in the 29th minute.

But lets circleback to the Milkman. He has been on form this whole season. He has had five crucial saves during the game - with that kind of performance, he has helped NYCFC achieve a consecutive run of six league games without conceding a goal. Dare I say it, Johnson is the best goalkeeper under the City Football Group umbrella.

Colorado Rapids 1 - 3 Nashville FC

I like to keep an eye on Nashville games. Mainly to keep an eye on CJ Sapong and see how the Fire front office was foolish to let him go.

And what do you know? Sapong scored early on against the Colorado Rapids in the 8th minute. Hany Mukhtar scored twice in the 14th and 17th minute, giving Nashville a dominant lead early on. Deigo Rubio scored the Rapids’ consolation goal in the 78th minute. The loss against Nashville marked the end of a 23-unbeaten at-home game streak for the Rapids.

Sporting Kansas City 0 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps

In a tale of two bad teams, one was just slightly worse than the other. Vancouver’s Lucas Cavallini cooly converted a penalty after being brought down by SKC’s Uri Rosell in the 22nd minute. That was the lone goal of the match as both sides couldn’t finish during the rest of the game.

Real Salt Lake 3 - 0 Houston Dynamo

As I said on the Hot Cast many episodes ago, I wanted to see the Fire help with the Bobby Wood redemption tour, so it’s a bit of a shame that Real Salt Lake is the one spearheading the revolution.

But that wouldn’t be fair on Wood as he seems to love life in Utah. He scored first in the 29th minute. Sergio Cordova scored the second goal in the 57th minute. Justen Glad (I won’t make the joke again) scored the third towards the end of the game.

LA Galaxy 4 - 1 Austin FC

Austin got humbled on Saturday with their loss against the LA Galaxy. Diego Fagundez gave Austin a brief glimmer of hope when he scored the first goal in the 53rd minute. The Galaxy woke up, and Chicharito snatched his sixth goal of the season in the 61st minute. Dejan Joveljic scored three minutes later, and once again in the 88th minute. Efrain Alvarez scored the Galaxy’s fourth as the game was ending.

Seattle Sounders 2 - 1 Charlotte FC

I’m not going to lie - I was watching random FIA GT videos while I was watching this match, so forgive me if I may have missed a few details.

Anyway, it seems like Charlotte’s MLS bubble is bursting with questionable performances as of late. Despite scoring first in the 21st minute courtesy of Ben Bender (Bending Rodriguez), they couldn’t hold on to that lead. Jordan Morris scored in the 72nd minute, and Raul Ruidiaz sealed the winner eight minutes later.