MLS Game Capsules (Week 29)

MLS Communications

Saturday, September 3

Minnesota United FC (13-10-5) vs. FC Dallas (11-8-10)

(3:30 p.m. ET, Univision / TUDN / Twitter)

Minnesota United FC and FC Dallas meet for the 14th time in series history, with the Loons holding a 6-5-2 advantage, including a 2-1 victory on May 22, 2022. In the early-season match, Minnesota’s Robin Lod and D.J. Taylor scored the club’s goals, while Paul Arriola scored the lone goal for Dallas. Minnesota is unbeaten in their last six games against FC Dallas, dating back to September 9, 2020, going 4-0-2 over the span.
The Loons have won three of the last four matches, but are looking to bounce back following a 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake on Wednesday. The shutout broke a streak of seven-consecutive games in which Minnesota United had scored two or more goals. Since July 1, Minnesota’s 24 goals are tied for the third-most in MLS over the span, trailing only Philadelphia (39) and Austin FC (29).
FC Dallas played to a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake last week on the strength of a goal from Alan Velasco, his fifth of the season. Velasco has three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in his last four matches.
FC Dallas forwards Jesús Ferreira (15 goals) and Paul Arriola (nine goals) can become the first pair of FC Dallas teammates to score at least 10 goals in the same season since 2017 (Maxi Urruti and Roland Lamah). Additionally, with the next goal scored by this duo, they would become the first pair of Dallas teammates to combine for 25 goals in a season since Jeff Cunningham (17) and David Ferreira (eight), Jesús’ father, in 2009.

Columbus Crew (9-6-12) vs. Chicago Fire FC (8-13-7)

(5:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

The Columbus Crew host Chicago Fire FC in the 73rd all-time matchup between the two teams with Chicago holding a slight 27-23-22 advantage. The two clubs met earlier this season on July 9, in which the Crew came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Soldier Field.
Columbus’ comeback victory over the Fire on July 9 was propelled by the MLS debut of Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernández, who scored his first career goal as a substitute in the 83rd minute. Hernández has gone on to lead the team with eight goals this year.
After a 1-0 win on Wednesday evening against Inter Miami CF, the Crew have now only lost one game since May 28th and have posted a 6-1-8 record. Steven Moreira assisted Luis Diaz for the lone goal against the Herons in the 64th minute. Moreira now has a game-winning goal and game-winning assist in his last two matches for the club.
On Wednesday, Chicago earned a point after a scoreless draw on the road against the New England Revolution. Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina produced his 11th clean sheet of the season, which ranks third in MLS and just two behind New York City FC’s Sean Johnson for the most. Slonina has an outside chance of tying Jimmy Nielsen (15 in 2012) for the second most clean sheets in a single season in MLS history.

New York Red Bulls (13-8-8) vs. Philadelphia Union (16-4-9)

(7 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Saturday features a clash with two of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, as No. 1 Philadelphia Union facing off against No. 4 New York Red Bulls for the 33rd time in regular season action. The Red Bulls lead the series with a 14-10-8 record but have not beaten the Union since 2019 at Red Bull Arena.
With their 4-1 win over Atlanta United FC last time out, the Union set a league record for goals scored over a three-game period. The previous record of 15 was held by the LA Galaxy in 1998, and the Union surpassed it with 16 goals from their win over Atlanta and a pair of 6-0 wins over the Colorado Rapids and D.C. United.
Mikael Uhre scored his 10th goal of the season last time out, making him the third Union player to score at least 10 goals in 2022. This is the first time in the Union’s history that they have had three players score 10 or more goals in a single season as Julián Carranza (14) and Dániel Gazdag (17) reached the milestone earlier in the season.
Lewis Morgan scored his 13th goal of the season in the Red Bulls win over Montreal on Wednesday. Morgan is only the second Red Bulls player in the last 10 seasons to score 13 goals in a single regular season, joining Bradley Wright-Phillips (five times).
Should the Red Bulls win on Saturday, they would reach 50 points in regular season for the first time since 2018 when they won the Supporters’ Shield with a then league-record 71 points.

FC Cincinnati (8-8-11) vs. Charlotte FC (10-16-2)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Eastern Conference post-season hopefuls FC Cincinnati and Charlotte FC meet for the second time in their clubs’ histories, with their first encounter on March 26 ending in a 2-0 win for Charlotte. Cincinnati come into the match on a six-game unbeaten run and within a point of No. 7 Inter Miami CF while Charlotte finds itself four points off of the Herons.
While Cincinnati have drawn 10 games this season, Charlotte have drawn just two with none of their last 12 matches ending in a draw. Only the Columbus Crew have recorded more draws (12) than Cincinnati, while Charlotte has the fewest draws of any MLS club in 2022 so far.
With a goal against the Crew, Brandon Vázquez scored in his sixth-consecutive home game. Should he score against Charlotte on Saturday, he would become the first player since Carlos Vela in 2019 to score in seven consecutive regular season home games.
Charlotte have defended well in the first half over the course of their last 10 games, conceding just one of the 10 goals scored against them over that period in the first 45 minutes of a match. Cincinnati, who have scored 18 goals over their last 10 games, have scored 10 of those in the first half.
Vázquez needs one goal to break Cincinnati’s club-record for single-season goals by an individual player both in league play and across all competitions. He is currently tied with Emmanuel Ledesma on 16 goals, with Ledesma scoring those goals during Cincinnati’s final season in the USL.

Nashville SC (11-9-9) vs. Austin FC (15-7-6)

(8:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Austin FC travel to Tennessee to take on Nashville SC as they look to clinch a spot in the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs. The two clubs have met only once previously, which resulted in a 1-0 victory for Nashville on May 23.
With a win, Austin would seal their playoff berth and also eclipse Nashville for the second-largest points growth from an expansion team’s first to second season in MLS history. Nashville’s 22 point jump from 2020 to 2021 is the second largest, only behind Chivas USA’s 25 points from 2005-06.
The matchup between the two sides will showcase the frontrunners for the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award and MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi in Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi and Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar. Driussi leads the league with 20 goals while Mukhtar has produced the most goal contributions (30).
Despite falling to the Portland Timbers on Wednesday night 2-1, Driussi bagged his 20th goal of the season and it marked his 11th-straight game with a goal contribution. The Argentine became the only player in MLS to do so in 11-consecutive games and is the fifth player in MLS history to do so in the same season.
Mukhtar capped off a sensational August with a hat trick versus the Colorado Rapids in front of the home fans at GEODIS Park on Wednesday. The German midfielder has now scored 35 goals since the start of 2021, which are the most in MLS. Additionally, he became just the fourth player in MLS history to record at least 12 goal contributions (seven goals, five assists) in a calendar month and was the first player since Darwin Quintero in July of 2018 to do so.

Sunday, September 4

Portland Timbers (9-8-12) vs. Atlanta United FC (8-11-9)

(5:30 p.m. ET, FOX / FOX Deportes)

This is the first meeting between the 2018 MLS Cup finalists since 2019, when Atlanta United earned their first regular season win over the Timbers by a 2-0 score line. The overall series also favors the Five Stripes as they have the only win in their three regular season meetings with Portland.
Timbers defender Bill Tuiloma scored his fifth headed goal of the season in Portland’s last time out against Austin and is second only to Brandon Vázquez (six) for most headed goals scored in 2022. Felipe Mora set the Timbers’ club record for headed goals scored in a single season in 2021 with six.
Andrew Gutman scored his third goal of the season against the Union on Wednesday, surpassing his MLS career-high of two he set last season with the Red Bulls. All three goals have come over the course of his last six games, while he had just the two goals in his first 65 MLS games including playoffs. With another goal or assist, he would tie his MLS career-high in goal contributions of four from the 2021 season.
Thiago Almada is second only to Xherdan Shaqiri (15) in direct goal contributions by a first-year MLS player with four goals and 10 assists. The 23-year-old leads Atlanta in assists this season, with four of them coming in his last five games for the club.
The Portland Timbers could become the 11th club in MLS history to have a trio of players reach the 10-assist milestone in a single season. Yimmi Chara and Sebastián Blanco currently sit on nine each, while Eryk Williamson has eight so far in 2022.

D.C. United (7-17-4) vs. Colorado Rapids (8-12-8)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Two MLS originals, D.C. United and the Colorado Rapids, meet for the 46th time in series history and the first time since February 29, 2020. D.C. holds a 21-14-10 series advantage and have dropped just one match to the Rapids since May 14, 2011, going 5-1-4 over the span.
On Wednesday, D.C. snapped a six-match winless skid with a 2-1 victory over the defending MLS Cup champions NYCFC. The club’s opening goal was scored by Ola Kamara, who ranks second on D.C. with nine goals this season. Kamara is one goal away from his fifth MLS season with double-digit goals, and his 83 career scores are the sixth-most among active MLS players.
In the club’s victory over NYCFC, midfielder Martín Rodríguez registered his first-career multi-assist game in Major League Soccer, providing helpers on goals from Kamara and Steve Birnbaum.
The Rapids are looking to snap a five-game winless streak, following a 4-1 loss to Nashville SC on Wednesday. Colorado has not scored more than one goal in a game over that span, and will look to their offensive spark plug Diego Rubio to help them break their skid. Rubio leads the club with 12 goals and seven assists this season, including a helper on Gyasi Zardes’ lone goal in the club’s match vs. Nashville SC. Zardes ranks second on the club with 10 goal contributions (eight goals, two assists) and currently sits four goals away from 100 regular season scores in his career.

Toronto FC (9-13-7) vs. CF Montréal (15-9-4)

(7:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Canadian clubs Toronto FC and CF Montréal meet for the second time this season, but the first at BMO Field. Although Toronto leads the all-time series 14-11-5, Montréal has won three of the previous four meetings, including a 1-0 win on July 16 earlier this season. Montréal has never taken four wins in a five-game span against Toronto.
After falling at home to the New York Red Bulls, Montréal will look to set the club record for the most points in a single season against their rivals Toronto. The previous record was 51 in 2015 and they also aim to break the single-season goals record of 52 in 2017, which they sit three behind currently.
Toronto’s Federico Bernardeschi scored his sixth goal in his eighth MLS game during their 2-2 draw versus the LA Galaxy on Wednesday. The Italian has scored in each of his first four career home matches and became just the fifth player in MLS history to do so. The most recent player to accomplish this was Mamadou Diallo for the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 2000.
The other goalscorer for Toronto in the match was Jesús Jiménez, who added his ninth goal of the season. It was the Spaniard’s first goal since June 29, snapping a 10-game scoreless stretch. Jiménez will look to regain his scoring form after he started the season with seven goals in his first nine matches.

LA Galaxy (11-11-5) vs. Sporting Kansas City (8-15-5)

(8 p.m. ET, UniMás / TUDN / Twitter)

A pair of MLS originals in the Western Conference, the Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City meet for the 68th time in the regular season, with the all-time series knotted at 26-26-15. Sporting has won three consecutive meetings against the Galaxy, including a 4-2 victory on August 6, 2022.
In Week 28, the Galaxy played to a 2-2 draw vs. Toronto FC in a match that featured the first MLS goal for LA newcomer Riqui Puig. Puig’s 89th-minute game-tying score helped preserve the Galaxy’s four-game unbeaten streak as they remain in the thick of the race to the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs. Puig has totaled a goal and an assist in his first three MLS matches.
Galaxy star Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández has scored four of his last five matches, registering five goals and an assist in the month of August. Chicharito’s 12 goals lead the club and are the second-most in his three-year MLS career. He and teammate Dejan Joveljic (10 goals) are one of only two sets of teammates with at least 10 goal this season, joining the Philadelphia Union trio of Dániel Gazdag (17), Julián Carranza (14), and Mikael Uhre (10).
Sporting Kansas City newcomer William Agada scored the first two goals of his MLS career against the Galaxy on August 6, and has five goals and an assist over his last four MLS matches. Agada’s arrival has helped to jump start the Kansas City offense, which has 12 goals over their last four matches.
Despite only playing four games in the month of August, Sporting Kansas City’s 12 goals tied for the ninth-most in the league and their 3.0 goals per game average in August ranked second behind only the Philadelphia Union (3.5 per game, 21 goals in six matches).

New England Revolution (8-9-11) vs. New York City FC (13-9-6)

(8 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

The New England Revolution have faced New York City FC 20 times over the last eight seasons, and Sunday’s meeting will be the 21st regular season game between these sides and the second of the 2022 season. NYCFC have won each of the last three games against the Revolution across all competitions, but the Revs are 9-7-4 all-time against NYCFC and have lost just twice in 10 games at Gillette Stadium versus them.
Djordje Petrovic has played just 15 games since arriving to the Revolution midseason, but he already leads the league in penalties saved with three. If he saves one more before the end of the regular season, Petrovic will tie Nick Rimando (four in 2014) for the most penalties saved in a single season since 2010.
Wednesday’s goalless draw was Gustavo Bou’s first start since July 16 and second appearance since returning from injury. When these sides met earlier in the season, Bou scored both Revolution goals against NYCFC for his second and third career goals against the former MLS Cup champions.
Talles Magno needs two assists to join Maxi Moralez, Andrea Pirlo and Santiago Rodríguez as the only players in club history with at least 10 assists in a single season.

Seattle Sounders FC (10-15-3) vs. Houston Dynamo FC (8-15-5)

(9 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Seattle Sounders FC leads the all-time series over the Houston Dynamo, 12-5-6, including victories in seven of the last eight meetings between the two clubs. The Sounders won an early-season meeting, 1-0, behind a Raúl Ruidíaz goal on May 18, 2022. Ruidíaz has scored three goals in four career matches against the Dynamo.
The Sounders return home looking to stay alive in the Western Conference playoff race, after dropping consecutive matches to the Portland Timbers and Orlando City SC. Seattle has advanced to the postseason in every season since joining the league in 2009 and currently sit in 10th place in the West with 33 points and a 10-15-3 record.
Seattle midfielder Albert Rusnák scored one of the club’s two goals in their 3-2 loss to Orlando City on Wednesday. Rusnák has scored in two of his past four matches overall and has three goals and an assist in his last seven matches against Houston.
On the back of a sensational goal from Griffin Dorsey in the 75th minute, the Dynamo defeated Supporters’ Shield leading LAFC, 2-1, on Wednesday. Dorsey’s goal, his first of the season, powered Houston to their first victory since July 17.
First-year MLS standout Sebastián Ferreira also scored his 10th goal of the season in the victory over LAFC. Ferreira has scored in three of his last four games and leads the club in both goals (10) and goal contributions (13).

San Jose Earthquakes (6-12-9) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (9-12-7)

(9:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

Western Conference foes San Jose and Vancouver meet for the 31st time in series history, with Vancouver holding a slight series edge at 10-8-12. Vancouver is unbeaten in their last five matches against the Earthquakes. The clubs have played to a draw in their last two matches, including a 3-3 tie on May 14, 2022.
All six goals in the previous meeting between the two clubs were scored in the second half of the match, led by a brace from San Jose’s Jeremy Ebobisse. Vancouver’s Erik Godoy scored the game-tying goal in the 90th minute.
San Jose is one of only seven clubs with both a double-digit scorer (Ebobisse, 14 goals) and assister (Cristian Espinoza, 11 assists), joining Austin FC, FC Cincinnati, LAFC, Nashville SC, NYCFC and the Philadelphia Union. Ebobisse’s 14 goals this season are a career high.
Vancouver (34 points, 9-12-7) currently sits in ninth place in the Western Conference, only five points outside of the seventh and final playoff position.
Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld has three goals and an assist in his last four matches and leads the club with 13 goal contributions (six goals, seven assists) this season. Gauld has recorded double-digit goal contributions in each of his first two MLS seasons, after logging 10 (four goals, six assists) in his debut season in 2021. Gauld also paces the club with 37 key passes this season, nearly double his next closest teammates Deiber Caicedo (19) and Ryan Raposo (19).

LAFC (18-7-3) vs. Real Salt Lake (11-8-9)

(10:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+)

After suffering three-straight defeats, LAFC will look to bounce back against Real Salt Lake in a matchup that they have dominated historically. The two teams have played 10 times in the regular season with LAFC winning nine of those, including each of the last five. The lone win for Salt Lake in the Western Conference clash came on September 9, 2020 in a 3-0 win.
Despite falling to Houston Dynamo FC on Wednesday, LAFC’s Cristian Arango scored in his 23rd MLS game since the start of last August, which is the most in the league. Arango’s 14 goals are currently tied for the seventh most. In his two career games against the Claret and Cobalt, the Colombian has recorded a brace in both matchups, while also adding an assist in the most recent contest on August 6, 2022. The last player to score multiple goals in three straight games against a single opponent was David Villa for NYCFC against Toronto FC in 2015-16.
Real Salt Lake has utilized goals from several different players, with the most recent being Anderson Julio, who scored in his second straight match against Minnesota United FC on Wednesday. Since the start of last season, Julio has nine goals as a substitute, which leads all of MLS in that span.
Defender Andrew Brody continued his most productive MLS season by adding his fifth assist from defense against Minnesota. Brody’s five assists are tied with Pablo Ruiz for the third most on the team as all of them have come since July 13.