Top Things to Watch in MLS this Week
MLS Enters Home Stretch Following All-Star Week
In the aftermath of the MLS All-Stars’ 2-1 victory over their LIGA MX counterparts, all eyes turn towards the home stretch of the 2022 MLS regular season. With 10 or fewer games remaining for all 28 MLS clubs, the stakes are higher for every match, and every minute carries more meaning.Â
Twenty-four of the league’s 28 clubs enter this week in contention for the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs by virtue of maintaining a place above the playoff line or by sitting within six points of a playoff spot. Atop the Western Conference is the Los Angeles Football Club, which leads the league with 54 points as winners of their last six straight matches. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Union (48 points) top the Eastern Conference, currently holding a five-point advantage over CF Montréal (43 points) and a six-point lead over defending MLS Cup champions New York City FC (42 points), who sit in third place on the strength of one of the league’s staunchest defenses.
Teams closing in on the first Audi MLS Cup Playoffs appearance in club history include second-year standout and current Western Conference No. 2 seed Austin FC (48 points), FC Cincinnati (33 points), and Charlotte FC (29 points), as all three clubs are looking to punch their first tickets to the postseason.
With only 54 days until MLS Decision Day 2022, stakes continue to rise as the postseason picture starts to take shape.
LAFC Continue Run Towards Reclaiming History
With ten games remaining on their regular-season schedule, the Los Angeles Football Club (54 points, 17-4-3) sits atop the MLS Supporters’ Shield standings, averaging 2.25 points per game, and currently on pace to finish this campaign with record-breaking 77 points. That tally would reclaim the MLS single-season points record back from New England Revolution (73 points, 2021) after LAFC set a then all-time high (72) in 2019.
Victorious in six consecutive matches and eight of their last nine in regular season play, LAFC is supercharged by Cristian “Chicho” Arango, who has scored10 of his 12 goals on the season in the club’s last 11 matches. Arango’s late charge into the race for the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi, coupled with the spark of newcomer Gareth Bale and the steady presence of Carlos Vela – each of whom have netted two goals in their last three MLS outings - has firmly inserted LAFC into the conversation of historical top teams.
LAFC’s balanced attack leads all of MLS with a plus-29 goal differential and the second-most goals scored (53) in the league, while putting the club in pole position for yet another history-making season with a chance to take a significant step towards the points record with a strong week. The club welcomes D.C. United to Banc of California Stadium on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+) and travels to face Sunshine State foe San Jose on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+).
Race Heats Up for the MLS Golden Boot presented by AudiÂ
The race to the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi is heating up with Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi’s 17 goals this season leading the way, and each of the top five contenders striking hot to find the back of the net immediately after the All-Star break.
Driussi, who scored the game-winning goal for Austin in the 94th minute in the club’s 4-3 comeback victory over Sporting Kansas City, has been the guiding force on the league’s top offense. Driussi has scored in four consecutive MLS contests, totaling six goals over the span. However, a new contender for the Golden Boot continues to make a charge in FC Cincinnati’s Brandon Vázquez (15 goals). Vázquez, like Driussi, scored in four straight games and in six of his last seven overall, while helping FC Cincinnati push for their first-ever playoff berth.
Three sensational scorers – San Jose’s Jeremy Ebobisse, FC Dallas’ Jesús Ferreira, and Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar – are tied for third in the Golden Boot presented by Audi race with 14 goals apiece. Last week, Ebobisse added to his career-best goal total with a late-game goal against Ferreira’s FC Dallas squad and the 25-year-old continues to make his presence felt on the Earthquakes’ front line, scoring in three of his past four in MLS play. On the opposite end of the field, Ferreira recorded a brace against the Earthquakes in his fourth multi-score match of the season, tying Ebobisse for the most such games in the league this season.
Mukhtar, who has 30 goals across the past two seasons, has goals in each of his past two MLS matches and has found Nashville’s new home stadium – GEODIS Park – to his liking, scoring goals in five of his last six matches played at home.
These five stars, among a legion of additional contenders, will look to further their candidacy for the Golden Boot presented by Audi as the season continues its race towards the finish.
Goal-Scoring Excitement Reaches Fever Pitch
History was made in Major League Soccer on Saturday, as Atlanta United’s Andrew Gutman scored the 20,000th regular season goal in the history of MLS in Saturday evening’s 2-2 draw at FC Cincinnati. Gutman’s milestone goal came 26 years, four months and eight days (a total of 9,626 days) after the first goal in MLS history, scored by Eric Wynalda for the San Jose Clash on April 6, 1996.
Gutman’s goal – his second in as many games for Atlanta United – was one of 51 goals scored across 12 games on Saturday, August 13, marking just the second time in MLS history that more than 50 goals had been scored in a single day. The other? Just a week prior, the single-day MLS goal record was set on Saturday, August 6, as a league-record 57 goals were scored. Prior to August 6, no more than 46 goals had ever been scored on a single match day.
With a combined 114 scored over the past two weeks of MLS play and sensational scorers firing on all cylinders, MLS continues to dazzle week in and week out.
Hometown Hero Wins MLS NEXT Pro Goalie WarsÂ
Four men entered, only one survived. It was a battle for the ages. It was…MLS NEXT Pro Goalie Wars! Fans at Allianz Field in St. Paul, MN, were treated to a special edition of an old classic during the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge last Tuesday.Â
Goalkeepers from four MLS NEXT Pro clubs were chosen to compete for the title of Goalie Wars champion: Caique (RNY FC), Luka Gavran (TFC II), Alex Rando (NYCFC II), and Alec Smir (MNUFC2). The rules were simple: keepers protect their goal while attempting to score on their opponent by throwing, kicking, or drop-kicking the ball and the goalie with the most goals at the end of the :90 second round wins.Â
The final round came down to the final seconds: with neither goalie having scored and it looking like overtime was imminent, the hometown hero pulled out the victory when Smir slipped one by Rando with three seconds remaining, much to the delight of the home crowd.Â
“It was an awesome experience,” said Smir after his win. “It was a joy to do it out in Allianz.”
