The New England Revolution got the result of the round so far, holding on for a 3-2 win over Toronto FC. Brad Friedel’s men used the in-form play of Cristian Panilla to hand TFC their sixth defeat of the season. Panilla led the way with a brace for New England, which was the Revs’ third consecutive home win over Toronto at Gillette Stadium.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Union got a massive three points in Montreal while the San Jose Earthquakes grabbed their first away win of 2018. Gyasi Zardes was on fire for the Crew in a lopsided victory against the Chicago Fire, while FC Dallas handed the LA Galaxy their fourth straight defeat.
The late fixtures saw the New York Red Bulls hold on for three points against the Colorado Rapids, while Nick Rimando earned his 200th career win as Real Salt Lake defeated 10-men D.C. United.
The SBI team will be providing in-game updates and post-game breakdowns of game, so follow along throughout what will certainly be a busy Wednesday of MLS action. Also, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on today’s action in the comments section below:
Here is a rundown of Saturday’s MLS action:
Revolution 3, TFC 2 (Final)
The New England Revolution grabbed a huge three points at home downing the defending MLS champs Toronto FC, 3-2.
The Revs jumped ahead in the fourth minute as midfielder Scott Caldwell intercepted a pass from Michael Bradley at midfield. Teal Bunbury moved the ball along to Cristian Penilla in space to do the rest. The Ecuadorian winger sped 30 yards downfield before sending a low shot from the edge of the box past keeper Alex Bono and inside the left post to make it 1-0.
In the seventh minute, Penilla doubled the Revolution’s lead after another turnover by TFC, as Ager Aketxe passed it right to him 30 yards out from goal. Penilla took one touch, opened up and then beat an out-of-position Bono to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage.
Crew 3, Fire 0 (Final)
The Columbus Crew used an opening goal by Federico Higuain and a brace from Gyasi Zardes to roll past the Chicago Fire 3-0 at Mafpre Stadium on Saturday.
Despite an early leave to Pedro Santos, the Crew were able to collect themselves and push for a first half lead. The opening goal came from the penalty spot, as Higuain cashed in following a foul call on Kevin Ellis. It was the Argentine’s third goal of the season.
Just five minutes into the second half, Zardes added his first of the evening pushing the lead to 2-0. Niko Hansen played an assist to Zardes who tapped home easily from close range.
Zardes then added his seventh of the season in the 70th minute, all but sealing the match for the Crew. This time Ricardo Clark found Zardes inside of the box, and the American forward finished into the bottom-right corner.
Zack Steffen made four saves in the clean sheet for Columbus.
Man of the Match: Zardes continued his fine campaign for Columbus, adding a brace in the second-half to seal the win. His eight goals in MLS this season totals the combined amount Zardes tallied over the past two seasons.
Man of the Match: Higuain’s penalty kick really opened things for the Crew, before Zardes’ first of the match was the icing on the cake. The American forward added another later in the half for good measure.
Match to Forget: Again, Nemanja Nikolic continues to be quiet for the Fire. Four consecutive matches without a goal seems to have hurt the striker’s confidence as he failed to have a shot in the defeat.
FC Dallas 3, LA Galaxy 2 (Final)
The LA Galaxy’s struggles continued in a 3-2 loss to FC Dallas.
FC Dallas provided two goals before the half, putting the struggling Galaxy in a major hole. The first of those goals came via Maxi Urruti, who finished off a Mauro Diaz assist for 1-0.
The second goal was another Diaz assist, as the Argentinian star found Roland Lamah to push the lead to two heading into the break.
Just three minutes into the second half, though, the Galaxy were back in it as Ola Kamara scored to push the score to 2-1. Lamah provided the response five minutes later, scoring on yet another Diaz assist to restore the two-goal cushion.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, that cushion became vital. After a 73rd minute red card to Reto Ziegler, Ema Boateng pushed the score to 3-2 with an LA Galaxy goal in the 83rd minute. From there, FC Dallas killed the game, though, holding on to a home win.
Man of the Match: Mauro Diaz balled out on Saturday, providing all three assists in the win.
Moment of the Match: Roland Lamah’s second half goal proved valuable insurance as FC Dallas outlasted the Galaxy despite being down a man.
Match to Forget: Zlatan Ibrahimovic was active but not crisp in the Dallas heat, firing all six of his shots off target.
Impact 0, Union 2 (Final)
The Philadelphia Union were certainly short-handed, but they made the most of a goal from a first-time starter in a 2-0 win over the Montreal Impact.
Just before halftime, the Union jumped into the lead through Corey Burke, who provided a headed finish for his first MLS goal in his first career start.
The second half provided red card for each team. For the Union, it was Burke, who earned his dismissal for a dangerous tackle in the 58th minute. Less than 10 minutes later, the match was 10-on-10 as Daniel Lovitz earned his marching orders for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Finally, the Union fired the insurance goal as Harris Medunjanin scored in the 88th minute to ice the game.
Man of the Match: Alejandro Bedoya dictated the game from the middle of the field, helping the Union to a scrappy 2-0 win.
Moment of the Match: Burke’s goal is an obvious choice, as it got the Union back on track in a match without several attacking pieces in the starting lineup.
Match to Forget: It’s not often Ignacio Piatti is held quiet, but the Argentine mustered just one shot on Saturday.
Minnesota United 1, Earthquakes 3 (Final)
In need of a victory, the San Jose Earthquakes put in a strong road performance in a 3-1 win over Minnesota United.
The Earthquakes got on the board early through Magnus Eriksson, who fired a second-minute free kick to give the visitors the lead. The goal came following a call on Jerome Thiesson.
The Loons then got their equalizer in the 26th minute as Christian Ramirez marked his return from injury with a game-tying goal.
Midway through the second half, the Quakes grabbed the lead again as Danny Hoesen provided a 69th minute goal on an assist from Chris Wondolowski.
Wondolowski then provided the vital insurance goal, scoring from the penalty spot to ice the game for the Quakes.
Man of the Match: Wondolowski provided a goal and an assist, helping lead the Quakes’ second half push.
Moment of the Match: Hoesen’s goal proved the game-winner, and it could be a goal that provides a bit of momentum for a struggling Quakes team.
Match to Forget: It was a tough match for the Quakes backline as both Jerome Thiesson and Francisco Calvo were called for penalties.
Red Bulls 2, Rapids 1 (Final)
The New York Red Bulls grabbed their first road win in Colorado since 2007, holding on for a 2-1 victory against the Rapids.
The Eastern Conference side got off to a quick start with a goal in the opening five minutes at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Bradley Wright-Phillips hit Daniel Royer with a cross inside of the box, and the Austrian slotted past Tim Howard for a 1-0 visitors lead.
Royer, 27, now has two goals on the season for Jesse Marsch’s side.
Derrick Etienne doubled the Red Bulls’ advantage in the 76th minute as he calmly placed a right-footed effort into the bottom-left corner. A fine swirling cross from Alex Muyl hit the substitute who left Howard stunned. A slight deflection off of Rapids centerback Danny Wilson looked to have changed the direction of the shot. Video Review was used to check if Etienne was offsides, and referee Ismail Elfath ruled in favor of NYRB.
Jack McBean pounced on a rebound for the Rapids in the 85th minute to make the final few minutes interesting. Luis Robles saved Shkelzen Gashi’s effort prior to that, but McBean pulled one back for Colorado. It was McBean’s first goal since June 2017 since his brace for the Galaxy against Colorado.
Robles made six saves in the win, which is the Red Bulls third in a row. The Rapids have lost four in a row, since a 2-0 home success against Toronto FC.
Men of the Match: The substitute pair of Muyl and Etienne connected for the winning goals for the Red Bulls, which sees them each get man of the match honors. A great run by Muyl allowed Etienne to prepare himself for a cross that was perfectly put on a plate for the forward.
Moment of the Match: VAR easily could’ve went the other way for the Red Bulls, wiping off the winning goal by Etienne. However, Elfath agreed that the forward was slightly behind the Rapids backline and allowed the goal to stand.
Match to Forget: 30-year-old Yannick Boli started up top for Colorado but failed to have an impact in the match. Boli was subbed off in the 65th minute, after failing to have a shot on goal.
D.C. United 2, Real Salt Lake 3 (Final)
Real Salt Lake may have started slow but they rolled their way to three points after a 3-2 success against 10-men D.C. United at home.
Ben Olsen’s side got off to a strong start through the figure of Paul Arriola. The midfielder got on the end of Zoltan Stieber’s cross in the ninth minute and finished a left-footed effort into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
It was Arriola’s first goal of the new season for D.C.
However, the hosts battled their way back and took the lead in a five-minute span. Corey Baird’s header in the 21st minute leveled the score before Albert Rusnak snatched the lead for RSL in the 26th minute.
D.C. was reduced to 10-men with Joseph Mora seeing red for a vicious foul on Jefferson Savarino. Savarino later added to RSL’s lead in the 56th minute, rifling past Steve Clark to the high center of the goal. The Venezuelan now has two goals since the start of April.
D.C. didn’t give up and got a goal through Steve Birnbaum in the 83rd minute. The defender rose up and headed Yamil Asad’s cross in past Nick Rimando to make the scoreline 3-2.
However, Rimando earned career win No. 200 as RSL grabbed their fourth win of the season. D.C. have lost back-to-back matches, and only have one win this season.
Man of the Match: Albert Rusnak deserved man of the match honors, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the win. Rusnak who had an outstanding first season in MLS last year, was influential in Saturday’s performance by RSL.
Moment of the Match: The late goal by Birnbaum surely had RSL fans shaking in their seats. However, Rimando made five saves in the win to reach an historic milestone.
Match to Forget: Joe Mora surely will want to forget Saturday’s match as quick as possible, seeing red in the first-half. The 25-year-old really damaged his team’s chances of getting a result which sees their struggles continue.
Gyazi Zardes and Teal Bunbury, are perfect example of coaching having a direct impact on a player’s career. These two striker’s were being played out off position (and tried in different areas) as wingers instead of the position that brought them to MLS in the first place, and now, under the right atmosphere and tutelage, they are doing really well.
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With that said Brooks Lennon needs to leave RSL. From being very promising in midfield for Liverpool’s junior team to being moved to right back of RSL. Brek Shea and Luis Gil need to step up their game and stop being okay with being subs.
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Crew are looking dangerous with Zardes, Grella and Clark on their team. They might just be that “Cinderella story” this season
This may be heretical, but …
How seriously does any team take a coach who is so ponderously overweight that he can’t even participate in training without risking a heart attack? Bruce Arena was already a little pudgy and blasé, but surely Sigi Schmidt is that x10. Miguel Herrera seems to be in much the same top-heavy position with América.
Of course it is surely possible to be the brain of a team without coming anywhere near the standard of fitness required of the players. But, but, but …
I have to wonder what players like Zlatan make of their coach, asking them to get out there and risk injury in heat and humidity, while never demonstrating any comparable level of physical commitment or discipline. Not that I think Zlatan is a saint or infallible, but still …
It’s hard to believe that he was a good college soccer player. I don’t see how any former athlete could let themselves get so out of shape. I don’t know what effect it has on the team, but it certainly is bad for his health. I keep hoping he will at least go on a diet, for his own sake. Hell, I’m 72 and a bad back has really limited my physical activity the last 18 months, but I still wear the same size pants I did 30 years ago and I’ve only been a recreational athlete. As to your point, it shows a lack of self discipline and how can you ask your players to show self discipline if you won’t?
Galaxy should just fire Sigi at the half. No clue how he still has a job. Last season he didn’t have a striker and threw Zardes under the bus. Well now he has a proven MLS goal scorer in Kamara and a player like Zlatan and still can’t win. Just look at the turn around Seattle made after firing him.
I was thinking during and after the game how the Galaxy team is not as good as the sum of their parts. However, in fairness, they are integrating a number of new players and have had injuries. They were unlucky not to get the draw in the final minutes with Ibra hitting the crossbar on a free kick and Ciani missing a wide open header. Still, I would put Sigi on notice if I were the GM. Dallas seemed to play together as a team much better than the Galaxy. Also, while Urruti’s goal was a fine effort, the other 2 goals that Dallas scored, IMO, were due to poor defense. Lamah split 2 defenders much too easily so that the pass to him was not at all difficult. Then, Lamah got through the heart of the Galaxy defense, drew 3 defenders with him, and Steres was ball watching, leaving the back post wide open for Diaz on a pretty simple header. I also question some of Sigi’s personnel decisions. I thought he was crazy to put Zardes on defense last year. They didn’t get enough good defenders for this season, and I think he should be playing Lletget in a more central role and use him more as a playmaker. At least Sigi had the good sense to bring on Boateng late since he has the speed to get behind defenses and Boateng ended up scoring a late goal.