A stadium opened in style on Saturday as Wayne Rooney, Paul Arriola and D.C. United shined in their first match in their now home.
D.C. United took down the Vancouver Whitecaps, headlining a busy Saturday of MLS action. It was a day that featured a whole bunch of goals as five matches boasted at least four goals.
One of those matches was the LA Galaxy’s comeback win over the New England Revolution in a match that featured two red cards. Meanwhile, the New York Red Bulls edged Sporting KC in another five-goal thriller.
Here’s a closer look at all of Saturday’s MLS action:
Minnesota United 3, RSL 2 (Final)
It got a bit nervy at the end, but Minnesota United held on to a big win over Real Salt Lake in a five-goal thriller.
Following a scoreless first half, the Loons blitzed RSL in the second half with three goals in 17 minutes. Ibson scored the first in 51st minute on an assist from Darwin Quintero before the Colombian star scored a goal of his own 11 minutes later.
Six minutes after that, it was Miguel Ibarra, who scored on another Quintero assist as the Loons surged to a 3-0 lead.
While the damage had been done, RSL did pull one back in the 77th minute as Joao Plata scored to give the visitors some sort of life. That life became a bit brighter in the 85th as Plata scored again to make it 3-2. It was as close as they’d come, though, as the Loons held on through the final whistle.
Man of the Match: Quintero continues to shine for the Loons as he played a part in every goal.
Moment of the Match: Ibarra’s finish proved the game-winner as the goal was just enough to hold off RSL’s comeback.
Match to Forget: Danilo Acosta struggled throughout the match, turning the ball over several times in a game where the RSL defense didn’t show well.
Orlando City 2, Toronto FC 1 (Final)
In a battle of two teams needing momentum, Orlando City came out with a much-needed win over Toronto FC.
Orlando City jumped into the lead late in the first half. After earning an early yellow card, Chris Schuler provided the Lions goal, scoring on a Dom Dwyer rebound to give Orlando a first half advantage.
Dwyer got one of his own just three minutes into the second half, scoring on a Chris Mueller assist to give Orlando the two-goal lead.
That lead would be just enough to survive a late Nick Hagglund goal as the Lions handed TFC the team’s fourth loss in five matches.
Man of the Match: After creating the opener, Dwyer scored the second to finish off the match.x
Moment of the Match: Dwyer’s goal all but iced the match and a big win for a struggling Orlando City.
Match to Forget: Given a rare start, Ryan Telfer struggled with distribution before being taken out at halftime.
D.C. United 3, Whitecaps 1 (Final)
D.C. United opened Audi Field in style with a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.
With Wayne Rooney starting on the bench, it was Yamid Asad who christened Audi Field with the stadium’s first goal, scoring in the 27th minute to give D.C. the 1-0 lead.
D.C. United’s real surge began in the second half with Paul Arriola leading the charge. Arriola scored his first of the night in the 69th minute, giving D.C. the 2-0 lead.
Rooney then provided on Arriola’s second, feeding the U.S. Men’s National Team winger as D.C. United’s biggest stars poured it on. Alphonso Davies scored a stunner late for the Whitecaps, but it wasn’t enough to ruin a memorable day for D.C. United.
Man of the Match: Arriola shined in what was one of his best performances since joining D.C.
Moment of the Match: Rooney’s debut was headlined by an assist on Arriola’s stunner in what was a fitting way to open the stadium.
Match to Forget: Kei Kamara fired just one of his four shots on target in the Whitecaps loss.
FC Dallas 3, Fire 1 (Final)
A Western Conference contender took care of business on Saturday as FC Dallas cruised past the Fire.
The Fire jumped into the lead in the 27th minute as Carlos Gruezo rocketed a shot following some strong dribbling from Reggie Cannon.
Following a Drew Conner red card, FC Dallas put the game to bed in the 74th minute as Kellyn Acosta fired home the insurance goal needed by the hosts.
Nine minutes later, though, it was 3-0 as Reto Ziegler scored from the penalty spot following a Jonathan Campbell foul, all but ending the match.
A late goal from Brandt Bonico proved little more than consolation for the Fire, who fell for the third consecutive match. FC Dallas, meanwhile, bounced back from a loss last time out to win their third in four matches.
Man of the Match: Gruezo dictated play while scoring the opening goal in the FC Dallas win.
Moment of the Match: Ziegler’s late penalty kick ended the Fire’s hopes, even if the team was able to get a late consolation.
Match to Forget: Connor earned two yellows and a dismissal, effectively ending his teams chances in the 70th minute.
Impact 2, Earthquakes 0 (Final)
It took less than ten minutes for the Impact to score the opening goal. Saphir Taider controlled a high pass from Ignacio Piatti with his left foot and beat Andrew Tarbell with his right. The Algerian international now has three goals in two games at Stade Saputo.
Clearly not liking what his team brought in the first half, head coach Mikael Stahre subbed off Annibal Godoy in the 41st minute. Upon retreating, Godoy went straight to the locker rooms in frustration. Coming back from halftime, Stahre made a second unusual substitution by removing Alashe for Jimmy Ockford. In total, the Southfield, Michigan native only spent four minute plus the two minutes of added time in the first half on the pitch.
Ignacio Piatti scored his tenth goal of the season in the second half. Alessandro Silva left the ball for Piatti at the top of the box and the Argentine beat Tarbell toward the lower right hand corner.
Match to Forget: Head coach Mikael Stahre made one of the most unusual decisions of the season coming out of halftime. After subbing on Fatai Alashe at the 41st minute, the Swede subbed off the Michigan native for Jimmy Ockford. Alashe had only played a total of six minutes in the first half.
Revolution 2, Galaxy 3 (Final)
The Revolution came out worse for the wear after a yellow card foul to the Galaxy’s Romain Allesandrini after he bowled over Cristian Penilla in the 23rd minute. The Ecuadorian was sent off for lashing out at him in respond, reducing the hosts to 10 men.
Five minutes later, Diego Fagundez put the Revs in front after a one-two with Luis Caicedo to play him in behind the defense. Fagundez beat David Bingham from around the penalty spot with a side-footed volley into the left side of the net.
The Galaxy leveled it at 1-1 on a 38th minute counterattack as Ashley Cole crossed it in from the left side to find Chris Pontius streaking in unmarked from the weak side. Pontius beat Revs keeper Matt Turner on the half volley with a screamer inside the left post.
The 10-man Revolution rallied back, though, taking a 2-1 lead into halftime after Caicedo headed home his first MLS goal in the 45th minute. Fagundez switched field to right back Andrew Farrell, who curled in a beautiful ball in for Caicedo to run onto by the six-yard box for the goal.
Teal Bunbury was denied a goal twice in the second half — first on a redirect off the left post in the 74th minute and then 79th minute, he caught Bingham out of goal, but Cole was there to head his shot off the line. Cole was shown his second yellow card in the 85th minute to even it at 10 vs. 10 over the final stretch.
The Galaxy found a late equalizer in the second minute of second half stoppage time as Dave Romney headed home a right side corner from Alessandrini at the left post.
The visitors completed an epic comeback in the fourth minute of stoppage time as Alessandrini sent it in from the left side, Gio dos Santos dummied the ball through and then Pontius ran onto the ball for the goal.
Man of the Match: Chris Pontius takes home the honors after notching his first brace of the season, scoring the best goal of the game and then the game winner.
Moment of the Match: The final few minutes made it a night to remember for the Galaxy as Alessandrini sent in a pair of great balls to swing the game back to the visitors in an epic comeback.
Match to Forget: Although the Revs played well without him, Penilla would surely like to take back that moment of frustration that put his team down a man for well over an hour.
Red Bulls 3, Sporting Kansas City 2 (FINAL)
In the fifth minute Bradley Wright-Philips scored as the forward put through by Kaku. The goal was called offside at first but, after the whistle and VAR review, it was deemed a goal.
Just three minutes after Red Bulls scored, SKC came down the pitch and equalized. After breaking the press, SKC charged down the field. Graham Zusi had a lot of time in the box and drove a cross in front of goal, allowing Johnny Russell to tap it in to make it 1-1 in the ninth minute.
The game became increasingly physical as time wen on. In the 31st minute the second yellow card of the game was issued to Alex Muyl after Yohan Croizet received one in the 17th minute for a late challenge on Tyler Adams.
In the 51st minute, SKC opened up the second half with a long-range rocket from Roger Espinoza, beating Robles high in the net, and putting Sporting Kansas City up, 2-1.
The 72nd minute saw the Red Bulls equalize through a impressive strike from midfielder Marc Rzatkowski. The play was started by Michael Amir Murillo, the last sub of the match, showing that head coach Chris Armas’ subs were spot on.
Rzatkowski scored again, his second goal of the night, to put the Red Bulls up, 3-2. A golazo in the 79th minute from the Austrian midfielder livened up the crowd in the last 10 minutes of the match.
NYCFC 2, Crew 0 (FINAL)
NYCFC continues to cruise at home while the Crew’s struggles continued in a 2-0 match at Yankee Stadium.
Both goalkeepers made early saves with Sean Johnson’s back-to-back stops i the eighth minute serving as an early highlight. His counterpart, Zack Steffen, also provided a big stop with a big save of his own in the 22nd minute.
NYCFC finally broke through with just over 10 minutes left, taking advantage of a turnover. A Steffen giveaway opened up a chance for Jonathan Lewis, who rocketed a shot off the post. After collecting the rebound, Lewis then found Jesus Medina for the finish.
Anton Tinnerholm provided the insurance goal just before stoppage time began, scoring in the 90th minute to seal NYCFC’s third home win in a week.
Man of the Match: Lewis has become a key piece under new head coach Domenec Torrent as he set up another goal in the win.
Moment of the Match: Coming off the bench, Lewis changed the game in helping set up Medina’s finish.
Match to Forget: Zack Steffen made an uncharacteristic mistake leading to the first goal, dooming a strong and resilient defensive effort from the Crew.
Rapids 0, Dynamo 0 (Final)
Saturday night’s late fixture saw no winner as the Colorado Rapids and Houston Dynamo drew 0-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Both sides had equal chances to break the deadlock but were unable to find the back of the net.
Mauro Manotas and Luis Gil had the best opportunities for Houston but Tim Howard kept each player out.
Sam Nicholson tested his luck on separate occasions in the second-half while Dominique Badji also had a good look towards goal.
Joe Willis made three saves to help the Dynamo at least get a point at the Western Conference strugglers.
Houston stays in seventh place and are at home to FC Dallas next weekend, while Colorado remains in 11th and travels to Real Salt Lake.
Men of the Match: Both Willis and Howard deserved equal honors for helping their sides to clean sheets.
Moment of the Match: Nicholson had the most chances offensively for the Rapids but was kept out each time by the veteran Willis.
Match to Forget: Starting up top, Romell Quioto failed to record a shot on goal and was later subbed off.
Gio dummied the ball? If it were not 5 million dollar Gio’s bad first touch and total fear of challenging and hurting his poor little body and shying out of challenging the defender for that pass (dummy my …..) Pontius would not have been able to brilliantly slot that winner home.
big congrats to dc for their new digs, their new star player rooney, and everything. i’m sure the dc fans will figure out where to tailgate and fire up the barbies, no worries there. their new home is awesome!
Bobby wood scored today and Kyle Scott went on loan to Telstar for the season same team as Novakocich last year
Emo started for Bournemouth in their friendly today