Toronto FC is clicking at the right time of the MLS regular season and continued that trend with a comeback win over the Philadelphia Union.
Ayo Akinola and Alejandro Pozuelo each scored second-half goals to help TFC to a 2-1 victory. Sergio Santos had the pick of the litter for goals, but ultimately the Union could not hang on to its early lead, losing its first match since Sept. 2nd.
Elsewhere, Orlando City stayed in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference after a 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls. Oscar Pareja’s side got goals from three different players to win its fourth match out of the past five.
The Columbus Crew hit back twice to earn a point at FC Dallas in a four-goal draw while NYCFC used a trio of assists from Alexander Ring to down Inter Miami 3-2.
In the Western Conference, the Seattle Sounders won their fourth in five matches to remain atop the West standings, while the San Jose Earthquakes won their second in a row to move within striking distance of a playoff spot.
Here’s a closer look at Saturday’s MLS results:
Orlando City 3, Red Bulls 1
(Dike 24′, Urso 50′, Carlos 90′) – (Valot 54′)
Orlando City remains well in the hunt for a strong finish in the Eastern Conference after extending its unbeaten run to nine matches on Saturday.
The Lions remained in the top four after a 3-1 home victory over the New York Red Bulls at Exploria Stadium. Oscar Pareja’s side started strong and got the breakthrough goal in the 24th minute.
Daryl Dike headed home Kyle Smith’s cross to get the Lions up and running in front of the home fans.
Junior Urso scored the goal of the match in the 50th minute, beating David Jensen from outside of the box. Florian Valot pulled a goal back quickly for the Red Bulls, but the visitors ultimately finished the day second best.
Antonio Carlos capped off the victory for Orlando in the 90th minute after VAR awarded the goal despite offsides pleas from the Red Bulls defenders.
The Lions could finish the weekend in second place pending other results while New York sits seventh for now.
Man of the Match
Kyle Smith: Smith assisted on the opening goal after great service, but also held his own defensively. He won nine of his 12 individual duels in the match, putting in a strong shift in the back of Pareja’s formation.
Moment of the Match
Urso’s strike: It proved to be the winning goal and boy was it a good one as Junior Urso picked a great time to score his — of the season. Chris Mueller’s assist was sensational, but Urso fought off Jason Pendant before lifting a shot over Jensen.
Match to Forget
The New York Red Bulls backline was poor overall, but surprisingly Aaron Long was the poorest. Long lost four of his six duels and was beaten on the Dike goal.
D.C. United 0, Atlanta United 4
(Gallagher 4′, 65′, Lennon 41′, Jahn 70′)
D.C. United’s horrible MLS season continued on Saturday with visiting Atlanta United blanking them by a 4-0 scoreline.
Jon Gallagher scored his first league brace while Brooks Lennon and Adam Jahn also got on the scoresheet. Gallagher broke the deadlock in the fourth minute for the Five Stripes, slotting a right-footed shot past Bill Hamid for his first goal of the season.
Lennon extended Atlanta’s lead in the 40th minute after setting up the opening goal. His left-footed shot beat Hamid to the top left corner, giving Atlanta a comfortable two-goal cushion going into halftime.
Gallagher was at it again after the interval, scoring his second goal of the match. Emerson Hyndman connected with Gallagher in the 64th minute before the forward beat Hamid for the second time in the match.
Lennon registered his second assist of the night, crossing towards Adam Jahn in the 69th minute. Jahn finished the cross to cap off a second win out of the past three matches for Atlanta United.
Atlanta next hosts Orlando City on Wednesday while D.C. travels to NYCFC on Tuesday.
Man of the Match
Gallagher came up clutch for Atlanta United’s depleted offense, scoring twice in a bounce-back victory.
Moment of the Match
After taking an early lead, Atlanta United put the pressure on D.C. right before halftime. Lennon’s finish put the Black and Red in a hole and eventually added confidence to the Five Stripes attack.
Match to Forget
Frederic Brillant was the poorest of the D.C. United defenders and eventually saw his night end early. Brilliant saw a straight red card in the 84th minute for a needless challenge on Manuel Castro, summing up a poor home showing.
No comment about DC inserting a player at halftime that wasn’t on the match roster? MLS should do DC a favor and suspend Olsen for the rest of the season.