For the first time in their MLS history, the Seattle Sounders will not be heading to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Sporting KC’s 1-0 home win over the Sounders eliminated Brian Schmetzer’s side from the playoff race. William Agada’s first-half goal was all Peter Vermes’ side needed to claim a third-straight victory and end the Sounders’ playoff chase ahead of next weekend’s Decision Day. The Sounders were dominated all across the field, being out-shot 11-1, being out-dueled 46-36, and out-possessed 51%-49%. Both teams will now aim to win on Decision Day before starting their postseason plans earlier than expected.
LAFC claimed the 2022 Supporters Shield after using a 95th minute winner from Denis Bouanga to defeat the Portland Timbers 2-1 at Providence Park. Steve Cherundolo’s side scored first and last in Oregon, edging the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Union to the Supporters Shield. Carlos Vela netted his 12th league goal of the campaign, continuing another important season for the Mexican international.
New York City FC’s quest to lock up the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference took a major boost on Sunday following a 2-1 win over Orlando City at Red Bull Arena. Nick Cushing’s side overcame a second-half deficit, using goals from Alexander Callens and Talles Magno to move two points clear of rivals New York Red Bulls. Orlando City’s defeat hurt their chances of clinching a playoff berth and now the Lions will need to avoid any slip-ups in the final week to avoid a drop out of the top-seven.
Charlotte FC used a four-goal performance from Daniel Rios to down the Philadelphia Union 4-0 at Bank of America Stadium. It was the largest margin of defeat for the Union since 2019 and one that truly hampered their chances of winning a second Supporters’ Shield in the past three years.
With Cucho Hernandez out and Lucas Zelarayan coming off the bench, Derrick Etienne emerged as the hero for the Columbus Crew on Saturday night. Etienne scored twice in the final five minutes of the Crew’s important 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls. The Crew will head into Decision Day with the ability to finish as high as fifth in the Eastern Conference, however a playoff spot is not yet guaranteed.
Atlanta United’s playoff chase ended on Saturday following a 2-1 road loss at already eliminated New England Revolution. Gustavo Bou’s winning goal in the 85th minute propelled Bruce Arena’s side to a 10th victory of 2022, while condemning the Five Stripes to an early offseason.
Here are the results from Week 33 in MLS.
Sunday
Sporting KC 1, Sounders 0
(William Agada 41′)
Man of the Match: Despite coming out on the losing end, Stefan Frei was immaculate for the Sounders, making 10 saves on the night.
Moment of the Match: The Sounders most dangerous chance fell to Fredy Montero in the 69th minute, but John Pulskamp was up to the task to deny the veteran forward an equalizing goal.
Match to Forget: All four of the Sounders starting attackers failed to connect in a must-win match in Kansas City.
Timbers 1, LAFC 2
(Dairon Asprilla 81′) – (Carlos Vela 51′, Denis Bouanga 90+5′)
Man of the Match: Denis Bouanga came off the bench and delivered LAFC’s Shield-clinching goal, boosting Steve Cherundolo’s side past the Philadelphia Union in the dramatic race this season.
Moment of the Match: Bouanga fought his way into the Timbers box before curling a shot that deflected off Bill Tuiloma and into the back of the net. LAFC held on as Bouanga celebrated his first league goal in style.
Match to Forget: Both Tuiloma and Larrys Mabiala failed to deal with Bouanga’s cleverness in the box, failing to get to the attacker’s shot fast enough.
NYCFC 2, Orlando City 1
(Alexander Callens 66′, Talles Magno 81′) – (Facundo Torres 47′)
Man of the Match: Talles Magno delivered a strong performance, setting up Alexander Callens for NYCFC’s equalizing goal before calling his own number for the winner.
Moment of the Match: Magno’s confident finish into the bottom-left corner propelled NYCFC into the lead and condemned Orlando City to a road loss.
Match to Forget: Ivan Angulo offered little for Orlando City in the attacking third, losing four duels, and failing to register a shot on goal.
Nashville SC 1, Dynamo 2
(Walker Zimmerman 90+6′) – (Carlos Ferreira pk’ 30′, 39′)
Man of the Match: Carlos Ferreira has been a major bright spot for the Houston Dynamo despite the club’s failure to reach the MLS Cup Playoffs. Ferreira scored two goals in Sunday’s road win over Nashville SC, giving him 12 in total for 2022.
Moment of the Match: The end of the match at Geodis Park had both sets of fans frantic especially following Teenage Hadebe’s ejection and Walker Zimmerman’s stoppage-time goal. However, Nashville SC could not find a second goal and ended up on the losing end of the match.
Match to Forget: Hany Mukhtar did everything he could to propel Nashville SC to victory, but his offensive teammates failed to offer any help in the final third.
Saturday
LA Galaxy 1, RSL 1
(Douglas Costa (pen) 68′) – (Sergio Cordova 25′)
Man of the Match: Zac MacMath made seven saves, including a penalty kick save in the first half, to secure a massive road point for RSL.
Moment of the Match: Douglas Costa kept the Galaxy’s Decision Day next week from becoming even more uncertain by leveling the match in the 68th minute. The converted penalty also put a halt to the Galaxy’s penalty kick woes in recent weeks.
Match to Forget: Kevin Cabral had several late opportunities to score, but couldn’t make any of them count.
Whitecaps 2, Austin FC 0
(Ryan Gauld 7′, Lucas Cavallini 62′)
Man of the Match: Ryan Gauld scored the opener for Vancouver before assisting on the Whitecaps insurance goal in the second half. The Scottish forward also won seven duels in the victory.
Moment of the Match: Gauld needed only seven minutes to break the deadlock at BC Place, capping off an impressive Whitecaps attack.
Match to Forget: Alex Ring lost seven duels and picked up one yellow card in the loss, struggling to deal with the Whitecaps attacking midfielders.
Quakes 2, Loons 0
(Shea Salinas 52′, Benji Kikanovic 71′)
Man of the Match: Shea Salinas delivered the opening goal in his final home match as a member of the Earthquakes.
Moment of the Match: Benji Kikanovic’s cool finish doubled San Jose’s lead and put Minnesota United to the sword at PayPal Park.
Match to Forget: Minnesota United’s attack struggled to string anything together as Luis Amarilla and Mender Garcia stood out as ineffective in the final third.
CF Montreal 1, D.C. United 0
(Donovan Pines (OG) 41′)
Man of the Match: Victor Wanyama kept the run of play going in CF Montreal’s favor. He completed 92.9% of his passes and won four duels, while being involved in the most duels of any player in the game.
Moment of the Match: David Ochoa saved a penalty kick in the 80th minute, showing he may be the answer in goal for D.C. United next season and giving D.C. United a lifeline.
Match to Forget: Donovan Pines had a shockingly poor night. He failed to clear a cross, leading to an own goal in the first half. Then, he shoved Ismael Kone in the box to get sent off in the second half.
FC Cincinnati 2, Chicago Fire 3
(Luciano Acosta 78′, Brandon Vazquez 89′) – (Jhon Duran 56′, 75′, Brian Guitérrez 59′)
Man of the Match: Jhon Duran’s brace topped the scoresheet in the upset win.
Moment of the Match: Duran’s 75th-minute chip shot was stylish, but more importantly, the dagger in what could have been a special night in Cincinnati. A win would have guaranteed Cincy its first playoff berth in club history.
Match to Forget: Sergio Santos managed to earn a red card during a meaningless scuffle when the game was out of hand.
Crew 2, Red Bulls 1
(Derrick Etienne 89′, 90+3′) – (Frankie Amaya 53′)
Man of the Match: Derrick Etienne may have saved the Crew’s season. His two goals helped the Crew take all three points in a must-win in the playoff push. Etienne’s heroics come as Lucas Zelarayan was unable to start and Cucho Hernandez missed the match injured.
Moment of the Match: Derrick Etienne punched in a deflected effort from Jacyn Russell-Rowe in the final minute of the game.
Match to Forget: Patryk Klimala was not the answer to the Red Bulls’ center forward issues. Klimala was subbed out at halftime, failing to record a single shot.
Revolution 2, Atlanta United 1
(Giacomo Vrioni (pen) 32′, Gustavo Bou 85′) – (Josef Martinez 81′)
Man of the Match: Gustavo Bou was one of the most active attacking players on the field. Bou scored the winning goal, and produced four shots with two on goal.
Moment of the Match: Atlanta United leveled the match with a highlight-reel goal from Josef Martinez, whose scissor kick in the 81st minute added some late drama.
Match to Forget: The penalty call on Atlanta United goalkeeper Raul Gudino may have been close, but it appears Gudino could have gone more directly to the ball in the air instead of running into Revs striker Giacomo Vrioni.
Rapids 1, FC Dallas 0
(Diego Rubio 66′)
Man of the Match: Diego Rubio scored the game’s only goal and also generated half of the Rapids’ total shots on goal with three.
Moment of the Match: Diego Rubio scored one of the Rapids’ few chances by turning in a Michael Barrios cross in the 66th minute.
Match to Forget: Marco Farfan allowed Michael Barrios to dribble deep into the box. Farfan didn’t act quickly enough before Barrios crossed and assisted the game’s only goal.
Charlotte FC 4, Union 0
(Daniel Rios 24′, 54′, (pen) 72′, 90+1′)
Man of the Match: Daniel Rios kept Charlotte FC’s playoffs hope alive in a huge way with four goals.
Moment of the Match: Daniel Rios doubled the lead early in the second half, sidestepping Leon Flach to score from close range.
Match to Forget: Kai Wagner lifted his arm in the 71st minute to stop a shot from Nuno Santos, leading to a penalty and little opportunity for the Union to fight back from there.
Friday
Toronto FC 0, Inter Miami 1
(Gonzalo Higuain 86′)
Man of the Match: Gonzalo Higuain continued his recent form of scoring late winners for Inter Miami, netting the go-ahead goal at BMO Field.
Moment of the Match: Higuain’s late strike propelled Inter Miami in front for good.
Match to Forget: It was a forgettable night for Lorenzo Insigne who missed both of his shot attempts and offered little in terms of distribution in the final third.
Really looking forward to watching Kikanovich continue to develop next season.
I like this and the photos go along perfectly! Thanks for all your hard work SBI staff😊✌. I forgot to mention Justin Glad and Brian Gutierrez look better than Aaron Long and Christian Roldan. Glad and a in form John Anthony Brooks would be a nice brick wall to give teams like England and Iran headaches to get around and score on.
You can tell John Brooks is in form from his 2 mins of play? Gutierrez is a promising young player who will definitely help our U20s but he’s not ready for the full NT level.
All I was saying is a in form peek JAB and Glad CB pairing would be interesting to see. I was only giving a what if scenario.
You completely misconstrued what I said, its okay Johnny.
Glad benefits from Mastroeni’s defensive style. He’s good for MLS but not great. He’ll be a prime candidate for Long’s role in 2026. I don’t mean starting CB, I mean hated by the fan base because he doesn’t seem quite good enough but he keeps playing because others get hurt or pick poor club situations.
I hope Glad gets a Bundesliga team to pick him up. I like how he is a aerial threat too. He got forward a lot in RSL and LA Galaxy game.
I think he’s limited in his speed and athleticism. I don’t think he’d play for most Bundesliga teams maybe Belgium or 2.Bundesliga. It only takes one scout to believe in him and convince a director so who knows.
Glad should have scored twice with his head in the second half. Not sure he is ready to a step up in competition?
One of Zimmerman’s greatest attribute in MLS is his dominance in the air especially on set pieces. I’ve seen him play live a handful of times and he grows into a match and definitely tries to be a bully on everything in the air. On the international stage he is average and routinely gets beat to the spot. Also, MlS allows defenders to play through offensive players backs.