MLS Sunday: Everything you need to know about Matchweek 31

Once again the MLS dance card was full this Match Day with 14 games – five of which saw red cards – and almost all results have playoff consequences as teams jockey for position. New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake might have stumbled, but Atlanta United and Seattle Sounders kept their playoff hopes alive.

Top Games

Philadelphia Union 5 - 1 Orlando City
Are Philadelphia the best team in MLS? They certainly looked like it yesterday when they pulled apart Orlando City like a warm plate of monkey bread. This 5-1 dismantling comes on the heels of a 0-2 away win at Red Bull Arena, a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United, a 6-0 home win over Colorado Rapids, and a 0-6 away win over DC United. We’ll do the math for you: That's 23 goals scored and three allowed in the last five games. The Union took the lead in the Supporter’s Shield race, and you have to like thier chances to win the trophy this year.

FC Dallas 2 - 1 LAFC
Despite playing with 10 men since the 13th minute game it looked like LAFC were going to hang on for a narrow one-goal victory — after all, this is the team packed with European and Latin American supertalent. But two delightful late goals from FC Dallas turned the tide and knocked LAFC out of the lead for the Supporter’s Shield. Rather, two brilliant goals from Jesus Ferreira just three minutes apart broke the collective heart of Los Angeles. The first was a quick-restart kick that caught LAFC napping (see below), the second a tucked-in direct kick that earns our Goal of the Week Honors. Well done.

New Jersey Red Bulls 2 - 1 New England Revolution
The streaky Red Bulls bounced back from last week’s humiliation at home to Philadelphia with a convincing come-from-behind win over New England. Tommy Mac from West Nyack staked New England to a lead in the 53rd minutes, but New Jersey replied five minutes later when Cristian Cásseres chopped the ball into the back of the net. There was some drama five minutes later when a Luquinhas goal was called back, but any controversy was mooted when the Red Bulls were given a medium-soft penalty that Lewis Morgan converted. The Red Bulls remain comfortably in third place in the Eastern Conference, and in first place for fouls committed in all of MLS.

Seattle Sounders 3 - 0 Austin FC
Seattle aren’t giving up without a fight. Despite logging a thoroughly mediocre season after winning the CONCACAF Champions League, the Sounders kept themselves in the playoff picture with a vital win over an Austin team that is now on a three-game losing streak. Even more important for Sounders fans: Raúl Ruidíaz scored twice and is seemingly fully recovered after an injury sidelined him for a large chunk of the summer. Seattle will need him if they’re to climb from ninth place into a postseason spot.

Goal of the Week

While Ferreira’s first goal is more dramatic than the direct kick he took three minutes later, we feel his second goal deserves this week’s honors. It’s all finesse and placement, a low kick that threads the needle between the LAFC defenders and goalkeeper. So dirty.

Scoreboard

Friday, September 9

CF Montréal 2 - 2 Columbus Crew

Saturday, September 10

Charlotte FC 1 - 0 NYCFC

Nashville SC 1 - LA Galaxy

New Jersey Red Bulls 2 - 1 New England Revolution

Philadelphia Union 5 - 1 Orlando City

Atlanta United 4 - 2 Toronto FC

FC Cincinnati 6 - 0 San Jose Earthquakes

Seattle Sounders 3 - 0 Austin FC

Chicago Fire 3 - 1 Inter Miami

Houston Dynamo 0 - 0 Sportking Kansas City

FC Dallas 2 - 1 LAFC

Real Salt lake 0 - 0 DC United

Colorado Rapids 3 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps

Portland Timbers 1 - 0 Minnesota United

Tables