Hey friends,

Lots of MLS action for you today. Please do enjoy!

• 3️⃣ 4️⃣ MLS Match Day 34

• 🇺🇸 Yanks Abroad

• 🗽 NYCFC are HOT

• ⚫️ 🟡 The Best Attacking Duo in MLS

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Meme of the Week

Match Day 34 Recap

Decision day is looming. Here’s what went down over the weekend…

Orlando City SC beat Nashville 3-2 behind a brace from Martin Ojeda and a goal from Duncan McGuire. Nashville’s recent league form has been abysmal; they’ve lost 6 out of their last 7 league games and are close to falling into the play-in round. They’ll play Austin FC in the US Open Cup final for maybe their only chance at hardware this season.

FC Dallas beat Colorado 3-1 and have now gone 6 straight unbeaten, all since selling Lucho Acosta. Logan Farrington and Petar Musa linked up once again for the game’s first goal. For the first time since early May, Dallas is back in a playoff position, one point ahead of Houston with a game in hand.

Austin FC beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 behind Myrto Uzuni’s last-second goal. Brad Stuver was phenomenal in this one, preventing 1.81 expected goals. It’s Austin’s 3rd win in their last 4 league games. Meanwhile, Seattle is winless in their last three games and now gets Vancouver.

The Chicago Fire blanked Minnesota 3-0 on the road for one of their best performances of the season. Their 8th road win ties their club record in a season. The last wild card spot in the East is between them and the NY Red Bulls. The Fire are two points ahead and have a game in hand. They’ll try to end the Red Bulls historic 15-year playoff streak and join the dance for the first time since 2017.

Inter Miami beat DC United 3-2 on Saturday. Messi had two goals and an assist to become the fastest player in league history to reach 70 goal contributions, doing so in just 46 games. His second goal was spectacular. That’s 22 goals and 12 assists in 22 games played, utterly insane stuff. Miami has three more consecutive weeks of two games per week. If they win out, they’ll win the Shield and he’ll win MVP again. But that’s far from a sure thing.

Yanks Abroad

Malik Tillman faced off against fellow countrymen, Gio Reyna and Joe Scally, on Sunday as Leverkusen tied Monchengladbach 1-1. Tillman scored the goal, making that 2 goals in his first 3 Bundesliga matches. Good to see the trio linking up after their game as well.

Tanner Tessman scored a game-winner for Lyon in their 1-0 win over Angers on Friday.

Chris Richards put together another stellar outing against West Ham. Full highlight clip. He has solidified himself as one of the top defenders in the world's top league. Crystal Palace and Liverpool are the only remaining undefeated teams in the Premier League. They’ll face off on Saturday.

It’s been a MASSIVE week for Christian Pulisic. He had a brace and an assist in Milan’s 3-0 win over Udinese. It’s early, but he’s tied for first in Serie A for goals and goals per 90. After the game head coach, Massimiliano Allegri, called him the “Michael Jordan of soccer”. While that’s a stretch, his form is elite. With the goals, he passed Clint Dempsey (57) for the most ever by an American in the top 5 European leagues (59).

He scored again yesterday in the Coppa Italia after coming on as a sub, making that 5 goals in his last 6 games.

NYCFC are HOT

NYCFC beat the Columbus Crew 3-2 in a mid-week matchup and then put an end to Charlotte’s 9-game winning streak with their 2-0 win. The Pigeons have won 6 out of their last 7 league games, 5 of which have been against playoff teams, and have catapulted themselves to 4th in the East. The win also secured a playoff spot for the 9th time in 11 seasons.

On Wednesday against Columbus, it was Hannes Wolf who bagged a brace in City’s comeback win. He has 11 goals and 5 assists this season, becoming the 10th player in club history to hit the double-digit goal mark.

On Saturday against Charlotte, it was New York’s usual suspect, Alonso Martinez, who scored two penalty kicks. The brilliant stretch of form over the last 7 games also coincided with the introduction of new DP signing Nico Fernandez. Watch this sequence from Saturday’s win to see the skill he brings to the attack.

But the strength of this team has been in the back. Led by Matt Freese in goal, their 35 goals allowed are third fewest in MLS. Matty Ice did what he does best, saving a penalty to salvage the clean sheet. Per Fbref, Freese has saved 4.7 more goals than expected this season, 5th best in MLS. The Club awarded him mid-week with a new contract extension through 2030.

This team is not to be underestimated. Next up is the Hudson River Derby 🍿 

The Best Attacking Duo in MLS

What a week for LAFC. They beat Real Salt Lake twice in the span of four days by the same score of 4-1 each time. They now have three straight league wins, scoring 12 goals in that span. Led by the best attacking duo in MLS, they can score in bunches and are peaking at the right time.

Denis Bouanga (8) and Son Heung-min (6) have scored all 14 of their goals in the last 5 games. It didn’t take the two stars long to start clicking.

Bouanga has two hat-tricks in the last three games to put him even in the Golden Boot race with Messi at 22 goals. He became the first player in league history to score 20+ goals in three straight seasons. He’s quickly becoming one of the best players in league history.

As for Son, he scored a hat trick mid-week in their first match-up against Salt Lake. He now has 6 goals and 2 assists in just 550 minutes played. His presence has taken much of the opposing defense’s attention away from Bouanga, who has 9 goals in the 7 games since Son made his debut. They complement each other perfectly. Per Tom Bogert, before Son’s debut, LAFC ranked 12th in goals, 10th in expected goals, and 20th in chances. Since his debut, they’re 1st in goals, 4th in expected goals, and 4th in chances.

This attack is scary good. If I were a betting man, my money would be on LAFC coming out of the Western Conference.

Goal of the Week

An absolute ROCKET.

Meme of the Week

Poor Nashville 🙃 

Quick Hits

• Evander had three assists in FC Cincinnati’s 3-2 win over the Galaxy (Watch)

• Inter Miami and Messi agree to new contract extension (Link)

• Miami FC of the USL reveals plans for new stadium (Link)

We’ll see you next week 👋 

Max & Mason