Between a pair of MLS vs. LIGA MX matchups in Concacaf Champions Cup and Club World Cup play and a whole slate of league matches, this past weekend wasn’t short on drama.
Let's look back at the latest batch of MLS games to examine some of the most interesting things we’ve learned. And if you want to read up on the other key moments of Matchday 17 in detail, check out Matt Doyle’s latest column.
Onwards.
Few teams have yo-yoed more aggressively than Chicago Fire FC this season. One moment, they’re looking dominant against the Columbus Crew on opening day. The next moment, they’re losing 4-2. One moment, they’re outplaying FC Cincinnati. The next moment, they’re losing 7-2 to Nashville SC. One mome – you know what, you get the idea.
Between their various injury issues, absences and strong US Open Cup lineups over the first half of the season, there’s been plenty of inconsistency in their league performances. Of course, the varied outings are also – and maybe even primarily – tied to Gregg Berhalter’s desire to play expansive, possession-based soccer. Because the Fire make the field big in possession, turnovers at inopportune times have cost them. They’ve allowed more non-penalty xG per 90 minutes than all but eight other teams, as per FBref.
But as players get more comfortable with Berhalter’s fluid 4-3-3 shape and possession patterns become commonplace, we’ve seen better defensive outings from Chicago. We’ve also seen them start to execute Berhalter’s original stated aim with the USMNT: using the ball to disorganize the opponent and create goal-scoring opportunities.
In a 3-1 win over Orlando City on Saturday, the Fire put together a brutally effective 12-pass sequence that chopped their host’s defensive shape into bits. See for yourself:
The confidence to draw Orlando City forward, the sharp positioning to break lines, the hard off-ball running to exploit space deep in the opposing half, and the final-third quality to bring it all home… the Fire’s possession play is a weapon. There’s still work to do to refine its impact on both sides of the ball, but what happened to Orlando up above? It can happen to anyone.
Coming into their battle with Columbus on Saturday night, Inter Miami ranked 24th in MLS in sprints in the direction of play in possession at 43.8 per game, according to Sportec.
They so rarely tried to run into the depth, instead allowing opposing defenses to keep the ball in front of them. When you have four of the greatest on-ball threats at their respective positions that this sport has ever seen, it’s not a hopeless approach. But it certainly wasn’t optimal, either.
But against Columbus in what turned out to be a 5-1 win, Miami changed their approach. Even just a few minutes into the match, Tadeo Allende began making quick vertical runs behind the Crew’s backline. The Argentine attacker had a dangerous shot called back for offside just minutes before making a heads-up run to capitalize on a quick free kick:
In all, Miami racked up 47 sprints in the direction of play in possession against the Crew – good for 10th in the league over the weekend – in a game that was decided by halftime thanks to a 3-0 lead for the home side. If Inter Miami are going to start running, even just a little, the rest of MLS needs to watch out.
After most teams in the league have played exactly half of their regular-season matches, guessing who’s going to hop over the line and stay there in the Western Conference Audi MLS Cup Playoffs race seems almost impossible.
There’s only a six-point (!) gap from the Houston Dynamo in ninth place, which functions as the final Wild Card spot, to 14th place in the West. Plus, that team in 14th is St. Louis CITY SC, and they have a game in hand on most of the teams above them. Compared to the Eastern Conference, where there’s a 12-point gap from New York City FC in ninth to Toronto FC in 14th and an eight-point gap from them to Atlanta United in 13th.
This past weekend’s results out West only served to further cloud the playoff future, with Sporting Kansas City and St. Louis respectively picking up wins against other playoff bubble teams in Houston and the San Jose Earthquakes. Toss in Austin FC continuing to tumble down the standings, and you’ve got something bordering on pure chaos.
Put that chaos straight into my veins.
Ahead of their expansion season, it was easy to imagine that Chucky Lozano and Anders Dreyer would be high-impact attacking players who could change games for San Diego FC. But looking at their roster in the winter, it was harder to see the sort of necessary depth that a long season played across multiple competitions necessitates. Building out the team’s depth even after opening day was part of the plan, according to what SDFC’s sporting director, Tyler Heaps, told Charlie Boehm in November:
“We may actually play a month of games and then determine, actually, it makes more sense to go get this guy now. So just trying to leave ourselves as much roster flexibility as possible, so we don't put ourselves in a difficult situation where we're chasing the salary cap, or we're chasing to try to get rid of somebody whenever maybe we don't need to do that.”
By adding Milan Iloski, who scored his third of the season off the bench in a 2-0 win over Austin this weekend, Luca Bombino, and Oscar Verhoeven after their inaugural match, Heaps followed through on that quote up above.
But it’s not just the new signings that have given San Diego FC more functional depth than many – myself included – expected. It’s that their more unknown initial signings have hit for a team that’s rowing in unison. Onni Valakari looks like one of the best midfield rotation pieces in the league. Alex Mighten has played valuable minutes on the wing. And there’s no shortage of outside backs ready to step in and do a job.
To stop simply naming dudes who play for San Diego FC, I’ll offer this simple stat: in the 12 games without starting striker Marcus Ingvartsen, who made his return to the field in Saturday’s win, San Diego played at a 1.58 points-per-game pace. That would’ve put them tied for fifth in the West last year, if averaged out over a full season.
This team has top-end talent and depth. That sound you hear? That’s the rest of the league gulping nervously.
It’s happened quietly, but the New York Red Bulls have climbed all the way up to sixth in the uber-competitive Eastern Conference. They’ve won their last three games, including a 2-0 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday, and have gone 5W-3L-0D in their last eight regular-season games – all while advancing to the US Open Cup quarterfinals.
What’s behind the Red Bulls’ push up the East’s table? Well, perhaps that’s not the right question. No, the right question just might be: Who’s behind the Red Bulls’ push up the East’s table?
After a string of phenomenal showings in goal to close during last year’s playoffs, Carlos Coronel has been back to his old tricks in 2025. The Paraguayan international shot-stopper leads the entire league in goals saved above expected, according to FBref, at 6.8. Averaged out, Coronel is saving 0.42 goals more than expected every 90 minutes. That per-90 figure also leads the league.
Based on xG differential, the Red Bulls are just the 15th-best team in MLS. But thanks to Coronel’s work in goal, they’re 11th in PPG with the sixth-best defensive record in the league. Great goalkeeping goes a long way, and that’s exactly what the Red Bulls have been getting.
