🔬 The debriefing of Saturday’s MLS action on the topic of rivalry

MLS was back with a full schedule of games on Saturday and rivalries took center stage. Here’s what happened.

What happened

July 20, 2024; Carson, California, USA; Portland Timbers defender Miguel Araujo (2) and LA Galaxy midfielder Riqui Puig (10) battle for the ball during their MLS soccer game at Dignity Health Sports Park. Mandatory Photo Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The Eastern Conference remains full of drama, as leaders Inter Miami defended all three points against Chicago Fire 2-1 thanks to the heroics of Jordi Alba.

Meanwhile, FC Cincinnati’s nightmare continues, as they stumbled for the third time in a row, losing 3-1 to New York Red Bulls.

A hat trick helped Philadelphia Union to a hat trick against Nashville, Columbus stumbled away against Atlanta United (2-1) and in Canada Toronto survived 1-0 against Montreal.

In the Western Conference, Minnesota United won 2-0 against the San Jose Earthquakes before things turned chaotic in the final games.

LAFC beat Seattle 3-0, Vancouver lost Ryan Gauld to injury and lost 4-3 to Houston Dynamo, Riqui Puig inspired LA Galaxy to hold on and a 3-2 win against Portland, and a late penalty from Cole Bassett gave Colorado Rapids a 3-2 win against Real Salt Lake.

The teams that shared the points were Orlando City and New York City (1:1), New England and FC Dallas (1:1), Sporting KC and St. Louis (1:1) and Austin and Charlotte (2:2).

Statistics of the night

One of the shocks of the night occurred in the fortress Red Bull Arena.

Player of the evening

That honor goes to hat-trick hero Dániel Gazdag after he ripped apart Nashville’s defense.

The 28-year-old attacking midfielder has already scored 14 goals and provided one assist in 20 MLS games this season.

He is, alongside Sébastien Le Toux (100), the second player in Union’s history to have 80 goal involvements in his career.

What that means

NYRB is the biggest winner in the East with an upset win over second-place Cincinnati. A second straight slip-up is nothing Columbus can’t get used to, but two fewer games could see the Crew eventually fall behind league leaders Inter Miami.

Toronto, meanwhile, secured a season-long double win over Montreal and remains in the Final Series playoffs, while New England is at the bottom of the table.

In the West, the Galaxy are top of the table after back-to-back wins and second in the Supporters’ Shield race, while rival LAFC claimed its first league win since July 4.

RSL are the biggest losers, slipping further in the Supporters’ Shield race, where they have dropped points for the third consecutive season. Houston and Minnesota secured three vital points for their playoff race, and San Jose remains bottom of the table.

What’s next?

We now take a break from MLS action and turn our attention to the Leagues Cup. MLS returns on August 24th.