MLS midweek madness always occurs when there’s a full slate of games on a Wednesday night! 28 of the 30 teams were in action in matchday 13, and there were crazy scorelines across both conferences.
In the East, the top two teams and the bottom two faced off. First-place Nashville stomped on second-place New England, and Orlando and Philly played a thrilling 4-3 game. Elsewhere in the East, Inter Miami and Cincinnati combined for eight goals, and Chicago, the Red Bulls, and NYCFC got wins.
Out west, there were a pair of 3-2 matchups in which the top two teams in the table got opposite results, as Vancouver and San Jose were both involved in tight one-goal games. As the night went on, Salt Lake and San Diego both recorded multi-goal wins, and Sporting Kansas City earned its second win of the season, moving them out of last place in MLS.
Here's a look at some of the top matchups from the night that was on Matchday 13.
In a rematch of the Eastern Conference semifinals from last season, Cincinnati and Miami produced some fireworks. He's inevitable; Messi was the first one to score on the night to give Miami a lead, but Cincy hit back just before halftime, as Kevin Denkey converted a PK.
In the second half, this game would see six goals scored in a back-and-forth affair. Cincy scored to go up 2-1, but Messi soon equalized. With less than half an hour left, Cincy went up 3-2 thanks to an Evander strike, but the hosts could not see out the match.
Miami scored in the 79th, 84th, and 89th minutes to secure a 5-3 win. The final goal came off Messi's foot, but Cincinnati's keeper Celentano was credited with an own goal as he had the final touch that made the goal. Miami moved up to second in the East, while Cincy is holding on to 8th place.
In a match that pitted the top two teams in the East against each other, many thought this could be the moment the Revolution ascended to the top. New England was unbeaten at home coming into this game, while Nashville's early-season success was marred by its Concacaf Champions Cup exit. Unfortunately, this one did not live up to the hype.
Nashville showed its ability to deliver strong defensive performances, weathering an early New England flurry of chances. They then moved quickly before halftime to spring counterattacks, with Bryan Acosta and Warren Madrigal both scoring before the half to shock their hosts. They'd add a third goal in the second half to complete the 3-0 drubbing.
New England was one of the hottest teams coming into this game, but after getting blanked at home, they dropped to third place behind Nashville and Miami. Nashville SC holds onto the top spot in the East and is now just two points off the Supporters' Shield lead.
The bottom two teams in the East produced one of the most entertaining games of the MLS midweek madness. It began in the first half, as the host, Orlando, scored two goals in quick succession, with Martin Ojeda and Griffin Dorsey scoring. Philly was forced into a first-half change, bringing on Cavan Sullivan, and looked like a completely new team when he came on.
Sullivan willed chances into existence for the last-place Union, who got one goal back thanks to Milan Iloski finishing off one of those Sullivan efforts. Orlando was able to fire back, thanks to Philly's poor transition defense, to make it 3-1 in the 72nd minute, and it looked like the match was over. Philly showed some fight as Cavan Sullivan and Ben Bender both scored to tie the game by the 79th minute.
As has been the case for Philadelphia all year, they conceded late, allowing Ojeda to score the game-winning goal in the 90th minute. The win at home helped Orlando jump up to 12th in the East and are just two points off a playoff place. For the Union, their loss and a subsequent Kansas City win meant that Philly now sits in pole position to win the Wooden Spoon the year after winning the Supporters' Shield.
Out West, there were two marquee matchups, one of them featuring FC Dallas looking to rise to contender status against a Vancouver Whitecaps team that knew a win could see them go to the top of the West and Shield standings. The first half showed that, as Dallas struck first, Vancouver dug deep to equalize and take the lead before the half-hour mark.
In the second half, Dallas came out with a burning desire to get points from this game. Logan Farrington scored the equalizer in the 48th minute, but they couldn't stop Vancouver from getting the next goal as Sebastian Berhalter scored his second goal of the match in the 64th minute. Dallas pushed to get another equalizer as their new MLS sensation, Sam Sarver, came on as a super sub, but he couldn't get another magical goal.
Vancouver Whitecaps took all three points and moved to the top of the West and Shield standings. Dallas's loss meant they'd have to settle for staying in a lower-half playoff spot for now. Vancouver rivals San Jose would be in action that night as well, and if the Earthquakes lost, the Whitecaps knew they'd hold that spot going into the weekend.
The final match of the midweek 14-match series was a Western Conference clash between two contenders, Seattle and San Jose. San Jose came into this game knowing that if they could get points at Seattle, they'd hold onto the top spot in the West and in the Shield race, and early on, it looked like they'd be just fine.
San Jose scored inside the first two minutes of the match, and almost saw out the first half against a hostile Seattle side. The Sounders would equalize through a PK in the 43rd minute. The two sides would then play a thrilling second half that went back and forth. Seattle took the lead in the 55th minute, but San Jose would fight back in the 69th minute. The match looked destined to end 2-2, but in the 89th minute, Osaze De Rosario scored the winner for the Sounders!
San Jose won't have much time to wallow in their tight loss, as they have to play this coming weekend. They sit on 29 points and can go back to the top of the MLS with a win and Vancouver dropping points. Seattle is sneakily coming up on those two teams sitting in third in the West on 24 points; maybe they'll make another Sounders-like run in the summer to get to the top.
Charlotte FC 0-1 NYCFC
CF Montreal 2-2 Portland Timbers
DC United 1-3 Chicago Fire
FC Cincinnati 3-5 Inter Miami CF
New England Revolution 0-3 Nashville SC
Orlando City 4-3 Philadelphia Union
New York Red Bulls 3-2 Columbus Crew
FC Dallas 2-3 Vancouver Whitecaps
Minnesota United 0-1 Colorado Rapids
Sporting Kansas City 3-1 LA Galaxy
St Louis City 2-1 LAFC
Real Salt Lake 3-0 Houston Dynamo
San Diego FC 5-0 Austin FC
Seattle Sounders 3-2 San Jose Earthquakes
Nashville SC - 27 pts
Inter Miami - 25 pts
New England Revolution - 22 pts
Chicago Fire - 20 pts
Vancouver Whitecaps - 29 pts
San Jose Earthquakes - 29 pts
Seattle Sounders - 24 pts
Real Salt Lake - 22 pts
LAFC - 21 pts
Minnesota United - 21 pts
FC Dallas - 19 pts
Houston Dynamo - 18 pts
Colorado Rapids - 16 pts
San Diego FC - 16 pts
LA Galaxy - 16 pts
Portland Timbers - 14 pts
Austin FC - 14 pts
St. Louis City - 12 pts
Sporting Kansas City - 8 pts
MORE: Instant Analysis: Union hit rock bottom in loss to Orlando
