Alejandro Pozuelo's fine run of form continued as Toronto came from behind to beat the Philadelphia Union 2-1 in Connecticut.
Sergio Santos' delicate chip had put Philadelphia ahead in the fifth minute, but Toronto fought back in the second half.
Ayo Akinola headed in a Tony Gallacher cross from the left approaching the hour-mark to bring Greg Vanney's side level.
Pozuelo scored what proved to be the winner in the 76th minute, heading in at the back post following a corner.
As Toronto won for the 10th time in their past 13 meetings with the Union, Pozuelo has been directly involved in 10 goals since the MLS regular season resumed in August, as per Opta.
Toronto joined Columbus on 31 points atop the Eastern Conference after the Crew were held to a 2-2 draw by Dallas.
LA Galaxy are bottom of the Western Conference after slumping to a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes in the California Clasico.
The Galaxy seemed on track when Sebastian Lletget put away the opener after Javier Hernandez hit the post, and goalkeeper David Bingham saved Chris Wondolowski's 12th-minute penalty.
But Marcos Lopez drilled in a wonderful equaliser before half-time, and Andres Rios made no mistake with San Jose's second spot-kick of the game in the 82nd minute.
Orlando City continued their fine season with a 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls.
The club's tally of 29 points from their first 15 matches is five more than they have ever had through the same number of games in any previous campaign, according to Opta.
Gonzalo Higuain's Inter Miami fell to a 3-2 loss to New York City, while Atlanta United crushed DC United 4-0.
Montreal Impact and Chicago Fire drew 2-2, Alan Pulido scored a brace as Sporting Kansas City edged Houston Dynamo 2-1 and Minnesota United enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Cincinnati.
Western Conference leaders the Seattle Sounders beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1, while the clash between the New England Revolution and Nashville finished goalless.
City had ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win at Chicago Fire 10 days before losing to Orlando City on the weekend but their poor form continued at Red Bull Arena.
Ola Kamara tapped in from point blank range to give the visitors at 24th-minute lead, but Heber side-footed in an equalizer three minutes later.
Steven Birnbaum restored United's lead with a header from a Martin Rodriguez free-kick in the 57th minute and City could not find a response with David Ochoa palming away Gedion Zelalem's 95th-minute effort.
The win is Wayne Rooney's second since taking over at United who are still last in the Eastern Conference, while it sees City slide down to fourth in the east.
Riqui Puig scored a spectacular late equalizer with a long-range curler after a give-and-go to earn LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw away to Toronto.
Douglas Costa had put the Galaxy into a 24th-minute lead before Toronto hit back with second-half goals to Jesus Jimenez and Filippo Bernardeschi before the Spaniard's 89th-minute strike.
Riqui Puig was making only his third appearance for the Galaxy following his August move from Barcelona.
The result dents star-studded Toronto's playoffs aspirations, leaving them 10th in the east, while the Galaxy are eighth in the west.
Philadelphia Union became the second team behind LAFC to book their postseason berth with a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United.
Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel were all among the goals for Union who are eight points clear in the east.
New York Red Bulls moved up to third in the east with a 1-0 win at second-placed Montreal with Lewis Morgan hitting the winner in the 43rd minute.
LAFC suffered a shock 2-1 loss to lowly Houston Dynamo, who condemning the Western Conference leaders to their third straight defeat.
Inter Miami slumped to back-to-back losses with a 1-0 defeat at Columbus Crew, while New England's winless run extended to four games after a goalless draw with struggling Chicago Fire who snapped a three-game losing run.
Hany Mukhtar netted a hat-trick as Nashville beat Colorado Rapids 4-1, while Orlando City came from two goals down to defeat Seattle Sounders 3-2.
Real Salt Lake proved too good for Minnesota United 3-0 and Portland Timbers moved into the west's top seven with a narrow win against second-placed Austin 2-1.
City had ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win at Chicago Fire 10 days before losing to Orlando City on the weekend but their poor form continued at Red Bull Arena.
Ola Kamara tapped in from point blank range to give the visitors at 24th-minute lead, but Heber side-footed in an equalizer three minutes later.
Steven Birnbaum restored United's lead with a header from a Martin Rodriguez free-kick in the 57th minute and City could not find a response with David Ochoa palming away Gedion Zelalem's 95th-minute effort.
The win is Wayne Rooney's second since taking over at United who are still last in the Eastern Conference, while it sees City slide down to fourth in the east.
Riqui Puig scored a spectacular late equalizer with a long-range curler after a give-and-go to earn LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw away to Toronto.
Douglas Costa had put the Galaxy into a 24th-minute lead before Toronto hit back with second-half goals to Jesus Jimenez and Filippo Bernardeschi before the Spaniard's 89th-minute strike.
Riqui Puig was making only his third appearance for the Galaxy following his August move from Barcelona.
The result dents star-studded Toronto's playoffs aspirations, leaving them 10th in the east, while the Galaxy are eighth in the west.
Philadelphia Union became the second team behind LAFC to book their postseason berth with a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United.
Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel were all among the goals for Union who are eight points clear in the east.
New York Red Bulls moved up to third in the east with a 1-0 win at second-placed Montreal with Lewis Morgan hitting the winner in the 43rd minute.
LAFC suffered a shock 2-1 loss to lowly Houston Dynamo, who condemning the Western Conference leaders to their third straight defeat.
Inter Miami slumped to back-to-back losses with a 1-0 defeat at Columbus Crew, while New England's winless run extended to four games after a goalless draw with struggling Chicago Fire who snapped a three-game losing run.
Hany Mukhtar netted a hat-trick as Nashville beat Colorado Rapids 4-1, while Orlando City came from two goals down to defeat Seattle Sounders 3-2.
Real Salt Lake proved too good for Minnesota United 3-0 and Portland Timbers moved into the west's top seven with a narrow win against second-placed Austin 2-1.
Since beating the New York Red Bulls in the opening game of the season, Orlando have failed to win at home in 2023.
That run of five games has included three straight losses, with road wins over Philadelphia Union and Minnesota United wedged between those defeats.
Torres scored the winner against the Red Bulls back in February, and knows the time is now for Orlando to correct their home form.
"It's been difficult losses. Not just this week, but so far the ones that we've had on the season," he said.
"We know that we have to be a little bit more. It's not what we'd hoped for at this point in the season, but we continue working with the whole team to continue finding those details that we've been missing recently.
"In the final third, we've gotten good plays where we've been in and around the ball, but we haven't been able to finish those chances yet. And on the defensive side, we've given up some easy ones that have cost us as a team. So we work together to try and solidify those areas.
"We all know what [head coach] Oscar [Pareja] has been asking of us in the plan that he's laid out for us, whether it's guys that have been here or guys that just got here this year.
"The plan that Oscar has laid out has been very clear, and we're all integrated into that. I think what we're missing right now is the chemistry in between the new players and the old players and executing that idea. Like I said, the plan is very clear so now we just need to work together to bring that idea to the field in reality."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
McGuire has scored three goals in his first six MLS appearances, including scoring Orlando's last two goals. McGuire has hit the target with all seven shots he's attempted in MLS, the only player to attempt more than three shots with a 100 per cent shooting accuracy this season.
LA Galaxy – Javier Hernandez
Hernandez scored his first goal of the season in the Galaxy's 2-0 win over Austin on Saturday, and will be eager to keep up his form. It was his 38th regular season MLS goal, surpassing Erick Torres to become the second-highest-scoring Mexican international in MLS history, behind only Carlos Vela (72).
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Each side have three wins in their six previous MLS meetings. The last two matches ended 1-0 to the visiting team (one win each) after there were a total of 20 goals scored in the first four games between the Lions and Galaxy.
Orlando have lost 11 regular season home matches since the start of 2022 (W10 D1) after losing a total of 12 home matches over the previous three regular seasons combined (W20 D14 from 2019—21).
The Galaxy have just two points from four away matches this season, though they're unbeaten in their last five away matches against Eastern Conference opposition.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 48.2 per cent
LA Galaxy – 25.1 per cent
Draw – 26.7 per cent
A day after the MLS is Back Tournament was announced, the league held a draw for the group stage on Thursday, placing the 26 teams into six groups.
Sixteen teams will then progress to the knockout stage, which will begin on July 25 ahead of an August 11 final.
Aside from the opening match, the rest of the tournament schedule has yet to be announced.
The groups for the MLS is Back Tournament:
Group A (Eastern Conference): Orlando City, Inter Miami, New York City, Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire, Nashville SC.
Group B (Western Conference): Seattle Sounders, Dallas, Vancouver Whitecaps, San Jose Earthquakes.
Group C (Eastern Conference): Toronto, New England Revolution, Montreal Impact, DC United.
Group D (Western Conference): Real Salt Lake, Sporting Kansas City, Colorado Rapids, Minnesota United.
Group E (Eastern Conference): Atlanta United, FC Cincinnati, New York Red Bulls, Columbus Crew.
Group F (Western Conference): Los Angeles FC, LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, Portland Timbers.
RSL moved above Portland Timbers into the last playoffs spot in the Western Conference with their 3-1 victory, while Orlando achieved the same feat in the east after beating Columbus Crew 2-1 after a late penalty.
Pablo Mastroeni's RSL will take on two seed Austin in the first round of the MLS playoffs, navigating their way past Portland who started the day in sixth spot, but dropped to eighth, with Minnesota United also qualifying with their 2-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps.
Jefferson Savarino settled any nerves for RSL, who had claimed only three wins from their past 17 games, by curling in a 19th-minute opener before Rubio Rubin's deflected shot doubled their lead in the 48th minute.
Bode Hidalgo sealed RSL's playoffs spot with a classy finish in the 82nd minute, with Dairon Asprilla scoring a late consolation for the Timbers.
Minnesota, who will take on Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, got their win after Franco Fragapane's low 17th-minute drive. Jonathon Gonzalez added a second with a left-foot volley in the 77th minute to seal the Loons' spot.
Hany Mukhtar was confirmed as the MLS Golden Boot winner with 23 goals, although he did not score as Nashville locked in the five seed with a 1-0 win over Supporters Shield winners LAFC.
Teal Bunbury scored the only goal in the 53rd minute, with Nashville to face LA Galaxy in the playoffs. Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 3-1 with Riqui Puig and Javier Hernandez among the scorers.
Facundo Torres converted an 84th-minute spot kick to send Orlando into the playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the Crew. The Lions will take on Eastern Conference two seed Montreal.
Columbus came into the game one point ahead of Orlando and had gone ahead through Derick Etienne in the 38th minute.
Junior Urso leveled for Orlando in the 56th minute before Milos Degenek's handball led to Torres' decisive penalty, condemning the Crew to missing the playoffs.
Cincinnati clinched their spot in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, leapfrogging up into the five seed slot, with their 5-2 win at struggling DC United.
Brenner hit a hat-trick for Cincy, who will take on New York Red Bulls in the playoffs. The Red Bulls won 2-0 over Charlotte after Elias Manoel's double to secure the four seed.
Inter Miami lost 3-1 at home to Montreal, meaning Phil Neville's side slipped to the six seed and will take on reigning MLS Cup champions New York City. City beat Atlanta United 2-1 to clinch the three seed.
In other games, Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes drew 2-2, Chicago Fire drew 1-1 with New England and Austin and Colorado Rapids ended 1-1 after Diego Rubio's late equalizer for the visitors.
Eastern Conference winners Philadelphia Union thrashed Toronto 4-0 with Daniel Gazdag netting a hat-trick, while Western Conference three seed Dallas got past Sporting KC 2-1.
Lewis Morgan, who scored 14 goals in the regular season, had put the Red Bulls ahead with a rifled strike from outside the box in the 48th minute at Red Bull Arena.
But Cincinnati replied with two goals in the final 15 minutes to secure their spot in the Conference Semifinals where they will face top seed Philadelphia Union. Fourth-year franchise Cincy had finished last in the Eastern Conference during its previous three campaigns.
Cincy thought they had an equalizer in the 60th minute when the Red Bulls failed to clear a long throw and Junior Moreno's strike was deflected in, but that was by an offside Jeff Cameron.
But the visitors found an avenue back when Red Bulls defender Andres Reyes clumsily brought down Alvaro Barreal, with Luciano Acosta stepping up to send Carlos Coronel the wrong way with the 74th-minute penalty.
New York were stunned when Cincy took the lead with less than five minutes of regulation time left as Vasquez sidefooted home substitute Sergio Santos' left-flank pass.
Cincy goalkeeper Roman Celentano denied Aaron Long's 88th-minute header, while Red Bulls defender Sean Nealis headed over in stoppage time.
LA Galaxy moved into the Conference Semifinals where they will face LAFC after a 1-0 home victory over Nashville at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The hosts thought they had gone ahead in the 50th minute when they raced forward in a four-on-two situation with Riqui Puig laying off for Javier Hernandez to fire home but the goal was disallowed on review after a Ronald Araujo foul in the build-up.
Pink-haired Araujo, who hit the post with a wayward 60th-minute cross, made amends when he headed in Samuel Grandsir's cross from the byline on the right side.
Galaxy could have added another but Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis made saves from Riqui Puig and Kevin Cabral late.
The 23-year-old midfielder made something of a surprise switch to Major League Soccer this month after being deemed surplus to requirements at Camp Nou.
Puig made his Galaxy debut as a substitute on Friday in a 3-3 draw with Seattle Sounders following his arrival on a three-and-a-half year deal.
While Barca spent their pre-season in the United States, the former Spain youth international was left back at home with other players they were looking to move on.
Puig felt he deserved to be treated with more respect.
"It was a tough month because I had never seen that before, leaving players behind in Barcelona and going on a tour without them," he stated.
"Perhaps I understand the club's position, they want to put pressure on players to leave, but there are other ways to do it.
"It was really difficult being in Barcelona, training alone, with four other team-mates who were also there with me.
"After seven years at the club, being in Barcelona when all my team-mates are in Los Angeles playing matches, well, the truth is that it hurt me a lot.
"It's a difficult situation and sometimes you have to make decisions and they have made this decision but I don't agree with it."
In fact, all five goals were scored within 22 minutes, starting with DC's Ravel Morrison as he opened the scoring in the 47th minute by controlling a ball on his chest before volleying from outside the box into the bottom-right corner.
Two minutes later Alan Franco equalised for Atlanta with a header from a corner, before DC made it 2-1 in the 55th minute when Ola Kamara got on the end of a terrific whipped cross from Chris Durkin.
The visiting side's joy was replaced with frustration when Josef Martinez equalised in the 62nd minute, before the home crowd finally saw their team take the lead in the 70th through a Juan Jose Purata header.
With the win, Atlanta are now just three points out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, while DC remain stuck on the bottom of the table with 22 points from 27 games, sporting a goal difference of minus 28.
Elsewhere, Orlando City found the back of the net early and extremely late in their 2-1 victory against the visiting New York City.
The home fans only had to wait six minutes before Urso Junior opened the scoring for Orlando, and that would be the only score of the opening half as the hosts produced seven shots compared to just one for New York.
The second half was a more competitive affair, and New York were rewarded with a Maximiliano Moralez equaliser in the 53rd minute, and that 1-1 score would hold until deep into stoppage time.
As the clock ticked past the five allotted minutes of stoppage time, Orlando were able to steal all three points as Tesho Akindele rose up headered home Ivan Angulo's corner for the win.
In the final match of the day, Los Angeles Galaxy jumped up to the seventh and final Western Conference playoff spot with a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution.
It was a dream start for Los Angeles away from home, taking the lead in the fourth minute when Chicharito set up Daniel Aguirre for the opener, before Chicharito scored himself to make it 2-0 after 15 minutes.
New England played well, controlling 62 per cent of the possession to end up with 1.81 expected goals compared to just 0.95 for Los Angeles, but their only goal came in the 82nd minute from Carles Gil.
RSL sit top of the Western Conference on 37 points, having lost just two matches so far this season while putting together an astounding 15-game unbeaten run in the league.
Mastroeni knows exactly where his side are in the table, and he has embraced the challenge that comes with being the leader.
"It's about connecting to the big picture - we want to be champs," said Mastroeni. "There's all these sayings in sport for a reason, the one I go by is offence will win you games, but defence will win you championships.
"It always goes back to what we want to achieve as a team. It's about fine-tuning some things and having a real understanding that we're now the hunted and need to get everyone's best game."
The Galaxy are one of those chasing Salt Lake down, sitting just three points below them in third, having lost just one of their last nine matches.
Having won their last two games, head coach Greg Vanney was particularly pleased with how his side defended in those two victories.
"When we're following through on our responsibilities and making the games as predictable as we possibly can, then it helps the group to deal with situations a lot easier and cleaner," Vanney said.
"We've done a nice job of that in the last two games, and it helps us to defend better. It gives the group a lot of confidence in understanding that if we stick to what we want to do, we can be a lot more efficient, especially in defence."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango
Arango has scored six goals in six career MLS matches against the Galaxy (incl. playoffs), tied for his most against any opponent in MLS play (Austin, Dallas).
No player has scored more goals against the Galaxy since Arango joined MLS in August 2021.
LA Galaxy – Dejan Joveljic
Joveljic had both a goal and an assist in the Galaxy's win over New York City FC on Wednesday, his second straight game with one of each.
The only other Galaxy player to have three straight regular-season games with both a goal and an assist is Zlatan Ibrahimovic (September 2019).
MATCH PREDICTION: REAL SALT LAKE WIN
Salt Lake have lost only one of their last six regular-season matches against the Galaxy (W2 D3), though that defeat came in their last home league match against them in May 2023.
The Galaxy have won consecutive regular-season road games against RSL just once, doing so in 2012-13.
RSL are unbeaten in 15 straight regular-season matches (W9 D6), equaling the longest single-season streak since the Portland Timbers went 15 straight without defeat in 2018. There have only been three longer single-season streaks in MLS history, most recently a 16-match run by New York Red Bulls in 2016.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy have won four of their last five games (L1) with the last three of those wins coming by at least two goals. It is the first time the team have had three victories by multiple goals in a four-game span since doing so in September-October 2018.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Real Salt Lake – 53.7%
Draw – 23.8%
LA Galaxy – 22.6%
Nashville had gone ahead in the 28th minute from Hany Mukhtar's penalty but Hernandez was the centre of attention once again.
The former Manchester United forward failed to convert a 97th-minute penalty attempting a Panenka last Sunday against Sporting KC, spurning a hat-trick and winner.
Hernandez stepped up again in the 55th minute after being bundled over by Shaquell Moore but had his low shot tipped around the post by goalkeeper Joel Willis.
With their season on the line, the Galaxy earned a late reprieve after a penalty was awarded for a Walker Zimmerman handball following VAR review, with the defender receiving a second yellow card.
But Riqui Puig grabbed the ball and took the responsibility instead of Hernandez, before firing just beyond Willis' fingertips for the goal.
The result means the Galaxy are winless in three games and sit eighth in the Western Conference on 40 points.
Western Conference leaders LAFC stumbled again, suffering their fourth loss in their past five games with a 2-1 defeat to Dallas.
Jesus Ferreira boosted his claims on a spot in USA's World Cup squad with a double for Dallas, while LAFC were reduced to 10 men after Ryan Hollingshead's 13th-minute red card.
Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union showed why they are arguably the best team in the MLS with a 5-1 thrashing of Orlando City securing their fifth straight victory.
Lewis Morgan scored a 78th-minute penalty to help New York Red Bulls secure a 2-1 home win over New England to firm up their grip on third in the east.
New York City suffered their seventh defeat from their past nine games, going down 1-0 to Charlotte.
Brenner scored a hat-trick as Cincinnati extended their unbeaten run to nine games, winning 6-0 over San Jose Earthquakes
Thiago Almada fired in a golazo as Atlanta United defeated Toronto 4-2, while Inter Miami slumped to a third straight loss with a 3-1 defeat at Chicago Fire.
Seattle Sounders toppled Austin 3-0, Houston Dynamo and Sporting KC drew 0-0, Portland Timbers edged Minnesota United 1-0, Colorado Rapids beat Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 and Real Salt Lake and DC United ended goalless.
The Galaxy beat RSL 1-0 last time out to join them and their city rivals Los Angeles FC on 37 points at the summit of the Western Conference.
Pec netted his sixth MLS goal of the season in that victory, while the winger has also provided six assists.
And ahead of the Galaxy facing the San Jose Earthquakes, Vanney was full of praise for Pec.
“The guy is a tireless worker. He's a horse," he said, via The Galactic Tribune.
"It's like I think he's played 50 games in each of the last three seasons. So coming here and playing the games that we have and the busy schedule moments, for him, it's nothing.
“We know the quality he has. His ability on the right side to get in on his left foot, and he's had a couple finishes in the last few games on that. When he's on the left, he gets to the end line and he creates problems setting up goals which he did earlier in the week.
"He's finding his ways in this league and in this team, and we are finding ways to continue to get him on the ball in good positions."
Vanney also lauded the Galaxy's defence after they kept a second successive clean sheet.
“That's two in a row. That's not something we have done in probably a long time," he added.
"It's a big thing for our group, as well. If we defend well, we're going to be really, really difficult to beat."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
San Jose Earthquakes - Jeremy Ebobisse
Ebobisse has scored 10 regular-season goals against the Galaxy, four more than against any other team in his career. Only four players in MLS history have netted more goals against the Galaxy in regular-season play.
LA Galaxy - Dejan Joveljic
Pec might be a huge danger, but the Galaxy's main threat in front of goal is Joveljic, who has scored 11 league goals this term.
MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WIN
The Galaxy have won three straight matches for the first time since a four-match winning streak in August-September 2020. That run ended with a scoreless draw at San Jose.
The Earthquakes suffered their 14th loss in 19 matches this regular season with a 6-2 defeat to LAFC on Saturday.
The only team in the post-shoot-out era to lose 15 times in their first 20 matches of a season was the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 2001 (16).
The Galaxy have won three straight matches against the Earthquakes in all competitions for the first time since August-September 2002. Neither team has recorded four straight outright wins (excluding breakaway shoot-outs) in the 100-match history of the series in all competitions.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
San Jose Earthquakes - 29%
LA Galaxy - 46.5%
Draw - 24.5%
LA's Oniel Fisher brought down Cristian Roldan in the penalty area in the 49th minute and Ruidiaz beat goalkeeper Jonathan Bond with a Panenka on the spot kick.
That equaliser put Seattle back on top of the Western Conference table on 59 points, one ahead of Sporting Kansas City and Colorado Rapids, while the Galaxy moved up a spot to sixth with the point.
LA had taken the lead in the 19th minute on Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez's 15th goal of the season, the Mexican star flicking the ball past Stefan Frei with the outside of his right foot.
Jordan Morris took the pitch for Seattle for the first time since injuring his knee February 20 while on loan to Swansea City.
The United States international came on for Ruidiaz in the 60th minute to get in some match time as he looks ahead to the MLS play-offs.
Seattle travel to Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday in the final match of the MLS regular season, while the Galaxy host Minnesota United.
The Galaxy went down 2-0 to Austin FC last time out, and will look to get back to winning ways when they head up the West Coast to face the Sounders, who they beat 1-0 in March.
Vanney’s side found themselves 2-0 down after just 19 minutes against Austin, though, and the Galaxy coach is growing increasingly frustrated with his team’s sloppy starts.
In quotes reported by The Galactic Tribune, Vanney said: “We've got to do a better job of not starting slow and getting ourselves behind the game one and two goals because then it certainly incentivises the opposition to sit a little bit lower and really kind of protect the face of the goal.”
Vanney also pointed out that sluggishness in the final third is proving equally as costly.
He added: “The speed of our final actions when we are in possession and we do find those moments that we need to break, with the timing of things, needs to be sharper. I feel like we weren't so sharp on that side of things so that we can get to the necessary spots.”
For experienced defender Maya Yoshida, there were few excuses after the Austin loss.
“We were not enough. I don't deserve anything for my performance,” he said. “We deserved to lose. We are very disappointed. We have to learn from this defeat.”
The Galaxy went into the weekend second in the Western Conference, 10 places and nine points above the Sounders.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz
Ruidiaz and team-mate Jordan Morris have each scored nine goals against the Galaxy in their MLS careers. Since 2016, the only players with more goals against a single opponent are Carlos Vela (10 vs. Galaxy), Jeremy Ebobisse (10 vs. Galaxy) and Kei Kamara (10 vs. Montreal).
LA Galaxy – Riqui Puig
Puig had a fine campaign last year and the former Barcelona midfielder has picked up where he left off, scoring three goals and creating two more so far this season.
MATCH PREDICTION: SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN
The Galaxy’s loss to Austin ended a run of 18 straight matches with at least one goal in all competitions, scoring 41 total times during that run (2.3 goals per match). It was the Galaxy’s longest run of games with a goal in all competitions since a 21-match run in 2014.
The Sounders won their second match of the season on Tuesday, a 3-2 victory in Philadelphia. Seattle have scored eight goals in their two wins this year (5-0 vs. CF Montreal in April) and six goals in their other eight matches (D3 L5).
The Galaxy beat Seattle at home on March 30, ending an 11-match MLS winless run against the Sounders (D4 L7). The Galaxy last won consecutive MLS matches against Seattle in April-August 2015.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Seattle Sounders – 53.9%
LA Galaxy – 20.1%
Draw – 26%
City had made MLS history by winning their first five games but that was ended by the Loons with Amarilla drilling home the spot kick after a needless challenge by Kyle Hiebert.
Hiebert brought down Amarilla just inside the box with a rash tackle when Jakob Nerwinski appeared to have Kervin Arriaga's wayward pass under control.
Substitute Samuel Adeniran came closest to equalising for St Louis, with a 95th-minute shot going over the bar after a great first touch from Klauss' right-wing cut back.
St Louis remain top of the table with 15 points from six games, but unbeaten Minnesota climb up to fourth in the Western Conference.
Cincinnati continued their impressive start to the season with a 1-0 home triumph over Inter Miami who slumped to their fourth straight defeat.
Yerson Mosquera scored the 45th-minute winner for Cincy, who are top of the Eastern Conference.
Giorgos Giakoumakis scored an early winner as Atlanta United moved up to second in the East with a 1-0 home win over New York Red Bulls, who are down in 12th in that conference.
Jordan Morris and Leo Chu scored first-half goals as Seattle Sounders stayed second in the West with a 2-1 victory at LA Galaxy, who are without a win and have only three points from five games.
LAFC remained unbeaten and third in the West despite a 0-0 draw at the winless Colorado Rapids, while SJ Earthquakes climbed to fifth with a 2-1 victory over Houston Dynamo with all three goals coming from penalties.
Vancouver Whitecaps snapped a run of three straight draws with a resounding 5-0 win over 10-man Montreal with Simon Becher scoring a double. Becher is the fastest player (87 minutes) in MLS history to score his first four goals.
Franck Boli rescued a 1-1 draw for Portland Timbers at Dallas, Chicago Fire and DC United drew 0-0 and Nashville triumphed 2-0 at Orlando City.
Federico Bernardeschi netted another spectacular goal with a strike straight from a corner in Toronto's 2-2 home draw with Charlotte.
Sporting KC remained winless after a 0-0 draw at Philadelphia Union, New England drew 1-1 with New York City and Real Salt Lake suffered their fourth straight loss, going down 4-0 to Columbus Crew.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Union took an early lead after Lukas MacNaughton's 16th-minute own goal before Denmark international Uhre bagged a double before half-time.
Uhre added a third in the 56th minute to round out his hat-trick, tapping in Julian Carranza's low ball across goal and put the contest to bed.
Toronto pulled one back through Italy international Lorenzo Insigne in the 66th minute, before Richie Laryea's stoppage-time consolation.
New England reinforced their grip on top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 home win over Sporting KC, who are last overall.
Giacomo Vrioni netted a first-half brace for the Revs, but Sporting pulled one back in the 50th minute from Johnny Russell, only to be reduced to 10 men when Andreu Fontas was sent off 10 minutes later.
The Revs are ahead of second-placed Cincinnati on goal difference, with Cincy winning 2-1 over Portland Timbers after strikes from Sergio Santos and Brandon Vasquez.
New York City moved up to fourth in the East with a 3-1 home win over Dallas sparked by Santiago Rodriguez's double.
Western Conference leaders St Louis City were denied victory after Michael Barrios' 90th-minute equaliser as they drew 1-1 at Colorado Rapids.
St Louis remain top in the West but only on goal difference from Seattle Sounders who condemned Minnesota United to three straight losses with a 1-0 victory.
Denis Bouanga netted his seventh goal of the MLS season as LAFC drew 1-1 at Nashville, while LA Galaxy snapped their winless start to the campaign with a 2-0 home victory over Austin.
Inter Miami's losing run extended to six in a row, compounding the pressure on boss Phil Neville, as they went down 1-0 at Houston Dynamo.
Real Salt Lake beat San Jose Earthquakes 3-1, Charlotte defeated Columbus Crew 1-0, struggling Montreal edged New York Red Bulls 2-0 and Christian Benteke scored as DC United won 3-1 at Orlando City.
It was all Galaxy in the first half, controlling 71 per cent of the possession while not allowing a single shot on target, but that all changed after what must have been an inspired half-time team talk in the Vancouver dressing room.
While Los Angeles still had the bulk of the possession in the second half (64 per cent), it was the Whitecaps generating the chances, with six shots on target to the Galaxy's two.
It took a corner to produce the opening goal, with an initial sharp header from close range being saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, before Ryan Gauld was able to force home the rebound in the 57th minute.
The advantage was doubled 11 minutes later when an unsuccessful Los Angeles corner launched a Vancouver counterattack, with a cross into the near post being expertly flicked on for Pedro Vite to tap-in at the back post, marking his first MLS goal.
Tosaint Ricketts came off the bench to complete the rout, getting behind the defence and finishing off a one-on-one in the 88th minute to trim the gap between Vancouver and the last Western Conference playoff spot to six points.
Meanwhile, it was the first time since July that Atlanta United have kept a clean sheet as they left Orlando City with a 1-0 result.
The only goal of the game – despite a combined 30 shots – came in the 72nd minute when Thiago Almada snaked his way into the penalty box, getting on the end of a one-two with Andrew Gutman before tucking away his match-winning finish.
Atlanta are now two points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot, while Orlando City are one point inside that line, while also having a game in hand.
Austin FC strengthened their position as the West's second-best team, comfortably handling the challenge of fellow playoff side Real Salt Lake 3-0 at home.
Just like Vancouver, Austin piled on all of their goals in the last half-hour, with Moussa Djite bagging a hat-trick as he came on in the 58th minute and struck in the 60th, 76th and 80th.
In the final game of the day, the San Jose Earthquakes remained stuck to the bottom of the table as they went down 2-1 on the road against the Colorado Rapids.
The former Mexico international, who scored a brace in LAFC's midweek 3-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps in the Concacaf Champions League, was the difference as his side climbed up to second in the Western Conference.
Vela's double meant he has scored 12 times against Galaxy, while it led LAFC to their first-ever road win at Dignity Health Sports Park in nine attempts.
Vela curled in the opener in trademark style in the 22nd minute, but Galaxy responded with Tyler Boyd's long-range 39th-minute strike.
But LAFC fired in two goals in three minutes to open up a 3-1 lead, firstly from some shaky Galaxy defending with Sega Coulibaly bringing down Denis Bouanga inside the box for a penalty.
Vela stepped up and sent Galaxy keeper Jonathan Klinsmann the wrong way, before the ex-Arsenal man's corner found Ryan Hollingshead to nod home in the 70th minute. Kwadwo Opoku missed the chance to make it 4-1 when he poked wide on a swift counter too.
Riqui Puig, who had been quiet in the second half, struck the post in the 81st minute with a long-range effort, before his brilliant pass set up Javier Hernandez, but he was denied by McCarthy.
In the 84th minute Hernandez, making his first start of the season, got a touch on Dejan Joveljic's low cross, allowing a simple tap-in for Marco Delgado. Galaxy almost grabbed a point when Calegari's speculative shot forced McCarthy to tip it over the bar.
Galaxy remain winless this MLS season, with three points from seven games.
