Patrick Mullins' first-half goal saw Toronto edge FC Cincinnati 1-0 on Sunday to book a spot in the play-offs.
Mullins produced a side-footed finish from inside the area after a Richie Laryea cutback just before the half-hour mark.
Toronto are top of the Eastern Conference and three points clear of Philadelphia Union.
Philadelphia won six straight home regular-season matches for the first time in their history, as per Opta, thanks to a 2-1 win over Montreal Impact.
Danny Musovski scored a double as LAFC enjoyed a 3-1 victory against Seattle Sounders.
LAFC are fourth in the Western Conference, which the Sounders top.
Erik Hurtado scored a spectacular volley to see Sporting Kansas City edge a 10-man Nashville 2-1.
Hurtado produced a wonderful finish from Amadou Dia's lofted pass to earn Sporting three points.
New England Revolution beat New York City 2-1, Chicago Fire were 2-1 winners over DC United and Jaroslaw Niezgoda netted twice as Portland Timbers claimed a 3-0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes.
Toronto moved level on points with Philadelphia after a 2-1 win over Inter Miami and the Union's 2-1 defeat to Columbus Crew on Sunday.
Columbus took a 37th-minute lead at home, Artur finding the bottom corner from 20 yards.
However, Philadelphia drew level in the 57th minute thanks to a penalty from Jamiro, although the hosts would strike late.
Krisztian Nemeth got on the end of a Luis Diaz Espinoza cross from the right to tap away a winner six minutes from time for Columbus, who are third in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto boosted their chances of winning the Supporters' Shield by overcoming Inter Miami.
Former Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi opened the scoring for Inter Miami with his first MLS goal.
But Toronto would win after conceding the opening goal for the third time this season, which is tied for the most with San Jose Earthquakes, as per Opta.
Ayo Akinola scored a fine equaliser after outmuscling his opponent before Gonzalo Higuain almost responded for Inter Miami, hitting the crossbar with a powerful 20-yard effort in the 79th minute.
Instead, Alejandro Pozuelo tucked away an 84th-minute penalty for the winner for Toronto.
Pozuelo has scored each of his past seven penalties for Toronto in MLS.
Valentin Castellanos scored a hat-trick to inspire New York City to a 5-2 derby win over the Red Bulls.
Castellanos became just the second player to net a hat-trick in the Hudson River Derby, joining David Villa (2017).
Elsewhere, Teal Bunbury's brace saw New England Revolution overcome DC United 4-3 in a thriller and Atlanta United beat Cincinnati 2-0.
Orlando City edged Montreal Impact 1-0, Colorado Rapids beat Seattle Sounders 3-1, the Portland Timbers overcame the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 and LA Galaxy edged Real Salt Lake 2-1.
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.
Goals from Kacper Przybylko and Sergio Santos in the opening 45 minutes helped the Union ease past the Timbers on Sunday.
Przybylko headed home the opener in the 26th minute and Santos doubled the lead five minutes later at Subaru Park, where he redirected his team-mate's shot.
VAR and a handball denied the Union a third goal, but Philadelphia made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute when Jack Elliott poked home to heap further misery on Portland.
The result snapped the Union's run of five consecutive defeats against the Timbers – Portland's four successive regular-season wins equalled Philadelphia's second longest losing streak at the hands of an opponent in regular-season play.
Philadelphia are second in the Eastern Conference – three points behind New England Revolution after eight games – while Portland are seventh in the Western Conference, nine points behind leaders Seattle.
The Sounders were forced to share the spoils against Austin but remain undefeated through eight rounds.
Seattle are off to the best start in their history and had lost just one of their eight home games against expansion sides heading into the Austin fixture.
The Sounders did find the back of the net via Fredy Montero with 15 minutes remaining, however a video review deemed Raul Ruidiaz was offside in the build-up.
The Whitecaps took a 12th-minute lead from Tristan Blackmon's instinctive close-range finish, but the 2019 MLS champions rallied, led by former Mexico international Vela.
Vela's 27th-minute corner was met by Hollinghead with a powerful header for the equaliser before the ex-Arsenal attacker struck at the second attempt with a 38th-minute left-foot volley.
Hollingshead wrapped up all three points with the pick of the goals, unleashing a fine low right-foot strike from the edge of the box in the 70th minute.
The result means LAFC have collected 10 points from four games, to sit atop the Western Conference with the best record in the MLS. Winless Vancouver have one point from four games.
Darlington Nagbe poked home a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser as Columbus Crew snatched a 1-1 draw at New York Red Bulls, denying the hosts top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tom Barlow had inadvertently put the Red Bulls ahead in the 84th minute from a scramble following a corner but Nagbe pinched a point late after reacting quickest from Steven Moreira's low cutback.
Diego Fagundez earned Austin a 1-1 home draw with Seattle Sounders with a 70th-minute strike, after Will Bruin opened the scoring in the 43rd minute from Cristian Roldan's assist.
Seattle's Kelyn Rowe came closest to a winner with a 74th-minute effort hitting the crossbar.
Birthday boy Vela scored a stunning chip on the stroke of half-time to ensure reigning Supporters' Shield champions LAFC made the perfect start to the 2020 season on Sunday.
Co-owner David Beckham, his famous wife Victoria and Inter's hierarchy were in the stands as the expansion franchise made history in Los Angeles.
Inter battled in their first-ever MLS match but Diego Alonso's side came unstuck following a moment of brilliance from Vela on his 31st birthday.
Former Arsenal forward Vela – who scored a record-breaking 34 goals in a MVP season last term – chipped the ball over Inter captain and goalkeeper Luis Robles in the 44th minute at Banc of California Stadium.
"Surely we have to improve in football, but with this heart and with this intensity with which the team plays, we will surely win many games," said Inter head coach Alonso.
"Against maybe the best team in the league we gave a tremendous picture today of what we can become. With only six weeks of work, the merit is certainly from the footballers for what we have done today and the work they have done."
Seattle Sounders started their title defence with a dramatic 2-1 victory at home to Chicago Fire thanks to substitute Jordan Morris' brace.
Trailing to Robert Beric's 46th-minute opener, the Sounders equalised via Morris just past the hour mark before he netted the winner in the third minute of stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Kevin Molino scored twice as Minnesota United upstaged Portland Timbers 3-1, New York Red Bulls edged Cincinnati 3-2 and 10-man New York City lost 1-0 away to Columbus Crew.
Cincinnati were the better of the two sides based on expected goal data, tallying 1.98 expected goals compared to just 0.36 for Seattle in front of their home fans.
The visiting side took the lead in the 24th minute when Brandon Vasquez was able to take advantage of the Sounders' high defensive line, slipping a ball through for Brenner to run onto and he made no mistake with his one-on-one, calmly side-footing it inside the far post.
Seattle nearly equalised through a set-piece in the 35th minute, with Will Bruin rising well to send his header towards the bottom-left corner, only for Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano to deny him with a terrific save.
When the hosts did find the leveler, it was worth the wait, with a searing ball from Kelyn Rowe out of defense being controlled by Fredy Montero near the corner of the penalty box, before he unleashed a rocket high into the near-post corner.
With the result, Seattle remain five points away from the seventh and final Western Conference playoff spot, which is currently occupied by Minnesota. Cincinnati are much more comfortable, fifth in the Eastern Conference and four points clear of chasers.
The 1-1 result at Red Bull Arena in the second leg put the Sounders through 4-2 on aggregate, following their comfortable 3-1 win in last week's first leg.
Given what was at stake, it was a fiery opening from the outset, with elbows leading and City's Valentin Castellanos earning a yellow card in onl the opening minute.
The Sounders put themselves in the box seat in the 28th minute, though, with Raul Ruidiaz scoring and getting the Sounders 4-1 ahead on aggregate.
City had the proverbial mountain to climb even after Santiago Rodriguez's goal in the 51st minute, but Stefan Frei still came to the rescue for Brian Schmetzer's side, coming up with important reflex saves on multiple occasions in the second half.
The Sounders will now face Pumas UNAM in the Champions League final, after they saw their way past Cruz Azul on Tuesday.
It marks only the fifth time since 2010 that North American club football's showpiece has not been contested by two Mexican teams.
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.
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.
That is according to Jocky Scott, who faced the Brazil great in the final competitive game of his career in 1977.
Pele, who died last week aged 82, ended his remarkable playing career with a two-year stint at the North American Soccer League's New York Cosmos, helping them triumph in 1977's Soccer Bowl against the Seattle Sounders before hanging up his boots.
The three-time World Cup winner's abilities are often compared to those of modern greats Messi and Ronaldo, as well as the legendary Diego Maradona, but former Scotland forward Scott believes he should be recognised as the greatest to play the game.
"I think you've got to recognise different eras in football, and over the last 10 or 15 years with Ronaldo and Messi, they deserve the accolades they get for being the best players," Scott told Stats Perform.
"But I think they're the best players of this era, or have been the best players of this era.
"They are now coming to the end of their careers. Someone else will take on that mantle over the next 15 or 20 years but in my opinion, I will always say Pele is definitely the best player."
Scott added Pele would have achieved even more had he enjoyed the advantages of modern football.
"I think he would be better," Scott said.
"To be honest, I think any player like Pele, [Diego] Maradona, George Best, [Johan] Cruyff – attacking players who are great individuals and can all score goals – nowadays, with the way the game is played where you're virtually not allowed to tackle anybody, I think they would be much, much better players.
"Physically, he was a strong man and when you look back at pictures, way back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he played both in Santos and for Brazil, he got some abuse on the pitch.
"He used to take a hell of a lot of abuse, but he would still be there after 90 minutes and he would still shrug them aside and score the goals he scored.
"When I came up against them [the Cosmos] in America, that was in 1977. Pele at that time would have been 36, his physique was unbelievable. He could still play. In my era, he was the best player in the world."
While Scott was unable to prevent Pele from ending his stint in New York with a 2-1 win, he did manage to nutmeg the Cosmos man during their meeting – a moment he continues to cherish.
"It's not something you think about during the game. It's just a case of there's an opponent, get the ball and get past them, and he pulled me back and fouled me," he said.
"Anybody at home that sees this picture and has a word with me about it, I just laugh and tell them I nutmegged him and that was him getting his own back, pulling me back and he didn't like it.
"It doesn't matter who it was it but at the end of the day, it was a great picture for me."
Raul Ruidiaz scored a late brace before Kelvin Leerdam's sealer at Providence Park in Portland.
The Timbers were in action for the first time since winning the MLS is Back Tournament earlier this month, but fell to their rivals.
Seattle climbed above Portland and into second in the Western Conference, while the Timbers are fourth.
Chris Duvall thought he had opened the scoring for Portland with a 20-yard stunner in the fifth minute, but it was ruled out for offside in the lead-up.
Seattle took control late as Ruidiaz opened the scoring in the 72nd minute, producing a good finish at the near post from Joevin Jones' cross.
Ruidiaz doubled the reigning MLS Cup champions' lead before Leerdam sealed the win.
Portland sit 12th in the Western Conference standings, below the Sounders on goal difference, after going eight MLS matches without a victory.
Their 10 points through 11 games in 2024 represents their joint-worst return at this point of any MLS campaign (alongside 2014).
Neville, however, believes they have deserved more as they prepare for a run of three home games in their next four.
"I think the first thing to say is we are not making any excuses – the results have not been as good as we wanted," he said.
"We've not got our just rewards but now we look forward to a stretch where we've got to perform better and get better results, we've got to put our foot down on the gas."
The Sounders have also struggled this term, though they have taken four points from their last two MLS games against the Philadelphia Union (3-2) and LA Galaxy (0-0).
They then overcame Louisville City on penalties in the U.S. Open Cup in midweek, and coach Brian Schmetzer hopes they can carry on their momentum from that game on Sunday.
"This club has had a long history in the U.S. Open Cup, I like the tournament. It was certainly a challenge against a good, well-coached Louisville team," Schmetzer said.
"We came out on top and hopefully this propels us a little bit in our league play."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Portland Timbers – Maxime Crepeau
Portland have conceded at least once in a club-record 17 successive regular-season matches, allowing 37 goals in that time.
Goalkeeper Crepeau has faced 41 shots so far in MLS this term, preventing 1.13 goals according to Opta's expected goals on target (xGoT) model, conceding 14 times from 15.8 xGoT faced.
Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz
Ruidiaz has 12 goals in 16 previous MLS matches against Portland (including playoffs), the most goals scored by any player against the Timbers in MLS play.
It's also the most goals scored by any MLS player against a single opponent since Ruidiaz made his debut in the competition in July 2018.
MATCH PREDICTION – PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN
The Timbers are unbeaten in six straight matches against the Sounders (four wins, two draws), the longest streak in all competitions by either team in the MLS era of their rivalry.
Portland have also won their last two home matches against Seattle after the Sounders won four of the previous five meetings at Providence Park.
Seattle's 10 points through 11 matches this season are tied for the second-worst start in club history, having only collected eight points at this stage in 2018. Though the Timbers have been in dismal form themselves lately, this fixture could come at a good time for them.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Portland Timbers – 41.5%
Seattle Sounders – 30%
Draw – 28.5%
Portland enter Saturday's game seventh in the Western Conference standings, two places and three points behind the in-form Sounders.
The Timbers were beaten 2-1 on home soil by their rivals when they last faced off in May, but they have not lost a regular-season home game since, winning seven and drawing two of their last nine.
Neville knows the importance of carrying that form into this weekend, saying: "We're looking forward to another big game.
"When we looked at the fixtures at the start of the season, to play Seattle home and away in the last eight games, we knew these games would be pivotal to our success.
"That's how it's panned out and we're all excited for it. When you get into football, you want to be involved in the biggest games.
"It's against our biggest rivals. I think both teams are in really good form, outstanding form. They get success with their group of players but this is about us. We're playing for three big points."
Seattle, meanwhile, have only lost one regular-season game since early June, though they were dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup at the semi-final stage by Los Angeles FC in midweek, losing 1-0 on home soil.
Boss Brian Schmetzer, though, senses a desire to set the record straight in this week's derby.
"They understand the importance of Portland. This is a proud group that has overcome a lot of adversity already this year," he said.
"I don't see any reason why they can't continue that and do it again."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Portland Timbers – Evander
Evander has recorded an assist in seven straight home matches, equalling the longest single-season streak in MLS history.
The only player to record an assist in eight straight regular-season home matches was Eric Wynalda, who did so spanning the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz
Ruidiaz has scored 13 goals against the Timbers in the regular season and playoffs. No other player has more than 10 goals against a single opponent since Ruidiaz made his MLS debut in July 2018.
MATCH PREDICTION – PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN
The Sounders are unbeaten in three straight matches against Portland (one win, two draws) including a 2-1 road win on May 12. Seattle haven't gone four straight MLS matches without defeat against Portland since 2014-15, though.
The Sounders have won six of their last seven regular-season matches (one loss), but they are facing a Timbers team that have won seven of their last nine at home (two draws), scoring 28 goals throughout that run.
Portland drew 4-4 with St. Louis City last week, marking the fourth time they have scored four goals in a match but failed to win since joining MLS in 2011. If they can tighten things up at the other end, they could continue their fine record on home turf.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Portland Timbers – 42.9%
Seattle Sounders – 30.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Trailing to a double from Juan Dinenno, Seattle battled back in Mexico City to make it honours even ahead of next Wednesday's second leg at Lumen Field. Lodeiro's leveller came in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
This opener at Estadio Olímpico Universitario saw Dinenno take the lead with a twice-taken penalty in the 38th minute. His first attempt was saved by Stefan Frei, but the goalkeeper was ruled to have stepped off his line.
Dinenno headed in powerfully for Pumas' second goal in the 48th minute, but the comeback began when Seattle were awarded a penalty for a handball by Sebastian Saucedo, and Lodeiro drove home in the 77th minute.
Lodeiro fired into the right corner on that occasion and was handed another spot-kick deep into stoppage time.
Cristian Roldan was judged to have been fouled on the right side of the penalty area by veteran defender Efrain Velarde, and Lodeiro chose to go the same way, again beating goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera with a powerful strike.
The visiting Sounders have two wins and a draw in their last three outings after defeating Portland Timbers 2-1 on the road.
Seattle sit 10th in the West, just three points shy of St. Louis City above them, and Schmetzer knows the pressure is there to chase a postseason position.
"We're three points from the playoff line, that pressure is still there," said Schmetzer.
"We're still too far down the standings for our liking. But you go to Philly and get points, you come here [to Portland] and get points.
"You have 120 minutes of kids gritting it out [in the U.S. Open Cup]. I can sense that the group is finding its form."
Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan added: "We feel we definitely have a good enough team to compete for trophies this year."
The hosts are unbeaten in their last eight league matches, sitting top of the West standings by two points heading into this midweek clash.
Pablo Mastroeni's side were held to a 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy in their last outing, with this now the chance to respond on home turf.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango
Cristian Arango scored both of Real Salt Lake’s goals on Saturday to take his total to 11 for the season.
Only five players have scored more than 11 goals in a season for RSL, including just one, Damir Kreilach (twice), since 2015.
Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz
Raul Ruidiaz scored the winning goal for Seattle against Portland on Sunday, his seventh goal of the season, and the fifth different game he's scored in.
The Sounders have collected 10 points (W3 D1 L1) in the five games in which Ruidiaz has scored compared to three points (W0 D3 L4) in the seven he hasn't.
MATCH PREDICTION – REAL SALT LAKE WIN
Salt Lake are unbeaten in 13 straight regular-season home matches against Seattle (W10 D3) with the Sounders' only ever league win at RSL coming in 2011.
RSL has had just one longer home unbeaten run against a single opponent, going 18 in a row at home against the Colorado Rapids without losing from 2007—19, making them the favourites for this clash.
Yet Seattle have won consecutive away matches for the first time since March-April last season.
The Sounders scored five times in those matches after scoring just four in their first five on the road this season, suggesting goals are on the cards here.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Real Salt Lake win – 40.3%
Seattle Sounders win – 30.1%
Draw – 29.6%
Blake’s heroics were required after Mikael Uhre’s late first-half goal was cancelled out by Alonso Escoboza just shy of the hour mark, as the teams played out a 1-1 stalemate in regulation and extra-time.
The 33-year-old Blake, who won the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Glove, showed his class with two diving saves in the shootout to send Philadelphia Union to the semi-finals.
Interestingly, the other semi-finalists—Columbus Crew, Los Angeles FC, and Colorado Rapids—are also Major League Soccer (MLS) outfits, and with the top three Leagues Cup finishers guaranteed a spot in next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup, it means that all three qualifiers will be United States-based MLS teams.
Columbus Crew, a 2024 Champions Cup finalist, moved closer to a Champions Cup return as they too registered a close 4-3 penalty shootout win over New York City FC.
Both teams played out a 1-1 stalemate as Alonso Martinez gave New York FC a first minute lead, which was cancelled out by Cucho Hernandez. Like Blake, Columbus Crew’s custodian Patrick Schulte also produced a stop in the shootout to help secure his team’s passage.
Elsewhere, 2020 and 2023 Champions Cup finalists Los Angeles FC powered their way into the final four with a commanding 3-0 victory over the 2022 Champions Cup winners Seattle Sounders. Ryan Hollingshead and Kei Kamara logged first-half goals, before Denis Bouanga completed the win with an early second-half strike.
Meanwhile, there were plenty of thrills in the final match of the evening as Colorado Rapids slipped past seven-time Concacaf champions Club America of Mexico 9-8 on sudden-death penalties after they battled out a scoreless encounter.
The Liga MX giants were poised to win the shootout on their fifth kick, but Rapids’ goaltender Zack Steffen denied Igor Lichnovsky. The two teams then converted their next four kicks each, before Steffen scored his kick from the 12-yard spot, while his counterpart Luis Malagon hit wide and handed Colorado Rapids the victory.
The 29-year-old previously represented Seattle Sounders who he represented from 2015-2017 and later D.C. United, who he also represented for two years, between 2018 to 2020. The experienced defender, who also played for Seattle Sounders 2, has a total of 89 appearances in US football. The player also spent a year playing for the New York Red Bulls U-23.
Fisher retcovered from surgery to a partially torn ACL, MCL, PCL, and medial meniscus, for an injury suffered in 2019, and went on to make 15 appearances for DC United last season. However, the club declined to renew his contract at the end of the 2020 season. te Kloese believes the player will be a welcome addition to the club.
“We are excited to have Oniel join the LA Galaxy,” LA Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese said.
“He is a talented defender who can play multiple positions along the backline and brings versatility and MLS experience to our defense. We look forward to him joining our club.”
Fisher has made 15 appearances for the Jamaica national team. He last represented the national team against Saudi Arabia in November of last year.
