Inter Miami claimed a crucial three points in the race for the MLS playoffs with a 2-1 victory over star-studded Eastern Conference outfit Toronto on Saturday.
The win means Phil Neville's side are unbeaten in five games and have won three of their past four to move up to fifth spot in the east.
All the goal scoring action occurred in the first half, with Inter going ahead after Toronto goalkeeper Alexander Bono's inexplicable error from Jean Mota's hopeful long-range strike in the 24th minute.
Italian recruit Lorenzo Insigne produced a moment of magic with a low right-foot volley to equalise four minutes later.
But Inter restored their lead in the 44th minute with a classy set play from a free-kick ending with Damion Lowe nodding back for Ariel Lassiter to stab home from close range.
Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley forced a save in the 72nd minute while Filippo Bernardeschi had a 94th-minute penalty shout waved away for the visitors.
Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union flexed their muscle with Julian Carranza netting a hat-trick in a 6-0 away win over struggling DC United.
Philadelphia were in a ruthless mood although it was scoreless until Mikael Uhre got free and squeezed in the opener in the 37th minute.
Daniel Gazdag netted a penalty won by Uhre on half-time, before Carranza scored three goals inside 27 second-half minutes capitalizing on some inexplicable passing from the United defence. Cory Burke curled in the sixth in the 79th minute.
Reigning MLS Cup champions LAFC went down 2-1 at San Jose Earthquakes but became the first side to book their playoffs spot by virtue of other results.
Colorado Rapids drew 1-1 with Houston Dynamo, who found a late equaliser from Sebastian Ferreira, while Vancouver Whitecaps could only draw 1-1 at Real Salt Lake, locking in LAFC.
Kei Kamara moved into outright third in the MLS goal scoring charts with his 135th career league goal as Montreal defeated New England 4-0.
Matt Miazga marked his return to the MLS with a goal in his second game for FC Cincinnati as they drew 1-1 at his former club New York Red Bulls.
Minnesota United boosted their playoffs' hopes with a 2-1 win over Austin thanks to Franco Fragapane's 62nd-minute winner.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
San Jose Earthquakes v Minnesota United: Ramsay looking to find balance in rollercoaster season
Minnesota United head coach Eric Ramsay is hopeful his team have settled into their new "identity" ahead of their trip to San Jose Earthquakes in MLS.
After snapping a winless streak in MLS before the Leagues Cup, Minnesota were beaten 3-2 by Seattle Sounders last time out, having come from behind to level twice before Albert Rusnak's winner.
They sit 11th in the Western Conference but still have the playoffs in sight.
Ramsay believes his team are starting to gel after introducing new signings and other returning from various injury setbacks.
"We're finding analyzing where we are now difficult as a group because the Seattle game felt like day one of a new season, and we've loved working with our new group over the last three weeks," Ramsay said.
"But we've got to analyze it with an element of urgency and desperation wrapped around it because it's a group that wants to reach the playoffs.
"We need to keep pushing to make sure we see the results on a weekend, and now we can start to see a real emergence of an identity in the team."
Meanwhile, San Jose Earthquakes got an impressive win over high-flying Real Salt Lake last time out, snapping their three-match losing streak in MLS.
They are still bottom of the table, but interim head coach Ian Russell was impressed with the manner of the win and is hoping they can continue their high-level performances on home soil.
"I told the guys the last six or seven games have been really, really good," he said.
"We haven't won them all, obviously, but ever since the Houston game at home, we started showing a lot of fight. And you know, we've had a couple losses late in games, but the win over Real Salt Lake was really good."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
San Jose Earthquakes – Cristian Espinoza
Cristian Espinoza has never scored in 10 career regular season matches against Minnesota.
The Loons are the only one of the 11 teams Espinoza has faced 10 or more times in his MLS career that he has never scored against.
Minnesota United – Kelvin Yeboah
Kelvin Yeboah scored both of Minnesota's goals against Seattle Sounders on Saturday, becoming the 22nd player in MLS history to score multiple goals on his debut and the first in over two years, since Nathan Fogaca did so for Portland in May 2022.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Minnesota have lost only one of their last 11 matches against San Jose in all competitions (won six, drawn four) dating back to 2019 after the Earthquakes won each of the first four meetings between the sides in 2017 and 2018.
However, Minnesota are winless in eight straight road matches in all competitions (two draws, six losses). This is their longest winless run away from home since a 17-match stretch from March to October 2018.
Meanwhile, San Jose's 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday was just their fifth win of the season, but four of those five wins have been against teams in the top five in the current Western Conference standings (Los Angeles FC, RSL, Colorado Rapids, Seattle).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
San Jose Earthquakes – 38.1%
Draw – 26.5%
Minnesota United – 35.4%
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