Los Angeles FC and Philadelphia Union remain top of the Western and Eastern Conferences respectively despite playing out a 2-2 draw on Saturday.
Franco Escobar's goal in the 82nd minute salvaged a point for LAFC, who went down twice at home to eventually restore parity in the top-of-the-table clash.
Daniel Gazdag was on hand at the back post to score in transition in only the ninth minute for the Union, who looked to absorb pressure from there.
Kwadwo Opoku equalised in the 56th minute, but Julian Carranza restored Philadelphia's lead nine minutes later with a lovely curling finish, only off a step after stopping the ball dead with his first touch.
Escobar was the unlikely source of an equaliser despite LAFC's 66.5 per cent possession for the match, slotting home the rebound after a Jose Cifuentes header from a corner.
Philadelphia remain top in the East on 19 points, a point ahead of New York RB, who could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Portland Timbers.
CF Montreal took the three points and third spot from Orlando City in a 4-1 thumping, with Joao Moutinho's goal in the 72nd minute failing to stop a two-goal surge in the final 10 minutes. Atlanta United won with the same scoreline against Chicago Fire, who are now bottom of the conference.
With only nine points separating the 14 places in the East, Inter Miami also remain on 10 points after their 1-0 loss to Charlotte. New York City and Sporting KC played out a goalless draw.
New England Revolution and Columbus Crew finished with a 2-2 draw after substitute Erik Hurtado grabbed an 89th-minute equaliser for the Crew, while DC United defeated Houston Dynamo 2-0.
Cincinnati moved to fifth in East with a 1-0 win over Minnesota United via Brandon Vazquez's stoppage-time winner in the 93rd minute.
Meanwhile in the West, FC Dallas moved to third and returned the Seattle Sounders back to Earth after their CONCACAF Champions League triumph during the week, claiming a 2-0 victory.
In the other all-Western matchup, Nathan's goal in the 63rd minute was sufficient for the San Jose Earthquakes against the Colorado Rapids, taking a 1-0 win.
Edwards urges Luton Town to ignore scrutiny on relegation battle
Rob Edwards is keen for Luton Town to ignore the scrutiny surrounding them in the relegation battle as they prepare for another big game against Wolves.
The Hatters sit one point from safety in the relegation zone after back-to-back 5-1 defeats against Manchester City and Brentford.
While Nottingham Forest also lost last weekend, being beaten 2-0 by Everton, Burnley beat Sheffield United to move them two points behind Luton.
Asked how he is handling the pressure of the relegation battle with only four games left, Edwards said: “The stakes are high already, we all know what it means and it's really important to everyone that's in this at the moment, a number of clubs that are still fighting to try and avoid it and be in the league next season, it's so important.
“Everyone wants to try and stoke the fire I think. We've got a title race on at one end and obviously, there's a relegation battle we're involved in. It's exciting, it's good that we're in the fight, and we've got a chance to get out of it, but really, all I am concerned about right now is our performance tomorrow.”
Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run
Oliver Glasner is hopeful that Crystal Palace can maintain their recent winning run when they travel to Fulham on Saturday.
After a run of five games without a victory, the Eagles have won each of their last three games, beating Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle United.
Their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday also secured their Premier League safety for another season.
Glasner has given credit to his team’s attitude in turning around their recent run of form but does not want them to slow down despite reaching their goal.
He said: “The players give us confidence because they are listening. Every day we were sitting here and having a meeting and showing them videos and nobody was sleeping, so that gives us good feedback!
"Now we have 39 points and I think it shouldn't be our target to say ‘39 points, oh well done, staying in the Premier League’ because then I would say 'come on guys, go wherever you want and take vacations' – but no.
"We want to improve, we want to win games, and we have the next chance tomorrow at Fulham."
Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance
Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.
The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.
Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.
“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.
“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.
“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.
The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”
The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.
While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.
CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter
Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN
Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.
Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.
Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 56.4%
CF Montreal – 18.6%
Draw – 25%
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