Denis Bouanga netted a hat-trick as reigning MLS champions LAFC claimed a statement win with a 3-0 rout of Austin on Saturday.

Bouanga opened the scoring with a low strike with five minutes left in the first half, before adding further goals in the 57th and 68th minutes.

The Gabonese winger fired in a powerful right-foot volley from a corner for 2-0, before side-footing home at the back post for the third.

The result meant LAFC kept in touch with the top two in the Western Conference, with Seattle Sounders moving above St Louis City into top spot with a 3-0 win in the late game.

The Sounders netted three second-half goals to condemn the expansion side to their second straight loss after winning their opening five MLS games.

Phil Neville's Inter Miami slumped to their fifth straight loss, going down 1-0 at home to Dallas. US international Jesus Ferreira scored the only goal in the 27th minute. Dallas moved up to fourth in the West with the victory.

Cincinnati remained top of the Eastern Conference with a 1-0 home win over Philadelphia Union, who are winless in four. New England are second in the East behind Cincy, thrashing Montreal 4-0.

Tom Barlow scored deep into stoppage time to rescue a 1-1 draw for New York Red Bulls against San Jose Earthquakes, while Colorado Rapids edged Sporting KC 1-0 on the road.

New York City and Atlanta United drew 1-1, Nashville and Toronto drew 0-0, while Columbus Crew secured their third straight win with a 2-0 victory at D United.

Kei Kamara scored a double as Chicago Fire won 2-1 over Minnesota United, while Amine Bassi also netted a brace as 10-man Houston Dynamo beat nine-man LA Galaxy 3-0.

Real Salt Lake came from behind to win 3-1 over Charlotte, while Vancouver Whitecaps beat Portland Timbers 1-0.

Expansion franchise St Louis City's perfect start to their inaugural MLS season was ended by Minnesota United who triumphed 1-0 after Luis Amarilla's 78th-minute penalty on Saturday.

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.

St Louis City extended their dream start to life in the MLS with a 3-0 win over San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday making league history as the first expansion team to win its first four games.

The Missouri club powered past the Earthquakes with first-half goals from Nicholas Gioacchini and Joao Klauss, before Tomas Ostrak sealed the win in the 68th minute.

St Louis' fourth straight win surpassed the Seattle Sounders' three-win start in their debut MLS season in 2009.

The new franchise have scored 11 goals in four games, with Saturday's win marking their first clean sheet, having been forced to come from behind in all three other victories.

Argentinian midfielder Thiago Almada continued his stellar start to the new campaign with a  double in Atlanta United's 5-1 win over Portland Timbers.

The 21-year-old, who was called into Argentina's squad for the upcoming international window, netted a stunning free-kick in first-half stoppage time to make it 2-0.

Montreal upset 10-man Philadelphia Union with a comeback 3-2 win aided by a game-changing video review for Chinonso Offor's 90th-minute equaliser which split opinions.

The goal had initially been disallowed upon video review, only for that to be overturned when it was realised Union left back Kai Wagner, who was off screen from the initial angle, had actually played Offor onside.

Reigning MLS Cup winners LAFC were held to a goalless draw at Seattle, while last year's beaten conference finalists New York City got past DC United 3-2.

New England made it three wins from four games with Gustavo Bou netting the winner in a 1-0 triumph over Nashville, while New York Red Bulls came from behind to win 2-1 over Columbus Crew.

Chicago Fire remain winless after blowing a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Cincinnati, while LA Galaxy are also without a win after a 1-1 home draw with Vancouver Whitecaps.

Charlotte bounced back from their losing start to the season with a 2-1 home win over Orlando City, while Toronto beat Inter Miami 2-0, Dallas won 2-1 over Sporting KC, Houston Dynamo downed Austin 2-0 and Miguel Tapias scored late to earn Minnesota United a 2-1 win at Colorado Rapids.

Expansion team St Louis City made it three wins from three games to open their debut MLS campaign triumphing 2-1 away to Portland Timbers on Saturday.

The Missouri outfit became only the second expansion team in MLS history to start 3-0-0, with goals from Jared Stroud and Kyle Hiebert completing another comeback win.

Towering centre-back Zac McGraw had put Portland ahead in the third minute with a header from Eryk Williamson's set piece.

Stroud netted his second goal of the season on the stroke of half-time for 1-1, lashing in after Rasmum Alm's cross from the right side.

Canadian defender Hiebert came up with the winner in the 75th minute with his header finding its way into the back of the net from Eduard Lowen's free-kick.

St Louis have come from behind to win in all three MLS games to date and are the only team with nine points from three games.

Cincinnati produced a statement win, despite being reduced to 10 men, with a 1-0 victory over Seattle Sounders.

Brenner netted the winner in the 63rd minute, before Nick Hagglund's 80th-minute red card forced Cincy to hang on against the Sounders, who had won their opening two games.

Joaquin Torres came up with a 90th-minute winner with a long-range left-foot strike for last season's MLS Cup runners-up Philadelphia Union as they edged nine-man Chicago Fire 1-0.

New York City secured their first win of the new season after Christopher McVey's 36th-minute own goal in their 1-0 triumph over Inter Miami.

New York Red Bulls' winless start to the new season continued with a 1-1 draw in snowy conditions at Minnesota United, where Andres Reyes headed a 49th-minute leveller for the visitors.

Teenager Caleb Wiley scored a double with an assist as Atlanta United piled on three first-half goals in their 3-0 road victory over Charlotte who have lost three straight to open the new campaign.

Montreal were also left without a point after three games, going down 2-0 at Nashville, while Chris Durkin equalised in the 80th minute as DC United drew 1-1 with Orlando City.

Toronto drew 1-1 at home with Columbus Crew, while Vancouver Whitecaps and Dallas finished with the same scoreline.

Sporting KC and LA Galaxy drew 0-0, Austin won 2-1 at Real Salt Lake and 10-man SJ Earthquakes held on for a 1-0 win over Colorado Rapids after a stunning Cristian Espinoza strike.

Reigning MLS champions New York City FC are one step closer to going back-to-back after comfortably handling Inter Miami 3-0 in the first round of the MLS Playoffs.

City were in control throughout, creating 16 shots in the first half compared to just four for Miami, but they went into halftime tied at 0-0 after hitting the woodwork three times.

In one instance, a turnover from Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender handed City's Heber a golden opportunity to break the deadlock, but his chip was cleared off the line into the crossbar, with the rebound then being hacked off the post by a second defender.

City's dominance was rewarded in the second half, with Santiago Rodriguez brilliantly working his way into the Miami penalty box before dishing it off for Gabriel Pereira to finish in the 63rd minute, before Rodriguez also set up the second goal six minutes later with a clever backheel to Maximiliano Moralez.

Heber completed the rout in stoppage time to end the career of Miami's iconic striker Gonzalo Higuain, who was playing in his final season, with City now set to take on Montreal in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Later in the day, FC Dallas needed a penalty shoot-out to advance past Minnesota in the Western Conference.

Emanuel Reynoso's goal for Minnesota in the 53rd minute was canceled out by a 64th-minute strike from Facundo Quignon, and after 30 minutes of extra time, it all came down to penalties.

It was Minnesota's captain Wil Trapp who failed to come through with his side's second penalty, with his tame effort into the bottom-left corner being saved by Dallas' Maarten Paes, before Alan Velasco finished things in style with a cheeky panenka.

Real Salt Lake and Orlando City both claimed Decision Day victories to book their spots in the 2022 MLS playoffs on a dramatic final day of the regular season.

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.

LA Galaxy clinched their first playoff berth since 2019 after Javier Hernandez earned them a late penalty to secure a 1-1 draw away to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Douglas Costa converted the 68th-minute penalty won by Hernandez, after Riqui Puig had his 17th-minute spotkick saved by RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath.

RSL had gone ahead in the 25th minute from Sergio Cordova's header, but were left to lament Justen Glad failing to convert two late golden opportunities from headers, denting their playoff hopes and extending their winless run to five games.

Ex-Manchester United forward Hernandez earned Galaxy's reprieve after review when bundled over by Marcelo Silva inside the box, with Costa sending MacMath the wrong way.

The draw was enough for the Galaxy, who are perched fourth in the Western Conference with 47 points from 33 games, with RSL sitting eighth, just outside the playoff spots, with 44 points from 33 games.

Derrick Etienne scored two late goals against his former side to earn Columbus Crew a 2-1 win over New York Red Bulls, who suffered their third defeat in four games.

Etienne equalized Franuel Amaya's 53rd-minute thunderbolt with an 89th-minute strike on the turn, before grabbing a 93rd-minute winner by lashing home a rebound.

Philadelphia Union handed the initiative to LAFC in the Supporters' Shield hunt after being thrashed 4-0 by Charlotte, for whom Daniel Rios netted four goals, achieving a franchise-first hat-trick.

The defeat means Philadelphia have failed to win in their past two games, leaving them on 64 points from 33 games, while LAFC have the same number of points with two games to play, starting with Portland Timbers on Sunday.

Donovan Pines scored an own goal and was red carded as DC United lost 1-0 to Montreal, who closed within two points of Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia with one game to play.

Sergio Santos was sent off amid a late scuffle as Cincinnati missed a chance to practically clinch a playoff spot with a 3-2 home loss to Chicago Fire. Cincinnati fought back from 3-0 down after Jhon Duran's double for Chicago.

Minnesota United's winless run extended to six games after going down 2-0 to San Jose Earthquakes, leaving them in a precarious position in the race to qualify for the Western Conference playoffs.

Vancouver Whitecaps capitalized on Minnesota and RSL's results and beat Austin 2-0 to keep alive their playoff hopes with their third straight victory. The Whitecaps are ninth in the west with 43 points with one game to play, with seventh-placed Minnesota on 45 and RSL on 44.

Josef Martinez scored a spectacular scissor-kick goal but Atlanta United went down 2-1 to New England, while playoff-bound Dallas lost 1-0 at Colorado Rapids.

Javier Hernandez missed another spotkick before Riqui Puig took over penalty duties to net a season-saving 99th-minute equaliser in the LA Galaxy's 1-1 draw at Nashville on Saturday.

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.

Dru Yearwood was red carded for booting a ball out of frustration into fans in the stands as New York Red Bulls were humbled 2-0 at home by Philadelphia Union in the MLS on Saturday.

The bizarre incident occurred in stoppage time with the Red Bulls trailing 2-0 after Yearwood conceded a foul near the sideline, with the Englishman kicking away the ball in frustration.

Yearwood's errant kick cannoned into two young fans in the front few rows at Red Bull Arena, with a boy seen crying afterwards while a young woman seemed dazed. Yearwood immediately realised his error and attempted to apologise to the fans, by climbing into the stands but that effort was not accepted by those close to the shaken-up supporters.

The Red Bulls crowd could be overheard chanting against Yearwood before referee Timothy Ford gave him his marching orders.

The incident capped a poor night for the home side, with goals from Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag clinching the win for Union, who sit top of the Eastern Conference.

Gazdag's goal, which came after Julian Carranza dispossessed Aaron Long, was his 18th of the campaign.

Dallas scored three goals in three minutes as Dallas firmed up their grip on a playoffs spot with a 3-0 road win over Minnesota United.

Michael Boxall netted a 55th-minute own goal before Alan Velasco curled in a right-foot strike less than a minute later.

Two minutes later, Velasco cannoned an effort into the crossbar with Jesus Ferreira glancing home their third after Sebastian Lletget collected the rebound and whipped in a cross.

Franco Fragapane was sent off for Minnesota, who also lost Emanuel Reynoso to a worrying ankle concern.

Cincinnati extended their unbeaten run to seven games and moved into the playoffs spots in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 home win over Charlotte after goals from Nick Hagglund and Luciano Acosta.

Hany Mukhtar scored a double as Nashville claimed their fourth straight win and moved up to fourth in the west with an impressive 4-0 victory over Austin.

Columbus Crew missed a golden opportunity for three points with a 0-0 draw against struggling Chicago Fire.

Reigning MLS Cup champions New York City slumped to their fifth loss from their past six games as Christian Benteke debuted for DC United who claimed an upset 2-1 win on Wednesday.

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.

Reigning MLS Cup champions New York City slumped to their fifth loss from their past six games as Christian Benteke debuted for DC United who claimed an upset 2-1 win on Wednesday.

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 first-half brace from Nashville striker Hany Mukhtar propelled his side to a 4-0 home win against FC Dallas in a Western Conference showdown on Sunday.

Less than five minutes into the action, Mukhtar received a pass on the right-hand side of the penalty box and seemingly dribbled himself into too tight of an angle to shoot – but he did just that, rocketing one into the roof of the net to make it 1-0.

Mukhtar then turned distributor for Nashville's second goal, playing with his back to the goal and laying one off for debutant Jacob Shaffelburg in the 22nd minute to make a productive start with his new side after arriving from Montreal.

The incredible first half for Mukhtar was capped off with a picture-perfect free kick from the top of the box, expertly curling his shot over the wall into the top-right corner to make it 3-0.

Centre-back David Romney completed the rout with a header from a corner in the 72nd minute, handing the Western Conference's third-placed team a resounding defeat, with no shots on target. With the win, Nashville moved up to sixth.

Earlier in the day, New York City were efficient in front of goal in their 2-0 away win against the Chicago Fire, netting an early goal in each half to take the Soldier Field crowd out of the contest.

Chicago finished with more possession (58 per cent) more shots (10 to eight) and more expected goals (1.09 to 0.82), but none of their 10 shots forced a save from Sean Johnson in the New York goals.

Gabriel Pereira broke the deadlock in the 16th minute after getting on the end of a move authored by Santiago Rodriguez, and Rodriguez was the beneficiary of Pereira's strong pressing work to begin the second half, scooping up a loose ball deep in Chicago's defense and slotting it.

Two goals from William Agada led the way in Sporting Kansas City's 4-1 home win against the Portland Timbers, with two assists from 36-year-old American Graham Zusi coming in the first half.

The Western Conference's bottom team, Kansas City still have the worst goal-difference with 30 scored and 49 against.

In Charlotte, an 89th-minute winner from substitute Tesho Akindele lifted Orlando City to a 2-1 away win. Charlotte could have jumped into the Eastern Conference playoff picture with a victory, but still sit three points behind the Columbus Crew.

Columbus could have added to that buffer when they hosted Atlanta United, but they had to settle for a 2-2 draw against the 13th-placed strugglers.

After a first-half goal from Atlanta's Santiago Sosa, a quick-fire Cucho double saw Columbus equalise in the 66th minute and take the lead in the 72nd, before Juan Jose Purata finished the scoring for the visitors five minutes later.

Reigning MLS Cup winners New York City continued their recent slump after suffering a third straight loss, going down 3-1 at home to playoff hopefuls Charlotte FC.

Charlotte's win moves them up to 10th in the Eastern Conference, with the visitors scoring twice in the final quarter of an hour to claim victory.

The defeat means City have only managed one point from their past four games and sit third in the east with 42 points from 25 games.

Karol Swiderski had put Charlotte ahead in the fourth minute despite goalkeeper Sean Johnson's best efforts on the line, but City levelled before the half hour mark via Maxime Chanot's 30-yard strike into the top corner.

City's Anton Tinnerholm struck the crossbar from range before Charlotte found an avenue to victory with Swiderski's clever back-heel for Brandt Bronico to restore their lead in the 77th minute.

The visitors won an injury time penalty after video review which ex-Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs coolly converted to seal all three points.

Domenico Criscito lashed in a spectacular 75th-minute equaliser to earn Toronto a 2-2 draw with New England Revolution.

Filippo Bernadeschi had put Toronto ahead with a 31st-minute spotkick, but the Revs replied with goals either side of half-time from Tom McNamara and Justin Rennicks.

But Criscito intervened when Toronto took a corner short to Michael Bradley who lobbed to the edge of the box towards the former Italy international, who rifled in a left-foot volley.

Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union were beaten 1-0 by FC Dallas with US international Jesus Ferreira scoring the only goal in the 34th minute.

Paul Arriolo broke down the right flank and passed centrally for Ferreira, who showed good skill to create space inside the box and fire a low strike past Union goalkeeper Andre Blake.

New York Red Bulls reinforced their status as playoffs contenders with a 2-1 win at struggling Atlanta United while Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Colorado Rapids 2-1.

Italy international Lorenzo Insigne netted his first goal in the MLS as Toronto won a seven-goal thriller 4-3 over Nashville on Saturday, while Gareth Bale was on the scoresheet again for LAFC.

The 31-year-old winger fired in Toronto's fourth goal to make it 4-2 in the 77th minute with a near-post strike from just outside the box.

Insigne, making his third MLS appearance for Toronto, showed his class to create a pocket of space for himself before opening up his body to fire past Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis.

The goal headlined an entertaining contest which helped Toronto claim their seventh win of the season as they seek to mount a late-season charge.

Jonathan Osorio rifled Toronto in a 19th-minute lead but Hany Mukhtar's penalty squared it up in the 41st minute. Osorio restored Toronto's lead by tapping in Richie Laryea's low ball across goal, yet Nashville were level by half-time when Teal Bunbury glanced in off the post from a corner.

Filippo Bernardeschi put Toronto up again with an emphatic 54th-minute penalty before Insigne's moment with just under quarter of an hour to go. Walker Zimmerman headed in a late goal from Mukhtar's corner but Nashville could not find an equaliser as Toronto claimed their first road win in 378 days.

Bale, making his fourth appearance for his new club, netted his second MLS goal in LAFC's 4-1 victory against Real Salt Lake.

The Walsh international came on in the 64th minute with LAFC 3-1 up after Cristian Arango's double and added the fourth with a classy solo goal. Bale ran down the right flank, beating away two defenders, before tucking into the box and finding his favoured left foot for a trademark strike.

Cincinnati made a statement with a strong 3-1 home win against Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union.

All three of Cincinnati's goals came in the second half, after Brenner had a first-goal strike disallowed by the VAR. Brandon Vazquez, Brenner and Alvaro Barreal netted for Cincinnati, who move up to sixth, while Paxton Aaronson scored a late consolation for Union.

Under-performing New England snapped their six-game winless run to revive their playoffs hopes with a 3-0 victory at Orlando City.

Matt Polster, Wilfrid Kaptoum and Henry Kessler got the goals, with Carles Gil grabbing his 12th assist of the season for the latter's strike.

New York City were unable to capitalise on Philadelphia's loss, going down 3-2 at Columbus Crew, for whom Lucas Zelarayan scored a brace.

Gonzalo Higuain got on the scoresheet as Inter Miami rallied from behind to twice to manage a 2-2 draw at Montreal.

Bottom club DC United held New York Red Bulls to a 0-0 draw, while Chicago Fire made it four wins in five games with a 3-2 victory at Charlotte.

In the west, Javier Hernandez netted a late double but it was not enough for LA Galaxy who went down 4-2 at Sporting KC.

Gyasi Zardes scored a hat-trick as Colorado Rapids edged Minnesota United 4-3, Austin and San Jose Earthquakes drew 3-3 and Portland Timbers and Dallas both scored late in a 1-1 draw.

The Colorado Rapids came from behind on the road to defeat the New York Red Bulls 5-4 in a thriller on Tuesday.

Within 10 minutes New York led by two goals, with Dru Yearwood finding the back of the net first when his shot from outside the box caught a deflection to wrong-foot the goalkeeper, before Aaron Long headed home Lewis Morgan's indirect free kick.

A costly mistake deep in defence gifted a goal back to the Rapids in the 21st minute, with Diego Rubio curling his right-footed effort into the far post, but the Red Bulls seemed to have all the answers, with Morgan scoring from the penalty spot seven minutes later to lead 3-1 after a half-hour.

Colorado ensured they would go into the break only trailing by one after a well-worked move from a throw-in resulted in a powerful low drive from outside the box by Keegan Roseberry in the 38th minute.

There were over 30 minutes of scoreless action to start the second half, before the Rapids seized control of the contest with two quickfire goals. Collen Warner equalised in the 77th minute, before substitute Michael Barrios put the visiting side in front three minutes later off a Rubio assist.

Dantouma Toure completed the comeback by making it 5-3 in the 89th minute, with a stoppage-time penalty to Tom Barlow providing the game's ninth goal.

Meanwhile, it was a very different contest at Lumen Field where the Seattle Sounders defeated Dallas FC 1-0 at home.

The only goal of the contest came from a first-half penalty, with captain Nicolas Lodeira calmly slotting it past the Dallas keeper in the 39th minute.

Cristian Roldan was at the centre of everything for the Sounders. Only two players completed more than 50 passes, and Roldan separated himself from the rest with 76 completed passes at an accuracy of 93 per cent.

With the win, the Sounders jumped up to sixth in the Western Conference, still three points behind fourth-placed Dallas, but with a game in-hand.