Nashville SC 5-1 Orlando City SC

Orlando City traveled to the Music City on Saturday night and took a beating from Golden Boot leader Sam Surridge and Nashville SC.  Oscar Pareja decided to rest most of his marquee starters with an eye on Wednesday’s Leagues Cup semi-final at Miami, but surely was hoping for a better start than he was shown.  Sam Surridge put Nashville ahead just 120 seconds into this one, after Patrick Yazbek picked up a ball on his own side of the field and found Hany Mukhtar who slid an inch-perfect pass through for the streaking Surridge.  Surridge only needed one touch to poke it past the onrushing Pedro Gallese, and his first of the game tied Leo Messi at the top of the Golden Boot race.  Surridge almost played provider in the 16th minute, when he flicked a ball through for Jacob Shaffelburg.  Shaffelburg blasted a ball right into the torso of Gallese, who stood his ground well to deny the Canadian.  Nashville wouldn’t be denied for long, however.  The ensuing long throw bounced once through traffic in the middle of the box, and it was Hany Mukhtar who took it on the full volley and roofed Nashville’s second passed Gallese. 

Surridge almost netted his second off of another long throw in just a couple minutes later, but his header bounced off the crossbar and over the endline.  Orlando would hope to hold on until halftime, but Mukhtar again would spoil those plans.  Shaffelburg flicked a ball into the box for the German who again volleyed home Nashville’s third, sending Geodis Park into pandemonium. 

Shaffelburg picked up his second assist of the game when he found Surridge at the back post in the 43rd.  With his 20th of the season, the Englishman took over the top spot in the Golden Boot rankings.  Ramiro Enrique was denied by Joe Willis just before the break, and was denied by the post off the ensuing corner kick.  Tyrese Spicer’s long range curler in the 57th minute hit the bar once again, capping off a frustrating first hour for the visitors.  15 minutes later, substitute Luis Muriel picked up a deflected cross in the middle of the box and beat Willis to finally get Orlando on the board.  With 10 minutes to go, any chance Orlando had of pulling off a miracle flew out the window when Muriel let his frustration get the best of him and with a flurry of swings, appeared to strike Ahmed Qasem in the head and was shown a red card.  Three minutes into added time, Jeisson Palacios headed home Nashville’s fifth goal after a well worked corner kick routine.

It’s clear that Orlando is heavily prioritizing their Leagues Cup campaign.  An away game against Miami is in the forefront of their minds and it was clearly on Oscar Pareja’s as well, as he made seven changes to his lineup from mid week.  It’s an unfortunate time to have such a big MLS matchup, but Orlando made their choice.  After Miami, they’ll welcome Thomas Müller and Vancouver to Inter&Co Stadium before heading up to DC.  We’ll see what happens with Orlando on Wednesday, but assuming this loss doesn’t throw them off track, the Lions will be circling this return fixture on their calendar.  Revenge against Nashville will surely be a motivation when the two teams face off again on September 20th.

Nashville jumped into third place with the blowout victory.  The top five in the East all have six games remaining and just seven points separate first from fifth.  The margins are razor thin at this point of the season, and Nashville has a more favorable schedule than some others around them in the standings.  They do have a US Open Cup semi-final to worry about against Philly, but that’s not until the middle of September. Atlanta United are next up for Nashville, and they’ll surely feel confident to finish strong before the international break.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-2 St Louis City SC

Thomas Müller started his first game for the Whitecaps on Saturday night at BC place, and it was Müller who finished the game as well.  St Louis would not be phased by the Thomas Müller buzz in Vancouver, as they grabbed the lead inside the first quarter hour.  Conrad Wallem whipped a perfect ball behind Vancouver’s back line and Eduard Löwen’s header left Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka with no chance.  The rest of the first half was relatively quiet until stoppage time rolled around and Tristan Blackmon was taken down in the STL box.  I’ll just say this— St Louis will feel extremely hard done by.  It’s a really soft call for me, and a tough one to make especially after going to VAR. It appears to be incidental contact and for me it almost looks like Blackmon is initiating the contact and then going to ground.  The VAR crew took a look and the call on the field stood somehow.  It was Brian White who stepped up to take the spot kick and as he sent Roman Bürki the wrong way Vancouver found themselves level heading into halftime.  Bürki was busy in the second half, making three fine saves to keep St Louis in the game before they took the lead in the 73rd minute through striker Joao Klauss.  Jeong Sang-Bin sped past Andrés Cubas near midfield in transition and beautifully played Klauss in on goal.  Klauss fended off the two retreating Whitecap defenders and slid the go ahead goal past Takaoka.  Vancouver would find the equalizer just five minutes later through a wide free kick that was headed in by substitute Daniel Rios.  10 minutes of stoppage time was nearly up when Mathias Laborda ran through the St Louis back line and was… tripped up (?) by Mykhi Joyner.  This one was originally waived off by referee Fotis Bazakos but after a lengthy review, he reversed his position and pointed to the spot.  This one for me might be even more harsh.  There must be some sort of contact that the VAR booth saw, but for me it’s soft again.  You’ve seen more contact waived off before in both instances, and St Louis will feel like they’d had three points ripped away from them by the officiating crew.  Nonetheless, there was another penalty to take, and up stepped Thomas Müller.  With a stutter, Roman Bürki was once again sent the wrong way and Müller buried the winner for the Whitecaps.

Vancouver remain in third place in the West, but gained two points on leaders San Diego after their draw against Portland.  They still have a game in hand on both San Diego and Portland, so the four point gap between them and first place really isn’t much of a gap at all.  Müller scored his first MLS goal at the most crucial of times, and with Ryan Gauld expected to return from his knee injury in the next few weeks, the Whitecaps could be looking at quite the opportunity come playoff time.  It will take time for Gauld to reintegrate with the group, but if his return timing is accurate, that will give him a good month to find his groove and create some chemistry with Müller before the postseason begins.  They’ll travel across the country to play Orlando City next weekend, and will be hoping they’ll have the same Leagues Cup hangover that Nashville saw this past weekend.

St Louis continue to struggle this season and at this point must be starting to take stock for next year.  They’re still not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but that day could be on the horizon soon.  It should be said, their remaining schedule isn’t all that difficult, but I fear they’ve put themselves too far behind at this point.  Add the news on Monday morning that the club had parted ways with Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel, and you have a club who is truly ready for a revamp.  They will start a two game home stand against Houston and Dallas, who are also in crunch time when it comes to playoff chances.

Charlotte FC 1-0 New York Red Bulls

Charlotte FC bunkered down and held on for their seventh win in a row on Sunday, tying the second longest streak in MLS since 2000.  A pretty slow first half peaked when Idan Toklomati pounced on a bad giveaway near midfield and slipped in Kerwin Vargas, who roofed a shot over Carlos Coronel to put Charlotte in front.  It was the Red Bulls who had the far better of the play in the first half, however they found themselves down a goal heading into half time.  Coronel made a huge 1v1 save on Toklomati just after the break to keep the deficit at one and it was Raheem Edwards who was the most dangerous on the day for New York.  The left back created a plethora of chances for the Red Bulls and even hit the crossbar on a direct corner kick, but to no avail.  The final touch of the game was the Red Bulls best chance of the match to score, as Emil Forsberg sent a header over the bar from only a couple yards away from goal.  Red Bulls will rue the missed opportunities in this one, which will hurt even more knowing they could have gotten some breathing room over Chicago for the last playoff spot.  They’ll head home to take on the struggling Columbus Crew next week before the international break.

Charlotte moved up to fourth place with a win, jumping over Orlando, Miami, and Columbus.  They’ll look to take another step towards history in New England next week when they take on the Revolution.

FC Cincinnati 0-1 New York City FC

Alonso Martinez and New York City FC left TQL Stadium with a massive three points on Saturday night.  The win is a huge boost for their playoff resume, as it distanced them from Hudson River rivals New York Red Bulls and the Chicago Fire.

Alonso Martinez’ shot that rattled the crossbar in the 30th minute headlined a back and forth first half.  Both teams had a few chances to nudge ahead, but neither were able to capitalize.  The second half started with much of the same, however NYC took the lead after some sloppy play from FCC from their own throw in.  Aiden O’Neill picked up an errant pass and found Maxi Morales on the break, who sprung Alonso Martinez behind the back line.  Martinez slipped his 14th league goal past an onrushing Roman Celentano to give the Pigeons the lead.  The teams traded half chances all the way until the final whistle, but it was New York City who handed FC Cincinnati their second straight home loss.

Cincy lost their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with the loss, and it’s a poor start to their home stand that now heads in the direction of Philadelphia and Nashville.  Their next two will most likely decide whether or not FCC will be in the running for the one seed come the end of the season, so Pat Noonan will surely have his boys ready to go.

New York City added some much needed breathing space between them and the playoff line.  They’re now five points clear and still hold two games in hand on the Red Bulls.  They’ll welcome DC to the big city this weekend before the international break with a great chance to keep gaining ground on the teams above them.  New York City has a devilish schedule down the stretch, so picking up as many points as they can before the final stretch will be important for their playoff seeding.