What Happened in the First Week of the 2025 MLS Season?
After nearly three months of waiting, Major League Soccer has finally returned, and it’s fair to say that it is back with a bang. Today, we’re taking a look at what happened in the first weekend of the MLS season.
LAFC start as they mean to continue
Last season, LAFC finished with the best regular-season record in the MLS Western Conference, only to lose to Seattle Sounders in the Conference Semifinals. Expectations were high for the Black and Gold as they sought to win their league opener for the eighth consecutive season.
Rather than World Cup winner Olivier Giroud, it was Jeremy Ebobisse who got the start at the center forward position. Having joined in the summer as a free agent, Ebobisse rewarded Steven Cherundolo’s trust by bagging a 78th-minute goal to lead LAFC to a 1-0 victory against Minnesota United.
Sharing the spoils in the nation’s capital
D.C. United and Toronto FC played out a thrilling stalemate in the nation’s capital, with Cameroonian midfielder Boris Enow breaking the deadlock early on, only for Jonathan Osorio to level proceedings shortly after for Toronto.
The reigning MLS Golden Boot winner Christian Benteke would quickly restore DC’s advantage, and it seemed that Troy Lesesne’s side would eke out a victory. Instead, Brandon Servania made an ill-advised challenge, with his studs connecting with Richie Laryea’s in the box, enabling Fernando Bernadeschi to slot home from the penalty spot in a 2-2 draw.
Philly spoil the party in Orlando
A few weeks ago, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts made his way to Orlando and celebrated his recent Super Bowl victory with a parade at Disney World. On Saturday, the Philadelphia Union squad headed to Orlando for their league opener.
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Despite falling behind after eight minutes, Tai Baribo would equalize for Philly whilst Dániel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre scored immediately after halftime, followed by yet another goal from Baribo. Marco Pašalić would pull one back and complete his brace for Orlando in the 79th minute, by which time it was already too little too late.
Berhalter off to a slow start in Chicago
Columbus Crew’s MLS Cup title defense came to an end at the hands of eventual winners New York Red Bulls in last season’s playoffs. Four months later, Columbus kicked off their season by facing off against Chicago Fire, under the tutelage of new manager and former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter.
Jonathan Bamba and Brian Gutierrez would combine as Chicago took the lead on two separate occasions in the opening 22 minutes, but Columbus would nevertheless score twice before the break, whilst Diego Rossi completed his brace after the interval to secure a 4-2 victory for the hosts.
Dénkey delivering the goods in Cincinnati
It has been three months since FC Cincinnati signed Togolese striker Kevin Dénkey from Cercle Brugge for an MLS record $16.2 million. Having racked up 15 goals in 28 appearances for the Belgian side this season, expectations were higher than ever for the 24-year-old.
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So far, he’s managed to deliver. After grabbing a goal in his first two matches — a preseason game vs. Atlanta and a Concacaf Champions Cup game vs. Motagua, Denkey managed to fire in the winning goal in the 70th minute as Cincy subjected the reigning Eastern champions New York Red Bulls to a 1-0 defeat.
Lath leading the line for Atlanta
Having racked up four goals and two assists in his last seven matches of the regular season for CF Montréal, Caden Clark looked set to play a pivotal role in attack for the Canadian side in their opener. His confidence was on the rise after making his USMNT debut and bagging a goal and an assist vs. Venezuela and Costa Rica, but unfortunately for Clark, that didn’t materialize in a strong display.
Instead, it was new signing Emmanuel Latte Lath who broke the deadlock before halftime, only for Prince-Osei Owusu to level proceedings after halftime. Lath would nevertheless put Atlanta back in the driver’s seat, only for Owusu to quickly equalize. They looked set for a stalemate until the 85th minute, when Edwin Mosquera scored the winner for Atlanta immediately after coming off the bench.
Inter Miami survives at the last minute
Out of the 32 teams that will compete in this summer’s Club World Cup, only two are playing in MLS: Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders.
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“FIFA doesn’t need the Club World Cup, the world of football needs it,” stated FIFA’s Gelson Fernandes said in an exclusive RG interview. “The football clubs outside of Europe needed this competition, and the clubs and fans are very excited and look forward to competing amongst the best in this format,” added Fernandes.
Miami would take an early lead via Tomás Áviles, only to end up losing Áviles to an expulsion immediately after. New York City FC would take advantage via Mitja Ilenič, whilst Alonso Martínez gave them the lead after halftime, but just when it appeared to be all doom and gloom, Lionel Messi teed up new signing Telasco Segovia with the equalizer in the 10th minute of extra time to snatch a point.
Goalless stalemates in the Midwest
In a battle between two clubs that failed to reach the postseason, Nashville SC were held to a 0-0 draw by New England Revolution in Tennessee, a match that featured precious little in the way of attacking initiative. Over in Missouri, St. Louis CITY SC gave an impressive display under new coach Olof Mellberg, racking up 2.01 Expected Goals to Colorado Rapids’ 0.20 as well as 17 shots to Colorado’s two, but Colorado goalkeeper Zack Steffen thwarted their efforts to prevail with a goalless stalemate.
Musa carrying Dallas over the line
The Texas derby delivered on the hype, with Houston Dynamo grabbing the opener in the 18th minute. Greg Dorsey whipped in a delicious cross for Ezequiel Ponce to nod down into the path of Amine Bassi, who converted from close range. Dallas, however, would come roaring back after halftime with Petar Musa capitalizing on an errant pass from Ethan Bartlow and making no mistake with the finish. Musa was the hero once again after instigating a counter-attack with an inch-perfect through ball towards Anderson Julio, who brushed past the onrushing goalkeeper and fired into an empty net in the 76th minute.
Austin eke out a win against Kansas City
From Kévin Denkey to Jeremy Ebobisse to Emmanuel Latte Lath, we’ve seen quite a few African forwards deliver the goods in the opening weekend of the MLS season. Yet another African striker who came up clutch was Osman Bukari.
The score was level between Austin FC and Sporting Kansas City until the 76th minute, when Owen Wolff fired in an in-swinging corner kick. The ball rose above various green and sky blue shirts until meeting the body of Bukari and tumbling into the back of the net. It may have been an awkward finish, but it count just as much as the others, enabling Austin to prevail 1-0 on home soil.
San Jose run rampant in California
Last season, the San Jose Earthquakes finished with the worst record in MLS, losing 25 of their 34 matches and accumulating a measly 21 points. Today, however, they sit atop the MLS standings after delivering a hammer blow to Real Salt Lake. Jamar Ricketts broke the deadlock within the half-hour, whilst Cristian Espinoza set up Rodrigues’ goal in the 70th minute.
Espinoza would find substitute Ousseni Bouda for yet another goal in the 74th minute, whilst Vitor Costa put the cherry on top immediately after exiting the bench to secure a 4-0 win for the Quakes.
Last-gasp equalizer in Seattle
With 86 goals and 33 assists in 248 appearances, Jordan Morris has established himself as a club legend for Seattle Sounders. He added to his legacy on Saturday, opening the scoring early on, only for Adilson Malanda to draw level for Charlotte FC. Morris would restore Seattle’s lead shortly after halftime, and it seemed as though Brian Schmetzer’s side would prevail with three points.
Instead, Charlotte would mount a speedy counter-attack and maneuver the ball towards Idan Toklomati Jorno, whose cross met the outstretched leg of Yeimar Gómez Andrade, who deflected it into his own net for an own goal in the 92nd minute.
Nelson puts the sword to Portland
Three days after Canada secured an emotional victory against the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off, we saw a Canadian side face off against an American side in Portland. A Canadian was the hero and the villain for their two respective sides — Kamal Miller left Portland Timbers with a mountain to climb after committing a last-man tackle and being sent off in the 11th minute.
Vancouver Whitecaps took advantage, with Jayden Nelson setting up goals from Ryan Gauld and Pedro Vite, before providing the assist for Sam Adekugbe’s goal. After bagging a hat-trick of assists, Nelson put the icing on the cake with a goal, whilst Antony Alves could only muster a late consolation goal in a 4-1 thrashing in Oregon.
Dream MLS debut for San Diego
San Diego FC became MLS’ 30th franchise this year and kicked off their journey with a daunting trip to LA Galaxy. Having won last year’s MLS Cup, all signs pointed to the Galaxy coming away with yet another victory. Instead, San Diego would go ahead shortly after the break.
LA’s attempt to play out from the back landed them in hot water, with Carlos Garcés failing to control a pass from his goalkeeper. Hirving Lozano capitalized on the mistake by quickly finding Andres Dreyer for the first goal in San Diego history. The visitors doggedly defended for the next 40 minutes before finally launching on the counter-attack and working the ball towards Dreyer, whose shot careened off the top post and into the back of the net to secure an epic opening day victory.
By: Zach Lowy / @ZachLowy
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Emilee Chinn / Getty Images