MLS: Kamara makes history to keep LAFC on top
Credit to Author: Megan Swanick| Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2024 09:28:47 EST
Kei Kamara moves ahead of Landon Donovan into 2nd-place of the all-time MLS goals scorers with his 146th in the league. (0:41)
It’s Monday, and another week of MLS action is in the books, which means it’s time for ESPN’s Power Rankings.
Our Power Rankings are derived from a combination of key season statistics (points per game, goal differential, expected goal differential), recent performance, the Opta computer ratings, and the observations of our writers.
Who’s climbing the table? Who’s in free fall? We’ve ranked all 29 clubs in the league after Matchday 22. Let’s dive in.
Previous ranking: 1
Steve Cherundolo’s squad saw itself to a 1-1 draw in Austin during midweek. The highlight? Kei Kamara slotted home a 90th-minute equalizer to go level with Landon Donovan for second-most career goals in MLS history. Saturday, he bettered the man whose name adorns the league’s MVP trophy. Kamara’s 146th career goal was one of six LA sent past San Jose on the evening.
Previous ranking: 2
After defeating Philly with nine players last weekend, Miami took three points from a formidable Columbus Crew on Wednesday. The Herons required just 21 minutes to score two goals in their 2-1 victory. So far, so good for the side absent its marquee talents.
Previous ranking: 4
They lost in midweek against Miami (lamentable), but ended the week with a 4-0 win at home against SKC. The team bid adieu to beloved homegrown midfielder Aidan Morris (who departs for Middlesbrough in the English Championship), but Cucho Hernández rocked home a stellar hat trick to ensure a soaring morale.
Previous ranking: 6
The Galaxy are cruising into the summer with one of their best season starts in club history. Saturday in Utah, they put an end to RSL’s 15-game unbeaten run. A soaring Gabriel Pec did the damage in a 1-0 win to mark his sixth goal of the season.
Previous ranking: 5
All good things must come to an end. So it goes with RSL’s 15-game unbeaten run, brought to a halt by a mighty Galaxy side, who also sent Chicho Arango off the pitch needing stitches.
Previous ranking: 8
The Red Bulls took another draw in midweek against Montréal (16-year-old Julian Hall‘s first-ever MLS goal was the equalizer). At the weekend, they cleaned up against Toronto with a resounding 3-0 win. Not bad for a team still absent both Lewis Morgan (Euros) and Emil Forsberg (injury). Plus, bad news for Scotland is good news for the Red Bulls: Morgan should be back shortly.
Previous ranking: 3
Trouble on the horizon for Pat Noonan’s Cincinnati? They’re second in the Supporters’ Shield race but will face tough questions this summer on the backline. Matt Miazga is out with a knee injury that requires surgery. Miles Robinson is away with the U.S. men’s national for Copa América. Potentially, he could remain away through the Olympics. To make matters worse, beloved local defender, Nick Hagglund, subbed into Saturday’s 1-2 loss to New England and broke his fibula. They ended the past week with three points against Philadelphia and a loss to the Revs, but bigger problems lurk over the points tally.
Previous ranking: 10
Patrick Agyemang‘s brace in Philly didn’t just seal all three points for the visitors, it set off chants of “sell the team” aimed at Philly’s owners. Impressive. With three wins in their past four games, Dean Smith’s squad is cruising as they prepare for Houston.
Previous ranking: 11
Colorado has scored nine goals in its past three games, including four against Montréal Saturday evening. Key to that has been Djordje Mihailovic, who notched a hat trick in midweek before clinching a fourth at the weekend. He also collected two assists on Saturday, marking six goal contributions in two games, setting a club record for back-to-back games with at least three goal contributions. That’s what we call an electric return to Major League Soccer.
Previous ranking: 14
Houston hasn’t lost a match in a month. Ben Olsen took his scrappy squad to his former home in the nation’s capital and demolished the home side, 4-1. Paraguayan striker Sebastián Ferreira registered his first MLS hat trick with a pair of goals in three minutes and a third in the 86th. There’s still plenty to fix for the Dynamo, but things are looking up heading into the summer.
Previous ranking: 7
It’s been a rough week for New York. Three losses in a row, no matter the competition, is a deflating eight-day stretch for anyone. After falling to the Galaxy in midweek and Nashville on Saturday, NYCFC will head home to lick their wounds against Orlando.
Previous ranking: 13
Things are looking up for the Sounders. With a midweek draw and a victory Saturday evening, Seattle took two wins and seven points across three games in the span of seven days. Not bad! Jordan Morris is looking as clinical as ever back at the No. 9, as he put a brace past Dallas to seal victory in stoppage time in a riveting Saturday contest.
Previous ranking: 16
After a brief rest in the bye week, Portland polished off the past seven days with two wins against San Jose and Vancouver. While still imperfect, the Timbers’ form is strong, now unbeaten across six games since May 18. Funny enough, that loss came against Minnesota, and it’s the Loons they face next.
Previous ranking: 19
Tyler Boyd scored his first goal for Nashville in a 1-0 win against NYCFC on Saturday. The victory marked two wins and seven points across three games for Nashville in the past week. That’s great momentum, and it could certainly use it as it gears up to face Miami.
Tyler Boyd heads home to put Nashville SC up 1-0 vs. NYCFC.
Previous ranking: 20
A win and two draws across seven days is pretty decent for a team facing lots of uncertainty. Thiago Almada‘s midweek super-golazo secured the 1-0 win against D.C., although he was suspended for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with St. Louis.
Previous ranking: 15
After a midweek rest in a busy MLS week, the Whitecaps followed up their loss against the Revs by falling to the Timbers while playing with ten men for half the match. Alas. They head home next to host St. Louis, and will hope for some sweet summer signings ahead.
Previous ranking: 9
Not the best week for the Loons. A 5-3 loss to Dallas landed the first dagger on Wednesday. They followed it with a 10-man struggle Saturday against Austin, Hassani Dotson being sent off in the 26th minute in a match they ultimately dropped 1-0. Minnesota is compelling when it gets going but showing issues in depth absent multiple key players like Tani Oluwaseyi, Dayne St. Clair and Teemu Pukki.
Previous ranking: 21
Orlando had a respectable week. Recovering from a loss to formidable LAFC, the Lions took a draw from Charlotte (who were admittedly down to ten) before absconding with a 4-2 win over Chicago on Saturday evening. They’ll head to Yankee Stadium next to see if they can keep it going.
Previous ranking: 12
The stats still like Philly better than their River End does these days, but as the Union’s season starts to hit free fall and the losses pile up, frustration is reaching new heights among the club’s faithful. Offseason signings (or lack thereof) didn’t do the trick, and with Julián Carranza reportedly close to leaving for Feyenoord, fans have questions. Jim Curtin’s side fell to Cincinnati in midweek before losing at home with 18-year-old goalkeeper Andrew Rick tapped for the starting position. No fault to Rick, who came up with big saves, but the stands broke out in chants to “sell the team” by the end of proceedings.
Previous ranking: 24
New England, if you can believe it, has found some form. The Revs have four wins in four games stretching back to June 1, and picked up a statement win over the weekend against last year’s Supporters’ Shield winners Cincinnati. Next up, a big test: Columbus awaits them.
Previous ranking: 26
The stats don’t like the Verde (they have a horrid expected goal differential), but they can pull off a result or two, and they did so over the past seven days. That includes a 1-1 draw with LAFC, then a 1-0 victory over 10-man Minnesota.
Herculez Gomez and Sebastian Salazar debate the biggest storylines and break down the best highlights that soccer in the Americas has to offer. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
Previous ranking: 17
Now third from bottom in the Eastern Conference, D.C. was dismantled 4-1 by former club legend Ben Olsen’s Houston. Not even Christian Benteke‘s 14th goal of the season could stop this team from sinking.
Previous ranking: 25
Starting with a hat trick in midweek, Petar Musa scored four goals in Dallas’ past two games. With a 5-3 win (Minnesota) followed by a 3-2 loss (Seattle), a post-Nico Esteves FCD showed they can score goals, but they’ll need to prove less porous in allowing them.
Previous ranking: 18
With Sean Johnson away on international duty, Toronto is shipping in the goals, allowing nine in three games to mark three straight losses.
Previous ranking: 22
The VAR stole the show, but STL recovered from a midweek wallop (featuring uncharacteristic mistakes from even their veteran keeper Roman Bürki) against Colorado to pull off a respectable 1-1 draw against Atlanta. Notably, that draw is their tenth of the year, significantly more than the next closest clubs, with seven.
Previous ranking: 23
A strong string of results for Chicago came to a close over the weekend, as Orlando came roaring out of the gate in South Florida. Facundo Torres scored in the fourth minute, and although the Fire pulled two back, they fell 4-2 to the home side.
Previous ranking: 27
Montréal is the latest to fall prey to Colorado’s dynamic attack this season. After a 4-1 loss on Saturday, the Quebecois may be nursing wounds. Silver lining? They face a spiraling Philadelphia next weekend.
Previous ranking: 29
It’s hard to think of a tougher run of games than facing this season’s Galaxy, RSL, then Columbus consecutively. SKC did just that in the span of seven days, allowing four goals against each of them. They’ll head home to face Austin in much need of rejuvenation.
Previous ranking: 28
San Jose has allowed 17 goals in its past four games, including six against LAFC over the weekend. A remarkable feat, really. That’s 51 goals allowed this season, the most in Major League Soccer.