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Before we begin our tour through the weekend that was in MLS, a trivia question to ponder: Which team was the last Supporters’ Shield winner to start the subsequent season with three straight losses? Read to the end for the answer.
New York City thrash Orlando
Since debuting concurrently in 2015, the City clubs of New York and Orlando have established themselves as mainstays in the upper-third of the Eastern Conference. Their matchup on Saturday, though, only featured one side looking anything like that. The sides barely had time to settle into a rhythm before Orlando goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau was sent off for handling a ball beyond the top of his box, and NYC FC wasted little time in making the visitors pay with the opening goal via Agustín Ojeda.
It ended 5-0. NYC midfielder Keaton Parks bagged a second-half brace months after undergoing a third procedure to address a blood flow issue in his right leg, while Nicolás Fernández Mercau and Maxi Moralez padded the Saturday afternoon rout. It’s the highlight of a strong start to 2026 for NYC FC, who lost to Miami in last year’s Eastern Conference final.
Orlando also reached the conference final just two years ago, but they now look far from being similarly stationed. Few teams have looked as feckless in the young MLS season.
Defender Alex Freeman was bound to be difficult to replace after his sale to Villarreal, especially given his rapid rise from fringe prospect to among the team’s most important players last season. Defensive bedrock Robin Jansson has also been sorely missed, and isn’t expected back until later this spring after undergoing foot surgery in February. Crépeau was brought in to replace longtime incumbent Pedro Gallese, and conceded five goals across his first two starts before Saturday’s gaffe.
Perhaps the most poignantly felt absence is a player who, at this rate, may never even join Orlando. The club went all-in to bring Antoine Griezmann to MLS, looking to capitalize on his waning involvement with Atlético Madrid and his desire to live in the United States at some stage. Hours before Saturday’s five-goal rout, Marca reported that Griezmann won’t head to Florida anytime soon. Atléti president Mateu Alemany told Marca that the France international has “two more” years after the season’s end, and that he doesn’t “see any major news” that would change those plans.
Orlando will be left to survey alternatives. Holding out for Mr Right is a gamble; Toronto FC made a similar bet this offseason with Josh Sargent, who finally arrived from Norwich at the end of February. With MLS’s primary window set to shut on 26 March, time is running out for Orlando to add the talent they need to better contend in the East.
Nashville mint an instant hit
In telling the Guardian about Nashville’s recruitment of Cristian Espinoza, chief soccer officer Mike Jacobs wasn’t shy, branding the winger “the right guy” to justify “a full court press trying to acquire him.”
Somehow, his early returns have exceeded those expectations, with the Argentine scoring his first goal with his new club in Nashville’s commanding 3-1 win over Minnesota United. His goal was sandwiched by a Sam Surridge brace; the English striker is now tied atop the Golden Boot race with MLS weekend wrap regular João Klauss.
Long gone are the days when Nashville’s results hinged on Hany Mukhtar. The 2022 MLS MVP has just one goal contribution despite starting Nashville’s first three games, with his co-stars have been more than up to the task of leading the attack. If Mukhtar can hit his usual goal scoring verve, few teams in the league look ready to keep them at bay.
Minnesota arguably enjoyed the most impressive goal of the night, though as Nectarios Triantis uncorked an impressive 31-yard effort to sully Brian Schwake’s hopes of a clean sheet. Having arrived last summer from Sunderland, Triantis has already become one of MLS’s best defensive midfielders, benefitting from spending 2024-25 on loan with Hibernian. Born in Sydney, he committed his international future to Greece late last year.
Loons fans best enjoy Triantis’s poise and panache while he’s here. His career trajectory seems certain to lead back to Europe.
Free-spending Atlanta fall to thrifty RSL
Atlanta United hoped they left their good soccer in Tata Martino’s briefcase, bringing the veteran Argentinian manager back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium after he left the 2018 MLS Cup champions to take charge of Mexico and then Inter Miami. Early returns aren’t positive. After suffering a pair of 2-0 defeats on the road, Atlanta’s home opener saw Real Salt Lake rush to their own 2-0 lead inside half an hour. The hosts managed to pull back a couple goals, but a 3-2 loss at home leaves the club with the worst start in their history: three games, three defeats.
In his second stint, Martino has inherited a squad largely cobbled by predecessors Gonzalo Pineda and Ronny Deila, and the ensuing meld of players – most more finesse than hard-nosed – has shown little steel or teeth.
Their opposite number on Saturday, Real Salt Lake, don’t carry a star with the same pull as Atlanta’s Miguel Almirón; nor have the club ever come close to matching Atlanta’s reported $22m outlay for striker Emmanuel Latte Lath. Under sporting director Kurt Schmid, RSL have cobbled together an impressive collection of young talent. While Diego Luna is in contention for the US World Cup squad, the playmaker has yet to feature this year due to knee injury.
RSL have been better equipped to handle his absence thanks to Schmid’s squad-building in recent windows. Forward Zavier Gozo, 18, is already coveted by major European clubs, a dynamic right-sided threat who bagged the eventual match-winner in the 40th minute.
Another homegrown forward, Aiden Hezarkhani, scored RSL’s second of the day, while 23-year-old Sergi Solans (a product of Girona) opened his MLS account. New wing-back Juan Manuel Sanabria has swiftly acclimated after arriving from Atlético de San Luis, while new designated player Morgan Guilavogui notched his first goal contribution with the club by assisting Solans’ opener.
To get to this point, Schmid has done excellent work not just operating in one of the league’s smaller markets, but navigating a pair of ownership changes over the past half decade. The result is that the team can be even more careful with managing Luna’s return and keep pace in a competitive Western Conference.
US World Cup hopefuls power Whitecaps
While the broader future of the Vancouver Whitecaps hangs in limbo given their stadium situation, the on-field product hasn’t fallen off at all since their run to MLS Cup.
Vancouver rolled up at Providence Park and humbled the hosting Portland Timbers, 4-1. Brian White connected with the outside his boot to finish an inch-perfect cross from Sebastian Berhalter to open the scoring, and Tristan Blackmon doubled the lead in the 49th minute with his face, easily the most hilarious goal of the weekend.
Berhalter bagged a goal of his own with a late strike from the edge of the box that’s become something of his trademark. All three goalscorers are hopefuls, of varying degrees, to make Mauricio Pochettino’s US World Cup squad. Berhalter continues to go from strength to strength and is the most likely to represent the US on current form. This season, he’s shown even greater confidence in the midfield, spraying the ball in all directions to maximize Vancouver’s effectiveness in possession. White’s ability to wring goals out of ugly chances is invaluable, even considering the program’s striker depth.
Such was the state of the Timbers that Thomas Müller felt a need to take pity on the hosts. As White capped the scoring and completed his brace, the German great asked his teammates to tone down their celebrations.
“When you play against a good team like Vancouver, you have to play like men – not little boys,” Timbers coach Phil Neville said afterwards. “And tonight, some of the players played like little boys.”
In fact, Portland’s young players seemed to be the only ones up for a game on Saturday, as their sole goalscorer was an 18-year-old (Eric Izoita) called up from Timbers 2.
A sagging Shield defense
Bradley Carnell’s Philadelphia Union fell 1-0 at home against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, a third league loss in as many weeks. Even more concerning, and with all due respect to DC United, New York City FC and San Jose, it’s not like they’ve been playing MLS Cup frontrunners the whole time.
The result saw Philadelphia become just the second team in MLS history to open their Supporters’ Shield defense with three losses. The first: DC United in 2007. If Union fans want a lifeline, that 2007 DC team went on to top the table, losing just four of their remaining 27 matches.
The Union head to Atlanta on Saturday in a matchup between two teams desperate for a result.
