Your Thursday Kickoff: Midweek madness! Cincy, Charlotte & LAFC stay red-hot

Austin to host 2025 MLS All-Star Game

Major League Soccer announced yesterday that the 2025 MLS All-Star Game will head to Austin FC's Q2 Stadium next summer. The date and opponent for the 29th-ever MLS All-Star Game will be announced at a later time.

MLS unveils 2024 Pride Top

In celebration of Pride Month in June, MLS and adidas have partnered to release the 2024 edition of the pre-match Pride Top. Designed by Pabllo Vittar, the Pride Top sports a bold silver look with "Love Unites" on the front. On the neck tape, there's a Portuguese phrase translating into: without confidence there’s nothing.

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We’ve got a busy midweek slate to get to. Let’s talk it out.

New striker Kevin Kelsy scored in his second-straight game and FC Cincinnati’s league-best defense shut things down from there. They’ve taken all eight of their wins by one goal. Cincy are only one point behind Supporters’ Shield-leading Inter Miami with a game in hand and look like the only team poised to challenge them atop the league this year.

Atlanta… do not look like that. It’s now seven games without a win. The downward spiral seems to be kicking in for the Five Stripes.

Uh. Well. I don’t think the Red Bulls took too kindly to D.C. trying to steal their whole schtick. New York pummeled D.C. in this one. Game states emerged once the Red Bulls went up thanks to Elias Manoel’s hilarious… we’ll call it a “chip” over the goalkeeper from distance. Chasing the game against this Red Bulls side is a really bad time. They were ruthless. Have we mentioned lately how this is the best Red Bulls team since 2018?

I think the Crew are gonna be fine, y’all. They rotated a bit in this one and, despite missing Cucho Hernández, still rolled over CF Montréal. It’s their first MLS win in seven tries and it gets them back on track as they try and navigate a Concacaf Champions Cup final in the middle of the season.

Montréal are struggling. It’s hard to assess much when they’re this hurt, though. They’re near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and it’s hard to see them climbing until key pieces are back in attack.

Considering Orlando suffered a 5-0 rout in the last Florida Derby, this feels like a win. Inter Miami were Lionel Messi-less in this one, but it’s nonetheless an accomplishment to keep the league’s most potent attack scoreless.

I don’t know whether to be impressed by NYCFC or horrified by the Union. To be fair, the underlying numbers suggest the Union have been unlucky in the last two games. But still. Four straight home losses? For Philadelphia? It’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen in MLS and the bar is high. I can’t explain it, but I can react to it: It might be time to blow some things up in Philly. It feels like the end of an era.

On the flip side, holy smokes NYCFC. They really are putting it together in a way that didn’t seem plausible as they trudged through the start of the year. They’ve scored multiple goals in five of their last six games and are sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference. They’re just three points behind the Red Bulls. And guess who comes to Queens on Saturday…

Oh, I almost forgot: a raccoon ran on the field. You really should go see how good he did.

The ball somehow fell to Sebastián Driussi through a mass of people in front of goal and Austin took the lead in Copa Tejas while keeping Houston to zero points and zero goals in three games against in-state rivals. Houston have now been shut out in four of their last five games. Austin keep finding a way.

An Ashley Westwood free-kick stunner found the back of the net and that’s all Charlotte needed. The Crown have earned three consecutive clean sheets and three straight wins. They’re sitting fifth in the East despite playing with virtually one DP in the lineup all year. Dean Smith is working miracles.

Chicago… need more than miracles.

Kervin Arriaga saved the day for the Loons after they watched a first-half lead evaporate. Minnesota won’t be thrilled to have dropped points at home again, but it’s understandable considering the competition. The Galaxy had too much firepower to keep quiet. Both teams are sitting near the top of the Western Conference.

Nashville brute-forced the ball over the line a couple of times toward the end of this one and came out with their third win of the season. It doesn’t feel like the type of win that will get them back on track, but that’s two wins in their last three games. It’s not nothing. And it’s not a coincidence that those results coincide with Walker Zimmerman’s return to the starting lineup.

Toronto weren’t at their best here. They were missing a ton of folks after their late-game confrontation with New York City FC last weekend. It might be another game or so before they’re back to full strength.

Yeah, you can’t leave Denis Bouanga open. He’s pretty good at this. And he’s up to eight goals on the season.

Bouanga is getting hot and so are LAFC. They’ve won three of their last four games and are starting to tear teams apart. Their underlying numbers have been outstanding all year and they’re beginning to come good. This team may be turning into a juggernaut before our eyes.

St. Louis will be fine. It’s just their second loss of the season.

A handball penalty/red card combo from Bjørn Inge Utvik changed the trajectory of this one. Rafa Navarro buried the penalty and the ‘Caps were chasing the game the rest of the way. That’s two straight road losses for Vancouver. Meanwhile, the Rapids are tied with three of the best teams in the West on 21 points. This year has gone as well as anyone could have possibly hoped for.

The kids balled out. Andres Gómez and Diego Luna led Real Salt Lake as they cruised past Seattle in a 2-0 win. That’s just what RSL do these days. They ended the night on top of the West and just three points behind Inter Miami in the Shield standings. It’s the best RSL side in recent memory and there’s a chance they’re leading the conference at the end of the season, too.

The Sounders won’t be leading the West anytime soon. Pedro de la Vega’s projected return on Saturday may not be enough to salvage this. They have 13 points through 13 games.

San Jose were on the wrong end of an MLS After Dark special in Portland. The Timbers got back in the game with a 71st-minute red card/penalty combo and then got back in the game some more with a brace from Jonathan Rodríguez and a Felipe Mora goal.

The Timbers badly needed this one. It’s their first win in nine games. It doesn’t matter how it comes at that point – they just needed it to happen.

The Quakes did not need this. Just when it seemed like they were sorting some things out defensively, they fell apart in this one. Once again, it’s worth repeating that no one is concerned about the Quakes’ attack. Everything else though…

• An unexpected visitor stole the show in Philly.
• Inter Miami CF's Matías Rojas won another AT&T Goal of the Matchday.
• Cole Bassett is thriving in his Colorado Rapids return.

Good luck out there. Own your moment.