MLS 2025 Matchweek 3 Review
Playing out the back errors are out, goalkeeper howlers are in
The usual table of contents:
Links to game highlights, ranked by watchability, with no spoilers for people who like watching them without knowing the outcomes yet
Some statistical looks at which teams and players did well and did poorly
Storyline check-in on the topics I identified in my matchweek preview as being interesting from each game
And two quick points before we start. I’m interested in any feedback you have on what you like and what you don’t in these matchweek previews and reviews. And if you do like what you see, please share it with other fans who might also enjoy it!
Ranked Highlights
If you only have the time or inclination to watch highlights from a few games, I’m providing my non-spoiler ranking of this week’s highlights. This uses my entirely subjective aesthetics that celebrate cool-looking goals more than close games, so if you’re going in cold, you can’t be sure what you’ll get.
Starting with the most fun highlights and working down to the least fun:
A quieter week with no multi-goal scorers. Marcus Ingvartsen led with 1.3 xG on 3 shots. Prince Owusu and Gabriel Pec got into the top five without scoring but also—relatedly I guess—were the only representatives from losing teams in the top five. Pec also had the most shots by a large margin of anyone on this list with 9. NYCFC and San Diego each got two players on this list; no surprise they both won. Minnesota’s Joaquín Pereyra gets on the list despite playing only 12 minutes! Albert Rusnák was next lowest in minutes played—and the only other substitute—with 55 minutes.
Julián Fernández and Marco Reus bring youth and experience respectively to the top of the list. Reus lost, but so did Lucho Acosta, Iván Angulo, Owen Wolff, and Dominik Marczuk. The only players with actual assists were Fernández, Djordje Mihailovic, Paul Rothrock (who also scored), and Marczuk.
The top ten teams all won except Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy, who each lost to teams above them in the chart (San Diego and St. Louis respectively).
Inter Miami is uncharacteristically low on the list but had an early red card.
Most of the bottom teams here are on one point or less: New England (1), Houston (1) Toronto (1), and Sporting KC (0). CF Montréal had nearly an average offensive week despite being on zero points, and LA Galaxy were above average…but still zero points on the season so far.
Shutout players had to play 90 minutes to get on the list this week. Hugo Cuypers scored a goal since penalties don’t count. Sam Surridge also got to take a penalty non-shot but didn’t convert.
Roman Bürki had a commanding performance this week. He’s also the only player in the top six who won. Pedro Gallese had a good statistical week but gave up what seemed like a very poor rebound on the second goal scored against him.
A curiosity here is that the bottom two players on this week’s list, Andrew Thomas and Thomas Hasal, were opponents. You can guess whose team won just from the chart!
I watched Kim Joon Hong play and it’s a useful example of how this stat is just for fun as a single game measure. All of the -0.9 comes from Kansas City’s goal, which was scored via a lovely combination of passes that results in a what looks like an easy goal but which Opta scored as 0.1 PSxG. Kansas City didn’t manage any other shots on target so Kim didn’t have any other opportunities to improve, though he made two crucial non-saves on passes at the beginning and end of the game.
Game by Game Storylines
In my preview article, in addition to the matchup grids, I list two storylines to follow for each team. Most will take many games to fully answer (“did they fix their defense?”) but a few are just about this matchweek. Most will carry over to next week, but we’ll briefly check in on each one here.
Remember I fully admit I’m doing this without having watched more of the game than just the highlights, so hop in the comments if you watched the game and either disagree or think you can add useful context!
Seattle Sounders 5 - 2 LAFC (xG: 1.7 - 1.2)
[new] Seattle: Resting some starters for CCC play has been hurting their regular season performance. Will they do better matched up against a team that’s also playing on short rest?
From the overall scoreline, looks like a resounding yes! This game was actually still just 2-1 through 75 minutes with both teams having heavily substituted, so I think you could argue this scoreline shows Seattle is the deeper team. Or the xG suggests maybe they were just lucky. xG is such a killjoy sometimes.
Seattle: The Sounders were very good last year and finished with their customary strong performance in the regular season, but it’s a lot easier to win trophies with a truly elite DP. Will Pedro de la Vega take a step forward—maybe several steps forward—to help provide that?
Unfortunately he came off in the first half with an injury. It didn’t seem to slow Seattle down, which is good for Seattle but maybe a strike against de la Vega.
LAFC: They moved on from a lot of midfielders and forwards in the offseason. Will the new offense be effective or it just be Bouanga against the other team?
In this game Bouanga only had 8 pass attempts and 0 shots in a 32 minute sub appearance, so I guess the good news is they scored two goals without much from him. The bad news is…gestures at score.
LAFC: Last season Giroud was on track to join the list of extremely famous but extremely disappointing designated players. After a full preseason, can he turn that around and be more effective?
One shot, 0 goals, 0.1 xG, 0 xA in 90 minutes. He’s now had 8 starts so maybe this is old news but I guess I enjoy seeing famous DPs strike out.
Atlanta United 0 - 0 New York Red Bulls (1.2 - 0.3 xG)
Atlanta: Other than maybe Miami, they have the most expensive frontline in MLS. Will it live up to the hype?
3 goals in three games on 3.0 xG. And all three goals were against CF Montreal. Alarm bells are ringing. The usual reason for complaining is Miranchuk, but he did have 0.5 xA in this game. I guess I’ll leave it to the pundits to try to explain it. A home game against Inter Miami is coming up next, so the offense really needs to step up against what is probably an average-at-best defense.
Atlanta: Is the defense going to remain “decent” this season with the new DPs and Mateusz Klich all on the field?
Klich didn’t start this game so that might have helped the defense a bit, but regardless holding the Red Bulls to 0.3 xG is a great outcome.
Red Bulls: Are the Red Bulls still going to play with their famous intensity after bringing in some older players, like new DP forward Eric Choupo-Moting?
The Red Bulls attempted 680 passes compared to Atlanta’s 486. Fotmob lists them at 58% possession. Without having watched the game it’s hard to know if that was intentional or if both teams didn’t want the ball and Atlanta didn’t want it more.
Red Bulls: Will the Red Bulls recreate the form of their magical playoff run, centered around a hopefully healthy Emil Forsberg, or are they going to look more like they did in their poor run into the playoffs late last season?
It’s obviously premature to say anything but a record of 1-1-1 looks more like their overall season in 2024 as opposed to either of the options in my question.
FC Cincinnati 2 - 0 Toronto FC (1.6 - 0.2 xG)
[new] Cincinnati: Was their defeat by Philadelphia just a bad game or indicative of some larger problems?
It was 0-0 until a penalty in the 73 minute but they got the job done. “Good teams find a way to win against bad teams” is one of those soccer sports talk clichés but it might apply here.
[new] Cincinnati: Their new DPs, Evander and Denkey, are playing pretty well, but the offense hasn’t been quite as strong as expected. Can they find another gear quickly as the players get more familiar with each other?
Denkey scored the penalty. Evander was rested and only played 30 minutes so we won’t read too much into this. They’ll have their eyes on a very tough road game against Tigres midweek, but next week’s game is on the road against Charlotte, a tough assignment for this offense.
Toronto: Bernardeschi has had his off-the-field issues, but he’s a dangerous attacker and works hard against the ball. Is he still motivated, and if so, does he have enough support around him?
I think he’s motivated but boy, this was a grim game for the offense.
[new] Toronto: They’re usually going to be at a talent deficit, but can they find some defensive stability to help grind out some wins?
They’ve given up eight goals in four games so…no. Their home opener against the Chicago Fire next week is Toronto’s most winnable game for a while.
DC United 2 - 1 Sporting Kansas City (1.8 - 0.4 xG)
DC United: Christian Benteke won the Golden Boot last season, but he’s 34. Can he pick up where he left off, or is he going to be less effective this season due to age and the departure of Matuesz Klich?
He scored a penalty in this game after missing one last week, so that brings him to 3 goals on the second and 1.9 non-penalty xG. Very solid start.
DC United: DC spent money in the last two transfer windows bringing in new talent for its defense and goalkeeping, but will coach Troy Lesesne’s style of play continue to leave them too exposed?
Kansas City’s goal was exactly the kind of cutback-to-runners goal that DC gave up a ton of last season, but that was the only really good opportunity they gave up.
Kansas City: Can an attacker like Dejan Joveljić who played well for a good team produce the same results dropped into a rebuilding team?
One shot in thirty touches. I think the answer here is no, he doesn’t look nearly as good. Maybe this was obvious. Having watched the game, he was fine but isn’t really the sort of guy who can create his own shot.
Kansas City: It doesn’t seem like they’ve done enough to improve the defense, but maybe the switch to a new starting goalkeeper (John Pulskamp) will help?
Pulskamp faced 2.1 PSxG so this wasn’t a bad shotstopping game for him. DC United just looked like the more talented team in this game and as a DC United fan, that’s not a common phenomenon and seems to confirm a lot of KC fan fears.
New England Revolution 0 - 2 Philadelphia Union (0.4 - 1.1 xG)
New England: Carles Gil is a former league MVP coming off a down year. Can the new players around him help him shine?
Probably the answer to this question could be yes, but it really seems like these players are not doing the trick.
New England: Leo Campana looked very good in limited action with Inter Miami, but Miami is such a weird team. Will he look as good in this very different situation?
He had to be subbed out after nine minutes, so that’s a tough blow to an offense that was already struggling.
[new] Philadelphia: After week 2, the offense leads the league in xG but also has out-performed xG by three goals. Is this sustainable or is it some good luck?
They got 2 goals off 1.1 xG thanks to an own goal, so maybe the good luck is sustainable.
Philadelphia: Sorry Philly fans, take it from someone who followed DC United during the Freddy Adu seasons. This is going to be annoying all year, but…Cavan Sullivan! How much will he play, and is he the chosen one will he look like he belongs?
Cavan was an unused sub. It’s a waste of a question to keep it on him instead of their winning streak, their pretty good defense, etc. But I probably won’t change it. It’s still something I want to keep an eye on.
NYCFC 2 - 1 Orlando City (2.5 - 1.4 xG)
NYCFC: Can the defense step up and play well enough to compensate for what likely is going to be some offensive regression?
Four goals allowed in three games isn’t amazing, but it was good enough in this game. In fact, just from this game you’d say the defense is like last year and the offense has taken a step forward. The previous two games don’t really line up with that (2 goals scored in two games on 1.4 total xG) but this was a good win against what we assume is a quality opponent.
NYCFC: Alonso Martinez had an amazing season last year and was statistically one of the league’s best attacking players. NYCFC badly needs him to repeat that, especially with Santi Rodríguez gone. Can Martinez get off to a quick start?
He got a poacher’s goal in this game, reacting faster than anyone else to get a rebound tap-in. 1.1 xG on 4 shots, plus 0.1 xA for good measure.
Orlando: The front office has put a lot of faith in Marco Pašalić to jumpstart the offense despite (what seems to me, anyway) a distinctly so-so résumé. Will he reward their trust?
Pašalić got the assist on Orlandos’ goal, but it was Iván Angulo who looked good statistically for Orlando’s offense this game. The left winger had 0.5 xA and 6 shot-creating actions.
Orlando: The defense—decent in 2024 and mostly back in 2025—gave up four goals on relatively low xG to Philly in week 1. Was that just bad luck or are there cracks this season?
I don’t think giving up 2.5 xG to an NYCFC team with no attacking DPs is comforting on this one.
Austin FC 0 - 1 Colorado Rapids (1.3 - 0.7 xG)
Austin: They poured money into fixing their poor offense with some big transfers. Will Uzuni and Vázquez provide the immediate impact their price tag suggests?
It seems like a general trend that teams who brought in a lot of expensive outside attacking talent are struggling early this season (e.g. Atlanta), but here at least you can argue Austin was unlucky. Uzuni and Vazquez combined for 0.9 xG on ten shots, so they were getting chances, though maybe not gold-plated chances.
Austin: Their defense last season was good in terms of goals allowed, but it overperformed expected goals allowed by a good margin. Which stat is going to tell us more about what to expect from their defense this year?
Two goals against in three games on 1.8 xG allowed, so the early answer here is that they are continuing to defend well in real terms even as the statistics have reverted to the mean.
Colorado: They have brought back most of their good 2024 attack, plus some reinforcements, so is this the season Djordje Mihailovic steps into the ranks of the league’s elite players?
Mihalovic was in the top five on my weekly xA leaderboard with 0.7 and more importantly notched an actual assist in this game, so that’s encouraging. He hit a gorgeous pass to set up the goal.
Colorado: Zach Steffen had very bad shotstopping statistics in the 2024 regular season. Is this a problem with him that’s going to continue, or will the changes to the defense in front of him help?
Steffen hit the qualitative and quantitative bifecta today with a sensational save as well as +0.7 PSxG-GA. So far he’s +1.8 on the season. That’s third in the league.
FC Dallas 1 - 3 Chicago Fire (1.6 - 1.7 xG)
Dallas: Is Lucho motivated, or will he still be carrying some of the unhappiness that drove him out of Cincinnati?
Lucho seems like he’s doing his part with 0.7 xA in this game and five shots created. The 0.7 xG only led to 0.3 xG, though. Petar Musa missing a PK didn’t help either.
Dallas: Are the big changes to the defense going to reduce goals allowed?
6 goals in three games on 4.5 xG allowed, so…definitely not yet. There’s a trend in these “will the big changes in personnel actually change things?” questions where the answer always seems to be no.
Chicago: Will the many new players take a long time to adjust to Gregg Berhalter’s famously complex system of play, or can they be effective right out of the gate?
They started with a loss, then a draw, and now a win. Follow that trend to the next game against Toronto FC and you get…a super-win? A blowout? I don’t know, but they seem to be doing better. Just don’t look at the xG difference, which is nearly the worst in the East.
Chicago: Is Hugo Cuypers primed for the sort of big year that Berhalter’s forwards often had with the Crew?
Three goals and an assist in three games so…yes? So far so good, but it was two corner kick goals and a penalty. We haven’t seen him score one of those old Zardes-on-the-Crew tap-ins yet.
Nashville SC 2 - 0 Portland Timbers (2.7 - 0.5 xG)
Nashville: Hany Mukhtar is still in his prime. Just a few years ago he was the league MVP, can he bounce back this season?
He was credited with 0.6 xA and 10 shot-creating actions this game, so this is the first solid game he’s had, though he didn’t actually get any assists and missed a PK.
Nashville: Nashville didn’t finish strong last year after a coaching change, but with a full preseason, will BJ Callahan get better results?
That opening week draw to the New England Revolution isn’t looking as impressive after two hapless New England performances (admittedly against good teams). The first goal in this game was off a brutal goalkeeping error and the Timbers’ offense hasn’t come together yet. Big challenge coming up with a road trip to Philadelphia.
[new] Portland: Can David da Costa do enough to replace the loss of Evander?
0.1 xG on 2 shots, 0.1 xA, so…certainly not this game. I don’t know how much that’s on da Costa versus his teammates, though.
Portland: It’s hard to imagine their offense will be as good this year without Evander, so the defense probably needs to improve to keep them in the playoffs. Will the additions they’ve made there raise the level?
You can (as I already did above) write off that first goal as a goalkeeper howler, but they still gave up a lot of xG. On the season, it’s 6 goals and 6.4 xG in three games. That first game had an early red card, but if memory serves that was a DOGSO red card after Vancouver passed through their defense, so maybe it should still count.
Real Salt Lake 1 - 3 San Diego FC (2.1 - 2.6 xG)
Real Salt Lake: They’ve had a lot of turnover from their offense, so there’s going to be a lot more weight on Diogo Gonçalves and young attacker Diego Luna. Can they step up?
Decent game from Gonçalves I think (0.6 xG on 2 shots, 0.2 xA) but it’s slightly disappointing he missed after getting one on one with the goalkeeper. Everyone misses sometimes, though. Not a lot of positives in the advanced stats (or regular stats) for Luna unfortunately.
Real Salt Lake: Rafael Cabral is one of just a handful of new MLS starting goalkeepers in 2024. He seems to have a good defense in front of him, so can he post strong numbers?
-0.3 in PSxG-GA in this game puts him at an even 0.0 for the season so far. Which is somewhat below average.
[new] San Diego FC: The offense has lacked creativity and now has lost Lozano to injury. Can they generate enough chances while they wait for his return?
Their other DP, Anders Dreyer, did a lot of the heavy lifting with 0.9 xG, 0.4 xA, and a goal. Their last two goals were scored in stoppage time, though, so this was a bit of a meltdown from Real Salt Lake and might not be indicative of San Diego solving their problems on offense. Then again, LA also melted down against them, so maybe it’s not a coincidence it’s happened twice to San Diego opponents.
[new] San Diego FC: They spent a lot more on the offense, but so far the defense hasn’t given up any goals and has the lowest xG allowed. Was that luck or will this continue to be a strength?
One goal on 2.1 xG allowed in this game, so the luck continues. Overall they’ve only allowed this single goal in three games on 2.9 xG allowed. I need to see this trend for a lot more games before I believe it’s not luck, but I’m starting to wonder.
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 - 0 CF Montreal (1.6 - 1.3 xG)
Vancouver: After poor run-in and then a really rough offseason, can their new coach Jesper Sørensen help them improve despite a roster that pundits think hasn’t really improved on overall talent?
Their opponents maybe haven’t been as difficult as we might have thought going into the season (Portland, LA Galaxy, and Montreal) but you can only play the games that are scheduled and Vancouver is 3-0-0.
[new] Vancouver: Young Canadian attacker Jayden Nelson is off to a hot start, is this a breakout season for him or just a small sample size?
Unfortunately he was out from this game due to a hamstring issue, so we’ll have to wait and see. The team still won but xG slipped below the previous two games.
[new] Montréal: They are starting the season with a brutal road trip. Can they find a way to grind out some points?
Not yet. It pains me to admit it but the next game against DC United is probably their best opportunity on this road trip, which afterwards goes to Nashville, Chicago, and then Columbus.
[new] Montréal: Can someone step up offensively while their only DP (Vrioni) is hurt?
Their xG was respectable this game thanks to Prince Owusu’s 1.1 xG on just two shots, but that’s not much comfort. Caden Clark had 0.4 xA in just 30 minutes after subbing on for Bryce Duke, though.
San Jose Earthquakes 0 - 1 Minnesota United (1.3 - 2.2 xG)
San Jose: He’s done it before, but can Bruce Arena once again resuscitate a team with clever (and a bit idiosyncratic) veteran acquisitions?
It was a come-back-to-earth game for San Jose as they got shut out despite an average xG performance. Cristian Espinoza provided 0.4 xA but it wasn’t enough.
San Jose: Cristian Arango had two very good years with Real Salt Lake, but can he still be effective on a rebuilding team?
The sample is too small so far, but one goal and no assists in three games isn’t what Arena might have been hoping for.
Minnesota: They finished strong last season and beat Real Salt Lake in the playoffs. Most of the players are back, so can they continue that momentum?
2 points per game after a 2-0-1 start, so I guess there answer is yes. They’ll probably be favored in each of their next three games as well (away to Sporting Kansas City and then home to LA Galaxy and then Real Salt Lake).
Minnesota: Tani Oluwaseyi went from 17th overall in the college draft to posting some of the league’s best attacking statistics in limited action last year. Was that a small sample flash in the pan, or can he pick up where he left off?
His slow start continues in this game with 0 shots in 78 minutes. Minnesota’s offense seems like Kelvin Yeboah and everyone else right now.
Inter Miami 1 - 0 Charlotte FC (0.7 -0.7 xG)
[new] Miami: Messi is taking at least some games off due to the CCC. What’s the impact of this? It can’t be true that the team is actually better without him, right?
They didn’t look better in this game, managing only 0.7 xG, but that was against Charlotte’s strong defense and the difficulty of a 38th minute red card. And they still won. Messi meanwhile is continuing to have his “minutes managed” in a way that kind of looks like he’s got some sort of injury they aren’t willing to admit.
Miami: Does Miami’s new manager have any new wrinkles to help cope with the fact several starters can’t provide any meaningful energy on defense?
I was going to write “well, shutting out Charlotte isn’t impressive” but one way or another Charlotte scored two goals in each of their first two games. True, Seattle held them to 0.5 xG, but Miami keeping them to 0.7 xG despite being down a man for more than a half is reasonably impressive.
Charlotte: Wilfried Zaha ought to still be a devastating attacker in MLS, but is he motivated and bought in to what Charlotte are doing?
He seems bought in, it’s the devastating part that’s missing. With 89 touches, second on the team, he was much more involved than Charlotte’s other attackers. It’s good they’re getting him the ball, but it’s actually bad he’s so much more involved than Agyemang, Abada, and Biel (19, 21, and 40 touches respectively). Seems like he’s not able to connect with them.
Charlotte: Their defense was great last year, but will efforts to improve the offense come at a cost to that solidity?
This is another game in line with my thesis that the manager sets things up conservatively, so their defense is good and their offense anemic even if they spend more money on attackers.
LA Galaxy 0 - 3 St. Louis City (1.9 - 2.0 xG)
LA Galaxy: LA are back after winning MLS Cup, but they’re missing two DPs to injury (Puig for months, Paintsil for several weeks). Can veteran Diego Fagúndez and new arrival Christian Ramirez keep the offense humming?
The answer continues to look like no. Ramirez got 0.4 xG on 2 shots in this game, but only 0.2 xA from Fagundez. Reus was the standout with 0.4 xG and 0.8 xA. 1.9 xG looks good but it was on 23 shots, so a lot of plinking from outside the box.
[new] LA Galaxy: Can the defense find a way to improve and help keep them in games while they wait for their offense to get healthier?
Apparently not. Their xG allowed in three games is 2.0, 1.9, and now 2.0 again. Next week they play Portland. That could be a get-well game since Portland’s offense has been struggling, but it’ll be on the road.
St. Louis: Marcel Hartel hit the ground running in eight games last season. With a full preseason, will he be the elite player St. Louis needs him to be?
Hartel scored, but statistically the stars of this game were Cedric Teuchert with a goal and an assist and Eduard Löwen with 10 shot-creating actions.
[new] St. Louis: Their defense kept clean sheets in their first two games. Can they keep up that kind of performance while their offense tries to figure things out?
3 games, 0 goals allowed. You can’t do much better than that as a defense! They are up to 4.1 xG allowed on the season, so maybe there’s a lot of luck here. But LA’s shots didn’t look very dangerous in the highlights, at least.
Maybe just watch 2 or 3 games (in addition to DCU) and comment on those. I assume this is time consuming and that will at least let you watch more soccer. Alternatively, crowd source some comments on the questions by reaching out to team blogs or something.
Otherwise, I like the ongoing tracking