How things stand in Major League Soccer

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 24, 2023

FC Cincinnati maintained its nine-point lead in the Supporters' Shield race with a 3-0 win over Charlotte FC that featured a golazo from MVP candidate Luciano Acosta.

Atlanta United and New England became the fifth and sixth teams in the Eastern Conference to clinch playoff berths. Toronto FC and Colorado were the first teams officially eliminated from contention.

After coming back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 over Minnesota United, the LA Galaxy came back from 3-1 down in the 89th minute to tie Austin FC 3-3 in a match that finished after 1:30 a.m. in Austin after play was halted for three hours due to bad weather.

Results

Saturday, September 23
Atlanta United 4 CF Montreal 1. (Goals: Silva 30, Almada 33, Giakoumakis 46, Mosquera 89; Hamdi 40. Att.: 42,569.)
FC Cincinnati 3 Charlotte FC 0. (Goals: Barreal 45+1, Boupendza 50, Acosta 78. Att.: 25,513.)
D.C. United 3 NY Red Bulls 5. (Goals: Benteke 21, 36, 45+2 pen.; Fernandez 17, 44 pen., Harper 45+5, Nealis 58, Tolkin 90+3. Att.: 12,591.)
Philadelphia 0 LAFC 0. (Att.: 18,738.)
Chicago 2 New England 2. (Goals: Gutierrez 18, Gimenez 54; Chancalay 17, Carles Gil 59. Att.: 20,129.)
FC Dallas 1 Columbus 1. (Goals: Obrian 43; own goal 24. Att.: 17,948.)
Sporting KC 2 Houston 1. (Goals: Russell 7 pen., Agada 45+6; Hadebe 45+9. Att.: 18,033.)
Minnesota United 1 St. Louis City 2. (Goals: Pukki 48 pen.; Klauss 64, N. Blom 73. Att.: 19,197.)
Real Salt Lake 2 Vancouver 1. (Goals: Vera 47, Glad 65; White 17. Att.: 19,243.)
Portland 3 Colorado 2. (Goals: Antony 19, Moreno 30, Mora 71; Rubio 31, Gutman 43.  Att.: 22,248.)
San Jose 1 Nashville SC 1. (Goals: Hoppe 74; Bunbury 50. Att.: 16,728.)

Sunday, September 24
NYCFC 3 Toronto  FC 0 (Goals: Perea 2, Jasson 45+5, Fernández 54.)
Orlando City 1 Inter Miami 1. (Goals: McGuire 66; Ruiz 52. Att.: 25,527.)
Austin FC 3 LA Galaxy 3. (Goals: Ring 11, Finlay 45+6, Rigoni 75; Puig 45+2 pen., Joveljic
89, Barrios 90+4.)

Standings

Eastern Conference:
1. *FC Cincinnati (18-4-8, 30 games), 62 points
2. *Orlando City (14-7-9, 30 games), 51 points
3. *Columbus (14-9-7, 30 games), 49 points
4. *Philadelphia (14-8-9. 29 games), 49 points
5. *Atlanta United (13-8-10. 31 games), 49 points
6. *New England (13-6-10, 29 games), 49 points
7. Nashville SC (12-9-8, 29 games), 44 points
8. CF Montréal (11-15-4, 30 games), 37 points
9. NYCFC (8-10-13, 31 games), 37 points
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10. D.C. United (9-13-9, 31 games), 36 points
11. NY Red Bulls (8-12-10, 30 games), 34 points
12. Chicago (8-12-10, 30 games), 34 points
13. Charlotte FC (7-10-12, 29 games), 33 points
14. Inter Miami (9-15-5, 29 games), 32 points
15. x-Toronto FC (4-16-10. 30 games), 22 points
*Clinched playoff berth. x-eliminated from playoffs.

Western Conference:
1. *St. Louis City (16-10-5, 31 games) 53 points
2. LAFC (12-9-9, 30 games), 45 points
3. Seattle (12-9-9, 30 games). 45 points
4. Houston (12-11-7, 30 games), 43 points
5. Real Salt Lake (12-11-7, 30 games), 43 points
6. Portland (11-11-9, 31 games), 42 points
7. Vancouver (11-10-8, 29 games), 41 points
8. San Jose (10-10-11, 31 games), 41 points
9. FC Dallas (10-10-9, 29 games), 39 points
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10. Sporting KC (10-13-8, 31 games), 38 points
11. Minnesota United (9-11-10, 30 games), 37 points
12. Austin FC (9-13-8, 30 games), 35 points
13. LA Galaxy (8-11-10, 29 games), 34 points
14. x-Colorado (4-15-10, 29 games), 22 points
*Clinched playoff berth. x-eliminated from playoffs.

Schedule

Wednesday, September 27
Philadelphia vs. FC Dallas Apple 7:30 pm
Colorado vs. Vancouver Apple 9:30 pm.
Saturday, September 30
Columbus vs. Philadelphia Apple 7:30 pm.
Inter Miami vs. NYCFC Apple 7:30 pm.
New England vs. Charlotte FC Apple 7:30 pm.
NY Red Bulls vs. Chicago Apple 7:30 pm.
Orlando City vs. Montreal Apple 7:30 pm.
Toronto FC vs. FC Cincinnati Apple 7:30 pm.
Houston vs. Fc Dallas Apple  8:30 pm.
Minnesota United vs. San Jose Apple 8:30 pm.
Nashville SC vs. Seattle Apple 8:30 pm.
St. Louis City vs. Sporting Kansas City Apple 8:30 pm.
Colorado vs. Austin FC Apple 9:30 pm.
LA Galaxy vs. Portland Apple 10:30 pm.
Vancouver vs. DC United Apple  10:30 pm.
Sunday, October 1
LAFC vs. Real Salt Lake Apple/FS1/FOX Deportes 8:00 pm.