MLS by the Numbers: 3 undefeated teams, 26 match road winless streak ended and 1 Joao Paulo banger for Seattle

MLS is back with a full slate of games. Montreal and Cincinnati scored all the goals in a 4-3 thriller that CF Montreal pulled out in the end. Elsewhere, the undefeated sides in the league are dwindling while a long winless streak also came to an end.

Welcome to MLS By the Numbers, where we’ll go through some key stats to recap the weekend, possible trends around the league, and other things that are fun to talk about. Let’s get counting:

3 unbeaten teams remaining: Philadelphia Union, Los Angeles FC, Chicago Fire

While one of these teams is not like the others, it shows how far Ezra Hendricksen and the Fire have come in such a short amount of time. Their trade with the Union for Kacper Przybylko seems to be a rare win-win for both teams as the Union attack has gotten more dynamic while Przybylko has two goals to begin his attacking partnership with Xherdan Shaqiri in Chicago. Shaqiri departed the Fire’s draw 0-0 with FC Dallas with calf tightness, but the defense led by 17-year-old keeper Gabrial Slolina was able to stay in the game even without new signing Rafael Czichos who has helped improve the back line in a big way. The Fire feel like a playoff team early on and that’s quite the improvement.

LAFC are showing that missing the playoffs last season was a blip as Steve Cherundolo has impressive depth available to him and he’s handled the rotation of big names well. Cristian Arango was my golden boot pick for the year and he’s only started two matches and registered one assist after collecting 14 goals last year. But without him firing on all cylinders, it has been a team attack with eight different players scoring a goal so far, led by Carlos Vela’s four.

With Ille Sanchez, Mamadou Fall and Maxime Crepeau anchoring the defense, LAFC will be Supporter’s Shield challengers all year long. 

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Speaking of the Shield, Philadelphia would like to have a say as they’ve only allowed two goals through five games this season. That’s the second best defensive record in MLS, behind Chicago who’ve only allowed one. With a victory over last year’s MLS Cup winners already in the books, the Union have shown that they can play with anyone and win ugly. While there is still the question of if the team has the upside needed to win the US Open Cup or MLS Cup, Daniel Gazdag’s four goals, after finally getting rest this offseason, will go a long way to help.

Gazdag crashing the box is sustainable and the Union have two of the best defensive forwards in the league, an unselfish bunch that are more than okay passing the ball while in good positions in the box. The biggest question for the Union is how long will they be able to retain Jim Curtin, the head coach that put this slightly unorthodox system together, if they continue winning at an impressive clip.

1 goal for Julian Carranza: Attacker opens his scoring account for the Union

After trading Kacper Przybylko to the Chicago Fire, the Union needed an upgrade in the striker department. They added Julian Carranza and Mikael Uhre to improve things but Carranza was an interesting decision after he only scored three goals across two seasons for Inter Miami. Early returns suggest the lack of production was a product of the environment down south. He has already assisted two goals and now scored one despite getting a red card in the second game of the season against CF Montreal.

Carranza was known for being a menace on the defensive end, pressuring the ball relentlessly. Adding offensive production gives Curtin more to work with. Getting into a good position to latch onto Sergio Santos’ ball only four minutes into the match to put the Union ahead and then later combining with Santos to pressure Kristijan Kahlina into a giveaway for Gazdag’s goal to double the lead shows how much Carranza brings.

If the Union would like to be a Supporter’s Shield contender again, it starts at the top of the pitch and so far so good to begin the season.

26 consecutive winless away match streak ended: Houston Dynamo finally get a road win

Two teams going in different directions were on display as the Dynamo rode a Fafa Picault brace to victory over Inter Miami. The Herons had all the possession and ripped off 22 shots, but their only goal came from a Gonzalo Higuain penalty kick. Most of those shots were from outside the box, so when Jean Mota and Robbie Robinson combined for ten shots from distance, it feels like frustration with the system. Phil Neville hasn’t done enough to make Inter Miami look like a competent team yet while Paulo Nagamura is pushing all the right buttons to put Houston into a position to succeed ahead of getting reinforcements in the name of Hector Herrera who arrives in the summer window.

39 goals scored but only one can be goal of the week: Have a day Joao Paulo

Are the Sounders back up to their old tricks? It sure felt like it after they secured a hard fought 2-1 victory over Minnesota United. Following a rough start to the league season, they’re now unbeaten in their last three and also have Nicolas Lodeiro and Raul Ruidiaz returning at a critical time of the season with Champions League play rolling on this week.