With this year’s Leagues Cup underway between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX, it has been a relatively strong start for most MLS sides. Following a disappointing first day of competition which saw only CF Montréal earn a victory, the league has rebounded quickly the past two days.
Wednesday saw clubs like Inter Miami, Minnesota United and the Portland Timbers earn winning results in regulation. Real Salt Lake, albeit only earning two points since the game went to penalties, defeated a historic club in Club América.
Thursday, however, proved to be a stellar night for MLS. With the exception of Charlotte FC, every MLS side defeated their opposing league opponents. FC Cincinnati, the New York Red Bulls, the Colorado Rapids, the Seattle Sounders and the LA Galaxy all won their matches.
Thursday night in the Leagues Cup was essentially the MLS making a statement saying they weren’t going to be pushed around by Liga MX. Soccer fans are often divided on which league is better with a majority arguing it’s the Mexican league that is. With the scorecard reading ten wins for MLS and eight for Liga MX, the competitive bridge is closing and getting smaller.
While credit is deserved to Cincinnati and Colorado for defeating C.F. Monterrey and Club Santos Laguna respectively, the other three teams’ wins were outstanding.
Locally, the Red Bulls played against Chivas de Guadalajara, often referred to as the most popular club in Mexico. While fans online disagreed with manager Sandro Schwarz’s starting XI, it proved to work against a strong Guadalajara side. But MLS and New York fans will cherish the ending of the match as Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg buried the game-winning goal in stoppage time.
A win vs one of Mexico’s most successful teams is a win that can change the trajectory of a club’s season. The Red Bulls are trying to continue their incredible playoff streak and this win provides them with hope to keep pushing for it.
On the other side of the country, it was goals galore for the Galaxy and the Sounders. More importantly, Seattle earned a statement victory vs the current CONCACAF Champions Cup winners in Cruz Azul. However, no one expected a 7-0 thrashing of North America’s best club.
Seattle, having competed in the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this summer, understood what it would take to beat a great club like Cruz Azul. What resulted gave the Sounders the biggest victory in the Leagues Cup’s history. It was also the club’s largest margin of victory in all competitions according to Sounders FC Communications.
Seattle’s Pedro de la Vega also had one of the best goals any soccer fan will ever see.
Lastly, the Galaxy earned one of their best wins in a rather forgettable season thus far. After winning the MLS Cup over the Red Bulls last December, the Galaxy are currently dead last in MLS in points with 16. However, that did not matter to them as they destroyed their rivals Club Tijuana 5-2.
The home-field advantage rewarded to the Galaxy worked out well Thursday and should for the rest of the tournament. As the reigning winners of MLS, Los Angeles will utilize that to their advantage and hopefully surprise people as the tournament progresses.
With every club playing one match in the competition so far, what can fans learn from the MLS’ recent performances? One thing is that the league wants to build from its strong form over the past two editions of the tournament.
Since 2023, the MLS has dominated the tournament with Miami and the Columbus Crew winning the last two. Even with another change in the format this year, the MLS still wants to prove that they are the better league.
Who the top four teams from each league will be remains to be seen, but MLS fans have to be impressed so far. The action continues tonight when clubs like New York City FC, Columbus and more prepare for their second games vs opposing Liga MX sides. NYCFC kicks off tonight’s action at 6 p.m. when they face Club León on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.
