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Janssen's hat trick, Cavan's LeBron salute & more from Matchday 24
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- Janssen's hat trick, Cavan's LeBron salute & more from Matchday 24
Janssen's hat trick, Cavan's LeBron salute & more from Matchday 24
By Charles Boehm
Matchday 24: Where to begin?
No, really. It was a struggle to decide what should lead off this weekend's column.
The major upset of the reigning Western Conference champions and current West leaders on their own turf? The nine-goal thriller in Portland featuring a historic hat trick and a furious fightback from 3-0 down to 3-3 in half an hour of play?
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Or perhaps the eight-goal chaos fest in Toronto , also illuminated by a well-taken hat trick, as well as an injury-time equalizer? Ahh, but then there's the seven-goal barnburner decided by an injury-time penalty kick down in Texas. And what about the teenage phenom channeling LeBron James in Philly ?
Well, since we all love goals, we'll start where they flowed the most freely: Providence Park, the crown jewel of the Rose City.
Portland Timbers
Timbers, Loons lunacy
Remember when Minnesota United FC boasted one of the stingiest defenses in MLS? The Loons were third-best in goals conceded last year with 39, a key ingredient in one of the best seasons of their MLS era.
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With Saturday's wild 5-4 loss at the Portland Timbers , Minnesota have now leaked 37 goals in 23 games, and this one was all about their inability to deal with Vincent Janssen .
The burly Dutchman bagged two in the early goings to give the hosts a 3-0 lead before an appreciative Timbers Army, yet Minnesota stormed back admirably to tie things up at 3-3, with young Canadian Marcus Caldeira at the double.
Janssen responded quickly to push Portland back in front, becoming – incredibly – the first Timber to net a hat trick in their extensive MLS existence. As PDX-based broadcast commentator Jake Zivin noted , it's taken them an astonishing 522 matches to get here, far longer than any other club in MLS history, for whatever reason.
Oh, and Kristoffer Velde 's ensuing insurance tally proved necessary as the Loons refused to go away, with Tomás Chancalay netting in the dying minutes to keep the Stumptown faithful on the edge of their seats to the very end. In all honesty, both these teams look flawed at the moment, and that was fabulous for the neutrals.
WATCH: Portland Timbers celebrate after nine-goal THRILLER!
Philadelphia Union
Hot Cavan summer
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Watch out, Eastern Conference: The Philadelphia Union are an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs team again.
Lodged in last place heading into the FIFA World Cup break, Philly's renaissance continued with a 2-0 home win over CF Montréal in which 16-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan scored again, his fourth in the league this year and his fifth straight game with a goal contribution, nudging his team above the East's red line for the first time all season.
Who can blame the kid for nodding to new 76er LeBron James with his celebration? The teenager's earned the space for some swagger.
The Union are now 6W-0L-2D under interim coach Ryan Richter , and while they still have some difficult games in front of them, most notably trips to San Diego , Chicago , Cincinnati and league leaders Nashville , they're walking the walk of a postseason contender.
Toronto FC
Bedlam in Toronto
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What's in the waters of Lake Ontario? Earlier this year we wrote about the rash of wacky affairs at BMO Field, which has played host to a few pulsating 3-3s, a wild 3-2 and a wide-open 4-2 in 2026 – but Toronto FC outdid themselves in their 4-4 draw with Chicago.
Club-record signing Josh Sargent struck three fine finishes for his first MLS hat trick , yet it was nearly all for naught as the Reds couldn't hold onto a 3-2 second-half lead and entered injury time down 4-3. Then substitute Derrick Etienne Jr. donned the hero's cape to salvage a point with the most dramatic of levelers, leaving both sides with reasons for annoyance.
Head coach Robin Fraser uttered a memorable lament of TFC's near-implosion during his postgame press conference: "It's disappointing that how we finish the game is incredibly commendable."
The Reds have dropped far too many points at home in such fashion, but again – they've made it riveting entertainment for the rest of us.
HIGHLIGHTS: Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire FC | September 5, 2026
FC Dallas
A Moose, a GOAT and a Boot
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Proceedings got just as weird down in Frisco, Texas, where FC Dallas welcomed Sporting Kansas City to under-renovation Toyota Stadium for their first home game in months. The hosts didn't exactly look up to the moment as they spotted the West's bottom side two soft early goals in front of a sellout crowd.
Their Croatian star Petar Musa – who else? – stepped up to bail them out with a brace, as well as an assist on Logan Farrington 's tally, though Taylor Calheira also hit a double to keep Kansas City in the fight until the very end. And we'll confess some empathy with SKC fans given the circumstances of the late, late penalty kick decision that provided Dallas' winner.
It still counts, though, and that goal draws Musa level with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot presented by Audi race on 18 apiece, well ahead of the chasing pack and hopefully on course for an exciting run-in (Messi is technically ahead on the assists tiebreaker).
WATCH: Petar Musa draws level with Messi in Golden Boot race
St. Louis CITY SC
STL spring a stunner
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BC Place has been one of MLS's most difficult away days of late; heading into the weekend, the Vancouver Whitecaps were 18W-5L-5D at home in league action since the start of last year. And the West leaders looked all set to bank another three points there when a costly early turnover by St. Louis CITY SC enabled Emmanuel Sabbi to bang the 'Caps into a 1-0 lead just two minutes in.
That only made CITY's rousing comeback that much more impressive. The Midwesterners stormed back with three unanswered goals before halftime, wingbacks Tomas Totland and Conrad Wallem running roughshod as Vancouver struggled to come to grips with the visitors' slick movement.
Each of those wide men notched a goal and an assist, while striker Simon Becher also struck to extend his personal hot streak of five goals in STL's last five games, stunning the crowd at his former side.
CITY are now undefeated in 13 league matches, and showcase summer reinforcements Rafael Navarro and Damion Downs came off the bench to make their club debuts, which should give head coach Yoann Damet some welcome selection dilemmas in the coming weeks.
WATCH: Signature win! St. Louis CITY stun Vancouver Whitecaps
Inter Miami CF
Storms, scuffles, surprises in SoFla
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When will Inter Miami play a straightforward, boring game? MLS's top telenovela entertained again Saturday night as Atlanta United , led by former Miami and Argentina boss Tata Martino, strode into Nu Stadium.
Amid plotlines galore – remember, Atlanta famously knocked Martino's Supporters' Shield-winning Herons out of the playoffs two years ago, the biggest upset in MLS postseason history – Mother Nature threw yet another one into the mix with heavy tropical thunderstorms that delayed the match considerably. And when play finally got underway, the Eastern Conference's second-from-bottom team outplayed the defending champions by some margin.
Atlanta twice rallied from a deficit to snatch a 2-2 road draw , even with Dayne St. Clair denying Miguel Almirón on the first of their two penalty kicks, as Miami's Brazilian star Casemiro both scored and struggled in his tasking as a makeshift center back. The Five Stripes later got a second chance from the spot via big-money debutant Breel Embolo , who stepped up to coolly dispatch the PK himself, capping a man-of-the-match outing for the Swiss star, whose physical presence drew a remarkable seven fouls by the hosts.
That triggered a ferocious late push from Leo Messi and Miami, who were inches away from a winner deep into injury time. Paraguayan defender Júnior Alonso blocked the GOAT's final shot just wide and celebrated exultantly, which seems to have antagonized the Herons, prompting some end-of-game kerfuffles.
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While the Herons are 8W-2L-2D on the road, they're a much more modest 4W-2L-5D at Nu Stadium.
HIGHLIGHTS: Inter Miami CF vs. Atlanta United | September 5, 2026
Orlando City
Griezmania intensifies in Orlando
The vibes were a bit nicer up the turnpike on the purple side of Florida, where Antoine Griezmann – linking up smoothly with Justin Ellis and Daryl Dike – scored his fifth goal in eight MLS appearances to bank a hard-fought 1-0 win over San Diego FC that keeps the Lions climbing up the standings.
As fun as Orlando have been since Grizi's paradigm-shifting arrival, this one felt different. The Lions had to dig in and defend to hold off San Diego 's slick possession play to clinch only their third clean sheet in league play this season.
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"It's just another win, but I mean, this one felt good – it was 1-0 against a good team," Ellis noted in a postgame chat with Apple TV. "We got a goal in the first half; I thought we were kind of hanging on. I'm tired as hell. But it was a great win."
That bodes well for an Orlando side that was on the wrong end of scorelines like 4-2, 6-0, 6-2 and a couple of 5-0s earlier in the year.
Around the grounds
Given their current form, neither Real Salt Lake nor LAFC can really be happy with their 2-2 draw in Utah, a match in which the visitors found a mismatch between Denis Bouanga and Philip Quinton and exploited it to create both their goals, the first finished by Bouanga and the other laid on for Son Heung-Min .
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Given that one RSL defender's difficulties, it's only right to highlight the scintillating play his colleague DeAndre Yedlin made to deny Sonny a late winner and save his team from defeat:
There were plenty of bangers and golazos around the league this weekend, but make sure to make some time for the utterly delightful trivela netted by man-of-the-match Gonzalo Tapia in Columbus ' 3-0 win over Colorado , a marvel of both technique and trickery as he used his defender to screen goalkeeper Adam Beaudry .
It's the Chilean's first in MLS (he also recorded an assist on the night), and suggests the Crew have something cooking as their summer signings settle in. Is it too late to make the playoffs, though?
