MLS Week 14 Recap – LAFC Continues Strong, Dynamo and DC United Slip Again

Another weekend, and another patch of interesting games in the MLS. Week 14 is done, and WagerBop.com is here to break down the entire round.

Teams from LA had mixed success, Zlatan Ibrahimovic once again amazed the world, Chris Wondolowski continued to score, while DC United extended its cold streak. In the next few paragraphs, we will present all this to you and reveal more exciting details.

In the last game of the round, LA Galaxy suffered an unpleasant defeat at home against the New England Revolution, 1-2. But despite that what marked the game was a bicycle-kick goal Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored, after an incredible individual effort. The Swedish international did something which hasn’t been seen in a long, long time, and for all of you who didn’t see it here it is.

With this win, the Revolution saved its chances to reach the playoffs, while on the other side, Galaxy stayed at the second place in the West mostly because of bad performances of other rivals.

Both Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo failed to win. Sounders lost on the road against FC Dallas, 2-1, who posted the first triumph after six games. For Seattle, this is another missed opportunity to jump over Galaxy and cut the gap between them and LAFC.

Meanwhile, Houston, the only team which had some chances of keeping the pace with Vela and the boys, once again slipped. Dynamo took only one point against Sporting Kansas City at home, 1-1, and now has 13 points and three games fewer than LAFC. Now, when we say that they posted one win, two draws and two losses in the previous five matches, you can get the picture about the chance they missed.

When talking missed chances, we need to mention DC United. Rooney and his crew played 1-1 in DC against San Jose Earthquakes. This is their sixth consecutive event without a win, third draw in a row. At the moment, Washington is one step behind the Philadelphia Union in the East with 27 points and has one game more. San Jose is one point below the playoff zone in the West, but it appears that their form is going up.

We need to say that Chris Wondolowski scored another goal, and that the veteran striker keeps improving his MLS record constantly. This was his seventh goal in the past three meetings.

Two more teams are looking good right now, with their respective forms going up. New York Red Bull is one of them. The Bulls demolished Real Salt Lake City with 4-0 at home, and now have four wins and a draw throughout latest five games. With 24 points and two games fewer than Union they might take a shot at the first place in the East. Philly won in Minnesota with 2-3 and has 28 points.

After recording the worst ever start in the MLS, Colorado Rapids woke up and started pounding. Cincinnati was the latest victim of the fired-up Rapids who beat them with 3-1 and won 10 of possible 12 points in previous four clashes. They are still far away from the playoffs, but if by any chance they continue to play like this, anything is possible. Just think about the St. Louis Blues’ example in the NHL.

Atlanta United once again caught the good rhythm and grabbed the second victory in a row. The champs were better than Chicago Fire at their Mercedes Benz stadium with 2-0. They have one game in hand comparing to Philly, and two points fewer meaning that they could jump over them in the near future.

The race for the top of the West is not that dramatic. LAFC is firmly holding the top spot, and they aren’t slowing down. In the derby of the round, Bob Bradley’s guys were in Portland and participated in the first match at the new stadium which will be the home of Timbers. In a spectacular encounter, the guests won 2-3, with Carlos Vela adding a goal and an assist apiece to his account. The Mexican now has 16 goals and 10 assists, and still tops both categories. Ibrahimovic is the second goalscorer of the league with 11 hits and Joseph Martinez the current MVP has 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQwVbqa0LU

In other games, Columbus Crew and New York City played 1:1, Montreal Impact lost at home to Orlando City with 0-3, and Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC played 1-1 in the opening match of the round.