St. Louis City continue to lead the way at the top of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference following another standout performance on Matchday 27, and also edged closer to FC Cincinnati in the overall standings.
Houston Dynamo was arguably the standout team of this matchday, though, with a 5-0 win against Portland Timbers, but the individual performances were spread throughout the team rather than there being one particular star.
The Dynamo will be playing for a place in the US Open Cup final this week in a semifinal against Real Salt Lake.
The other semi features Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami against the stumbling FC Cincinnati
The league leaders found it difficult as MLS returned this week following the break for the Leagues Cup, falling 3-0 to Columbus Crew in the Hell Is Real derby.
A Crew player will feature later in the Player Power rankings for Matchday 27, but first up there was another masterful creative performance from one of the league’s best new additions in 2023.
By James Nalton, MLS expert
Eduard Löwen 9.7 (St. Louis City)
The St. Louis playmaker put on another creative clinic with an array of passing in various situations.
He assisted his team’s opener in a goal-filled 6-3 win against Austin FC via a familiar St. Louis set piece, headed in by Tim Parker.
As the first half reached added time, Löwen played a ball in behind the Austin defence to set Nicholas Gioacchini free, inviting the forward to make something happen. And he did, putting the home side 2-0 up at the half.
Six goals were scored in the second period, four of them by St. Louis.
Löwen went on to complete a hat-trick of assists with a nice reverse pass to Tomas Ostrak from the edge of the area.
Throughout the season the German has shown the numerous ways he can create chances, and potentially goals for his team.
In this game he combined them all, displaying a wide range of passing and creative threats to double his assists tally for the season.
Georgios Giakoumakis 9.1 (Atlanta United)
It was a promising start to this latest stage of the season for Atlanta United, and in Giakoumakis they have an out-and-out center forward who could become the best of his type in the league.
He headed home the opening goal from a Brooks Lennon corner, looking several feet taller than everyone else in the area as he leapt in the air to do so.
He perhaps should have scored again before halftime, missing an easy chance with his feet, but normal business resumed with his head—obviously his preferred way of scoring—when he rose to meet Thiago Almada’s cross for his and his team’s second.
It’s now 12 goals in MLS this year for Giakoumakis, which puts him just one behind the league’s top scorer, Hany Mukhtar.
Nicholas Gioacchini 9.0 (St. Louis City)
Löwen aside, the other attacking stars of St. Louis’ big win against Austin were Gioacchini and Samuel Adeniran. The former just edges it as the other entry in our Player Power rankings after both netted a brace.
Löwen’s ball behind the defence encouraged the run from Gioacchini for his first, putting him in a dangerous area in the opposition final third, but there was still plenty of work to do.
He stood up Julio Cascante before shooting low into the far corner. The ball went in off the post giving Austin goalie Brad Stuver no chance.
His second was a scrappier effort. Having done brilliantly to launch himself feet first at a cross that came in from Rasmus Alm, the resulting shot was well saved by Stuver, but Gioacchini showed desire and alertness to recover and beat Cascante to the loose ball.
Stuver had every right to expect more from his defenders having saved the first effort, but Gioacchini wasn’t standing on ceremony.
“I’m trying to go in each game trying to score goals, trying to help my team win,” Gioacchini said.
“I’m trying to win MLS Cup, that’s my goal, whether it’s me scoring or my teammates scoring.
“Obviously I want to be the one up top putting the ball in the net because that’s what they pay me to do, that’s my job, but as long as we get the three points at the end of the day, I’m happy.”
Aidan Morris 8.9 (Columbus Crew)
They call the meeting between Ohio clubs Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati the Hell is Real derby, named after a sign that can be seen on Interstate 71 which connects the two cities.
Victory in such rivalry matches requires performances such as the one Morris put in for Columbus during a 3-0 win at home.
He set things off by firing a shot from distance past Roman Celentano with just 15 minutes played.
The ferocity of the strike and the intense celebrations that followed set the tone for the Columbus performance and win.
Morris was key to the third goal, too, evading a press in midfield before driving forward and finding the right pass to Christian Ramirez who set up Jacen Russell-Rowe to score.
“There is a lot of weight behind this game, it’s just not a regular MLS game,” Morris said.
“Right here tonight, for sure, that was a statement, especially 3-0. I think we know what colour Ohio is now.”
John Tolkin 8.1 (New York Red Bulls)
There is always something extra to a clash between these two MLS originals.
Though New York Red Bulls no longer bear the MetroStars name they began with in 1996, the history lives on and their meetings with DC United always bring a sense of rivalry.
There is little to separate the two sides in 2023. They are not as far up the table as they would like, though, having found themselves outside the playoff places fighting to get in.
There was little to separate them in this meeting, too, and the xG was a lowly 0.08 to 0.03 in the Red Bulls’ favour.
It was left to New Jersey native Tolkin to produce a moment of individual quality to break the deadlock.
The left-back had sent a shot just wide with an hour gone, and as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes it looked like these two sides would see out a 0-0 draw on their return to action.
Tolkin had other ideas. When the Red Bulls won a free kick on the left edge of the DC United box with three minutes of regulation time remaining, the position looked ideal for a right-footer to send a shot up and down over the wall.
Instead, Tolkin stepped up and curled it around the outside of the wall into the bottom corner with his left foot for his first goal of the season.
Tolkin said of his free kick: “I guess I’m taking notes from Messi these days, huh?”
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every match from the 2023 MLS season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.