One of the quirks of Major League Soccer is that many of its clubs will carry on regardless during international breaks.
This was one such week. With much of the rest of the world’s top-tier men’s domestic leagues on a break, MLS provided some club football on a weekend of internationals.
It was a truncated matchday with just five games, but this smaller number of fixtures, combined with players on international duty, can offer a chance to see some teams and players who might not usually take the spotlight.
Here are five players who stood out on Matchday 31 as the post-season playoffs loom.
By James Nalton, MLS expert
Leonardo Campana 9.1 (Inter Miami)
Inter Miami were missing nine players due to international call-ups – more than any team in MLS – for their game against Sporting Kansas City, including Lionel Messi. .
The question was not just how Miami would cope on the field in the absence of Messi and others, but also whether the crowd would turn out in similar numbers for this Messi-less home game.
Both tests were passed. The attendance at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale remained at over 19,000, and though it was still the lowest home crowd of the Messi era, it was only by 1000 or so.
Despite going behind early on to a Daniel Salloi goal, Inter Miami rallied to a 3-2 win.
Campana scored two before halftime to put Miami in the driving seat before 21-year-old Argentine Facundo Farías made it 3-1.
Alan Pulido pulled one back for Sporting KC with around ten minutes to go, but Tata Martino’s Inter Miami ultimately showed they could get the job done without Messi.
Having Sergio Busquets, whose quick thinking at a free kick led to the third goal, and Jordi Alba to call upon certainly helped, but it was the goals of Campana that propelled them to victory.
Daniel 8.6 (San Jose Earthquakes)
Daniel has already featured a couple of times in our MLS Player Power rankings thanks to his ability to singlehandedly keep his San Jose side out of trouble.
This is reflected in some of the more advanced goalkeeping stats such as goals prevented, which takes the expected goals on target (xGOT) data minus the number of actual goals conceded.
The result usually gives you an idea of which goalkeepers are saving difficult shots, lots of shots, and maybe getting a bit lucky, too.
As a season rolls on, the luck aspect can become less of a factor as the sample size and minutes played increase.
Daniel is up there with the much-lauded Roman Bürki of St. Louis as the best in MLS at preventing goals.
Having played fewer minutes than Bürki, when looking at this stat on a per game, or per 90 minutes basis, Daniel is the best in the league.
This was on show in the game against a DC United side that created plenty of chances but just couldn’t get past Daniel.
He faced a total xG of 1.92 (xGOT of 1.05) and kept a clean sheet, making eight saves. DC would look to poor finishing as the main issue, but Daniel certainly played a big part in keeping them out.
Claudio Bravo 8.7 and Larrys Mabiala 8.2 (Portland Timbers)
Two new names for this season’s Player Power rankings, and a team that has barely featured in this column apart from maybe when other players are scoring against them.
The Timbers have the worst defence in MLS having conceded 44 goals, more than any other team across both conferences, but this week they kept a clean sheet against Los Angeles FC in a 2-0 win. Both goals came from members of their defensive line.
Mabiala took advantage of an error from John McCarthy, heading home from close range after the LAFC goalkeeper failed to deal with a corner.
Then in the second half, Bravo played a ball forward, continued his run, ended up inside the LAFC box and executed a nice left-footed finish from near the penalty spot.
It was his only touch in the area in the entire game, but it brought the goal that confirmed the Timbers’ win against last season’s champions.
Despite their defensive troubles this season, Portland still have a chance of reaching the post-season.
With six games to play, they might be relying on those around them, such as FC Dallas, Austin FC, Sporting KC, and LA Galaxy, dropping points, but a late surge would likely be enough.
Carles Gil 8.4 (New England Revolution)
It has been a turbulent few weeks for the New England Revolution.
The club has one win in four since returning to MLS action following the Leagues Cup, but it remains the third-best team in the league according to the overall table and also has a game in hand on the second-place team, St. Louis City.
This weekend, the club’s veteran MLS head coach Bruce Arena resigned as the league investigates allegations of “insensitive and inappropriate remarks” he made.
In a more recent statement, the league said: “As a result of the investigation which confirmed certain of these allegations, should Arena wish to pursue future employment within MLS, he must first submit a petition to the Commissioner.”
Arena had resigned shortly after this matchday’s 1-1 draw with Minnesota United.
“I know that I have made some mistakes and moving forward I plan to spend some time reflecting on this situation and taking corrective steps to address what has transpired,” Arena said in a statement of his own.
On the pitch, the Revolution looked to be heading for a 1-0 win in Saint Paul, Minnesota, thanks to Carles Gil’s first-half goal, but Franco Fragapane scored an added-time equaliser to add to New England’s difficulties.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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