Los Angeles Galaxy wasted a golden opportunity to bridge the gap between themselves and the Western Conference playoff spots when they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

In front of their home fans, Galaxy got off to flying start when Chicharito got on the end of a terrific ball from Victor Vazquez to put him through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and he made no mistake with his finish hard and low across the goal.

It was Chicharito's 200th club goal of his career, and his 33rd for Galaxy after arriving at the club in 2020.

That would be the only goal of the first half, but a penalty to Sporting in the 67th minute changed the complexion of the contest, with Johnny Russell equalising.

The visiting Kansas City side would have liked their chances of escaping with all three points after Felipe Hernandez gave them the lead in the 76th minute, but there would be another twist in the tale as Galaxy were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes.

Chicharito stepped up to the spot and tucked away his penalty high into the top-left corner of the goal, giving him 14 in 26 games this campaign, and he had a chance to make it 15 when there was another penalty given in stoppage time.

Trying to secure his hattrick and the match, Chicharito opted for the audacious panenka penalty, but was left red-faced as John Pulskamp in the Sporting goals did not flinch, catching it easily.

Elsewhere in California, Los Angeles FC had a much easier time in their 2-0 victory against Real Salt Lake to strengthen their position atop the Western Conference standings.

After a scoreless first half, LAFC were dominant after the break, with Ryan Hollingshead finding the back of the net in the 49th minute and Cristian Arango doubling the advantage in the 68th.

Carlos Vela also missed a penalty for the home side in stoppage time, but his side were good value for their win, producing 3.16 expected goals compared to just 0.29 for Salt Lake.

The win moves LAFC nine points clear of the chasing pack in the West, while at the other end of the standings, Houston Dynamo were bumped down to the bottom after a 2-1 loss away against the Seattle Sounders.

It was Houston striking first, with Daniel Steres breaking the deadlock in the 26th minute, and that score would hold until Nouhou Tolo's equaliser in the 59th.

A missed penalty from Nicolas Lodeiro in the 75th minute appeared to be Seattle's wasted chance to secure all three points in front of their home fans, but less than a minute later a terrific cross from Tolo found Fredy Montero at the back post the head in the winner.

With Houston losing again, the San Jose Earthquakes took the opportunity to shed the last-placed tag with a 2-0 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps, thanks to first half goals from Jeremy Ebobisse and Jamiro Monteiro.

Despite only owning 35 per cent of the possession and finishing with 0.36 expected goals, New England Revolution treated their fans to an emphatic 3-0 home win against New York City, with Jon Bell, 17-year-old Noel Buck and Thomas McNamara providing the scores.

In the highest scoring game of the day, CF Montreal came away with a 4-3 win despite two goals from Toronto's Lorenzo Insigne.

The Portland Timbers took advantage of two penalties to defeat Atlanta United 2-1, and DC United fought out the only 0-0 draw of the day against the Colorado Rapids, with Christian Benteke missing a penalty for DC.

Dru Yearwood was red carded for booting a ball out of frustration into fans in the stands as New York Red Bulls were humbled 2-0 at home by Philadelphia Union in the MLS on Saturday.

The bizarre incident occurred in stoppage time with the Red Bulls trailing 2-0 after Yearwood conceded a foul near the sideline, with the Englishman kicking away the ball in frustration.

Yearwood's errant kick cannoned into two young fans in the front few rows at Red Bull Arena, with a boy seen crying afterwards while a young woman seemed dazed. Yearwood immediately realised his error and attempted to apologise to the fans, by climbing into the stands but that effort was not accepted by those close to the shaken-up supporters.

The Red Bulls crowd could be overheard chanting against Yearwood before referee Timothy Ford gave him his marching orders.

The incident capped a poor night for the home side, with goals from Mikael Uhre and Daniel Gazdag clinching the win for Union, who sit top of the Eastern Conference.

Gazdag's goal, which came after Julian Carranza dispossessed Aaron Long, was his 18th of the campaign.

Dallas scored three goals in three minutes as Dallas firmed up their grip on a playoffs spot with a 3-0 road win over Minnesota United.

Michael Boxall netted a 55th-minute own goal before Alan Velasco curled in a right-foot strike less than a minute later.

Two minutes later, Velasco cannoned an effort into the crossbar with Jesus Ferreira glancing home their third after Sebastian Lletget collected the rebound and whipped in a cross.

Franco Fragapane was sent off for Minnesota, who also lost Emanuel Reynoso to a worrying ankle concern.

Cincinnati extended their unbeaten run to seven games and moved into the playoffs spots in the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 home win over Charlotte after goals from Nick Hagglund and Luciano Acosta.

Hany Mukhtar scored a double as Nashville claimed their fourth straight win and moved up to fourth in the west with an impressive 4-0 victory over Austin.

Columbus Crew missed a golden opportunity for three points with a 0-0 draw against struggling Chicago Fire.

Reigning MLS Cup champions New York City slumped to their fifth loss from their past six games as Christian Benteke debuted for DC United who claimed an upset 2-1 win on Wednesday.

City had ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win at Chicago Fire 10 days before losing to Orlando City on the weekend but their poor form continued at Red Bull Arena.

Ola Kamara tapped in from point blank range to give the visitors at 24th-minute lead, but Heber side-footed in an equalizer three minutes later.

Steven Birnbaum restored United's lead with a header from a Martin Rodriguez free-kick in the 57th minute and City could not find a response with David Ochoa palming away Gedion Zelalem's 95th-minute effort.

The win is Wayne Rooney's second since taking over at United who are still last in the Eastern Conference, while it sees City slide down to fourth in the east.

Riqui Puig scored a spectacular late equalizer with a long-range curler after a give-and-go to earn LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw away to Toronto.

Douglas Costa had put the Galaxy into a 24th-minute lead before Toronto hit back with second-half goals to Jesus Jimenez and Filippo Bernardeschi before the Spaniard's 89th-minute strike.

Riqui Puig was making only his third appearance for the Galaxy following his August move from Barcelona.

The result dents star-studded Toronto's playoffs aspirations, leaving them 10th in the east, while the Galaxy are eighth in the west.

Philadelphia Union became the second team behind LAFC to book their postseason berth with a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United.

Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel were all among the goals for Union who are eight points clear in the east.

New York Red Bulls moved up to third in the east with a 1-0 win at second-placed Montreal with Lewis Morgan hitting the winner in the 43rd minute.

LAFC suffered a shock 2-1 loss to lowly Houston Dynamo, who condemning the Western Conference leaders to their third straight defeat.

Inter Miami slumped to back-to-back losses with a 1-0 defeat at Columbus Crew, while New England's winless run extended to four games after a goalless draw with struggling Chicago Fire who snapped a three-game losing run.

Hany Mukhtar netted a hat-trick as Nashville beat Colorado Rapids 4-1, while Orlando City came from two goals down to defeat Seattle Sounders 3-2.

Real Salt Lake proved too good for Minnesota United 3-0 and Portland Timbers moved into the west's top seven with a narrow win against second-placed Austin 2-1.

Reigning MLS Cup champions New York City slumped to their fifth loss from their past six games as Christian Benteke debuted for DC United who claimed an upset 2-1 win on Wednesday.

City had ended a three-game losing run with a 2-0 win at Chicago Fire 10 days before losing to Orlando City on the weekend but their poor form continued at Red Bull Arena.

Ola Kamara tapped in from point blank range to give the visitors at 24th-minute lead, but Heber side-footed in an equalizer three minutes later.

Steven Birnbaum restored United's lead with a header from a Martin Rodriguez free-kick in the 57th minute and City could not find a response with David Ochoa palming away Gedion Zelalem's 95th-minute effort.

The win is Wayne Rooney's second since taking over at United who are still last in the Eastern Conference, while it sees City slide down to fourth in the east.

Riqui Puig scored a spectacular late equalizer with a long-range curler after a give-and-go to earn LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw away to Toronto.

Douglas Costa had put the Galaxy into a 24th-minute lead before Toronto hit back with second-half goals to Jesus Jimenez and Filippo Bernardeschi before the Spaniard's 89th-minute strike.

Riqui Puig was making only his third appearance for the Galaxy following his August move from Barcelona.

The result dents star-studded Toronto's playoffs aspirations, leaving them 10th in the east, while the Galaxy are eighth in the west.

Philadelphia Union became the second team behind LAFC to book their postseason berth with a 4-1 home win over Atlanta United.

Julian Carranza, Mikael Uhre, Daniel Gazdag and Nathan Harriel were all among the goals for Union who are eight points clear in the east.

New York Red Bulls moved up to third in the east with a 1-0 win at second-placed Montreal with Lewis Morgan hitting the winner in the 43rd minute.

LAFC suffered a shock 2-1 loss to lowly Houston Dynamo, who condemning the Western Conference leaders to their third straight defeat.

Inter Miami slumped to back-to-back losses with a 1-0 defeat at Columbus Crew, while New England's winless run extended to four games after a goalless draw with struggling Chicago Fire who snapped a three-game losing run.

Hany Mukhtar netted a hat-trick as Nashville beat Colorado Rapids 4-1, while Orlando City came from two goals down to defeat Seattle Sounders 3-2.

Real Salt Lake proved too good for Minnesota United 3-0 and Portland Timbers moved into the west's top seven with a narrow win against second-placed Austin 2-1.

Atlanta United came out on top after an explosive second half in their 3-2 home win against DC United on Sunday, with all five goals coming after the break.

In fact, all five goals were scored within 22 minutes, starting with DC's Ravel Morrison as he opened the scoring in the 47th minute by controlling a ball on his chest before volleying from outside the box into the bottom-right corner.

Two minutes later Alan Franco equalised for Atlanta with a header from a corner, before DC made it 2-1 in the 55th minute when Ola Kamara got on the end of a terrific whipped cross from Chris Durkin.

The visiting side's joy was replaced with frustration when Josef Martinez equalised in the 62nd minute, before the home crowd finally saw their team take the lead in the 70th through a Juan Jose Purata header.

With the win, Atlanta are now just three points out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, while DC remain stuck on the bottom of the table with 22 points from 27 games, sporting a goal difference of minus 28.

Elsewhere, Orlando City found the back of the net early and extremely late in their 2-1 victory against the visiting New York City.

The home fans only had to wait six minutes before Urso Junior opened the scoring for Orlando, and that would be the only score of the opening half as the hosts produced seven shots compared to just one for New York.

The second half was a more competitive affair, and New York were rewarded with a Maximiliano Moralez equaliser in the 53rd minute, and that 1-1 score would hold until deep into stoppage time.

As the clock ticked past the five allotted minutes of stoppage time, Orlando were able to steal all three points as Tesho Akindele rose up headered home Ivan Angulo's corner for the win.

In the final match of the day, Los Angeles Galaxy jumped up to the seventh and final Western Conference playoff spot with a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution.

It was a dream start for Los Angeles away from home, taking the lead in the fourth minute when Chicharito set up Daniel Aguirre for the opener, before Chicharito scored himself to make it 2-0 after 15 minutes.

New England played well, controlling 62 per cent of the possession to end up with 1.81 expected goals compared to just 0.95 for Los Angeles, but their only goal came in the 82nd minute from Carles Gil.

Both teams ended up with a red card in the New York Red Bulls' 3-1 home win against Inter Miami on Saturday night, where an early Gonzalo Higuain goal was not enough for the visitors to nab any points against their Eastern Conference foes.

Higuain opened the scoring in the 19th minute with an absolute rocket, firing his direct free kick to the goalkeeper-side of the wall and into the top corner.

While that gave Miami the momentum, it was ripped away 10 minutes later when Alejandro Pozuelo was shown a straight red card, putting the away side on the back foot the rest of the way.

Lewis Morgan's goal in the 43rd minute ensured the teams would head into the break all tied up, and Daniel Edelman made it 2-1 for the Red Bulls just eight minutes into the second half.

A second yellow card to Kyle Duncan turned it into a 10-on-10 match, but 19-year-old substitute Caden Clark was able to give New York some breathing room in the 74th minute, building an eight-point gap between his fourth-placed side and fifth-placed Orlando City in the East standings.

The Red Bulls are still 10 points adrift of the conference-leading Philadelphia Union, who enjoyed a 6-0 smashing of the Colorado Rapids in front of their home fans.

Daniel Gadzag netted a hat-trick, giving him 11 goals in his past nine games, and 16 for the season, which ties him for the second-most in the league.

The one-sided beatdown included a 26-to-five shot count, while Philadelphia also controlled 59 per cent of the possession.

The Houston Dynamo – the worst team in the Western Conference this season – nearly pulled off an upset away from home against third-placed Minnesota, but ultimately went down 2-1.

Houston opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time through Corey Baird, and they held their 1-0 lead until the final stages when an own goal from Fafa Picault tied things up in the 79th minute. Minnesota then stole all three points with Luis Amarilla's 84th-minute winner.

Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew are fighting it out for the fringe playoff sports in the Eastern Conference, and they could not be separated in their 2-2 draw. 

Columbus – who only had 0.43 expected goals in the game, compared to 1.36 for Cincinnati – made it 1-1 in the 74th minute with Derick Etienne's leveller, but Cincinnati took the lead straight back three minutes later through Matt Miazga. Steven Moreira would salvage a point for the Crew with nearly the last touch of the game in the 96th minute.

An Italian one-two punch lifted Toronto to a 2-0 win over Charlotte, with Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernadeschi both striking in the second half.

Montreal received two early goals courtesy of Ismael Kone and Romell Quioto and were able to defend them for a 2-0 win against the Chicago Fire, while Sporting Kansas City edged fellow Western Conference cellar-dwellers the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0.

In the late window, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake fought out a 1-1 draw, and Hany Mukhtar grabbed another two assists to help Nashville SC handle the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0. Mukhtar now has 16 goals and 11 assists in 27 appearances.

Austin FC made a statement in their top-of-the-conference clash against Western Conference leaders Los Angeles FC, piling on three quick goals to open the second half of their 4-1 victory.

Incredibly, LAFC actually had more expected goals (1.58 to 1.02), but Austin were clinical with their difficult chances.

Austin opened the scoring in the 32nd minute through a picture-perfect direct free kick from Diego Fagundez, and it would be the only goal from the opening 45 minutes.

The second half was when the contest opened up, with the two teams combining for eight shots in the first half, before attempting 18 in the second half.

Austin's home fans did not have to wait long after the break to double their lead, with an indirect free kick this time leading to squaring ball back across goals, which Maximiliano Urruti was able to meet at the front post and loop over the LAFC goalkeeper with his glancing header in the 47th minute.

Urruti then took advantage of a mistake deep in the LAFC defense less than five minutes later, scooping up the loose ball in the penalty box and dribbling around the keeper to grab his brace, and make it 3-0 in the 51st.

Sebastian Driussi made it 4-0 for the hosts in the 59th minute, turning and hitting from a tight angle for his 19th goal of the MLS campaign, which is three more than any other player.

Cristian Arango nabbed a consolation goal almost immediately in the 61st minute, but that would be the only time they found the back of the net as Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver made four saves.

With the win, Austin have cut LAFC's lead atop the Western Conference to six points.

Meanwhile, the Portland Timbers held onto their position on the fringe of the West's playoff picture with a 2-1 home win against the Seattle Sounders.

It was the Sounders jumping ahead early through an eighth-minute strike from Yeimar Gomez, but it was all Portland in the first half, controlling 65 per cent of the possession and producing nine shots, while Gomez's goal was the visitors' only shot.

The Timbers were rewarded for their dominance with a penalty in the 41st minute, which Dairon Asprilla converted to head into the break at 1-1.

Possession flipped after half-time, with Seattle controlling 66 per cent in the second half, but they struggled to create chances.

Asprilla turned from scorer to distributor for the second goal, setting up Sebastian Blanco for a point-blank tap-in to go up 2-1 in the 51st minute.

The win leaves Portland two points clear of eighth-placed Los Angeles Galaxy in the race for the Western Conference's final playoff spot, although the Galaxy have three games in-hand.

Coming off his recent standout performance against Toronto FC, Reggae Boy and Inter Miami CF defender Damion Lowe has been named to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi for Week 26 of the 2022 MLS regular season.

Riqui Puig says Barcelona "hurt" him by making him train alone ahead of his transfer to Los Angeles Galaxy and criticised their approach of putting pressure on players to leave.

The 23-year-old midfielder made something of a surprise switch to Major League Soccer this month after being deemed surplus to requirements at Camp Nou.

Puig made his Galaxy debut as a substitute on Friday in a 3-3 draw with Seattle Sounders following his arrival on a three-and-a-half year deal.

While Barca spent their pre-season in the United States, the former Spain youth international was left back at home with other players they were looking to move on.

Puig felt he deserved to be treated with more respect.

"It was a tough month because I had never seen that before, leaving players behind in Barcelona and going on a tour without them," he stated.

"Perhaps I understand the club's position, they want to put pressure on players to leave, but there are other ways to do it.

"It was really difficult being in Barcelona, training alone, with four other team-mates who were also there with me.

"After seven years at the club, being in Barcelona when all my team-mates are in Los Angeles playing matches, well, the truth is that it hurt me a lot.

"It's a difficult situation and sometimes you have to make decisions and they have made this decision but I don't agree with it."

A first-half brace from Nashville striker Hany Mukhtar propelled his side to a 4-0 home win against FC Dallas in a Western Conference showdown on Sunday.

Less than five minutes into the action, Mukhtar received a pass on the right-hand side of the penalty box and seemingly dribbled himself into too tight of an angle to shoot – but he did just that, rocketing one into the roof of the net to make it 1-0.

Mukhtar then turned distributor for Nashville's second goal, playing with his back to the goal and laying one off for debutant Jacob Shaffelburg in the 22nd minute to make a productive start with his new side after arriving from Montreal.

The incredible first half for Mukhtar was capped off with a picture-perfect free kick from the top of the box, expertly curling his shot over the wall into the top-right corner to make it 3-0.

Centre-back David Romney completed the rout with a header from a corner in the 72nd minute, handing the Western Conference's third-placed team a resounding defeat, with no shots on target. With the win, Nashville moved up to sixth.

Earlier in the day, New York City were efficient in front of goal in their 2-0 away win against the Chicago Fire, netting an early goal in each half to take the Soldier Field crowd out of the contest.

Chicago finished with more possession (58 per cent) more shots (10 to eight) and more expected goals (1.09 to 0.82), but none of their 10 shots forced a save from Sean Johnson in the New York goals.

Gabriel Pereira broke the deadlock in the 16th minute after getting on the end of a move authored by Santiago Rodriguez, and Rodriguez was the beneficiary of Pereira's strong pressing work to begin the second half, scooping up a loose ball deep in Chicago's defense and slotting it.

Two goals from William Agada led the way in Sporting Kansas City's 4-1 home win against the Portland Timbers, with two assists from 36-year-old American Graham Zusi coming in the first half.

The Western Conference's bottom team, Kansas City still have the worst goal-difference with 30 scored and 49 against.

In Charlotte, an 89th-minute winner from substitute Tesho Akindele lifted Orlando City to a 2-1 away win. Charlotte could have jumped into the Eastern Conference playoff picture with a victory, but still sit three points behind the Columbus Crew.

Columbus could have added to that buffer when they hosted Atlanta United, but they had to settle for a 2-2 draw against the 13th-placed strugglers.

After a first-half goal from Atlanta's Santiago Sosa, a quick-fire Cucho double saw Columbus equalise in the 66th minute and take the lead in the 72nd, before Juan Jose Purata finished the scoring for the visitors five minutes later.

Inter Miami claimed a crucial three points in the race for the MLS playoffs with a 2-1 victory over star-studded Eastern Conference outfit Toronto on Saturday.

The win means Phil Neville's side are unbeaten in five games and have won three of their past four to move up to fifth spot in the east.

All the goal scoring action occurred in the first half, with Inter going ahead after Toronto goalkeeper Alexander Bono's inexplicable error from Jean Mota's hopeful long-range strike in the 24th minute.

Italian recruit Lorenzo Insigne produced a moment of magic with a low right-foot volley to equalise four minutes later.

But Inter restored their lead in the 44th minute with a classy set play from a free-kick ending with Damion Lowe nodding back for Ariel Lassiter to stab home from close range.

Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley forced a save in the 72nd minute while Filippo Bernardeschi had a 94th-minute penalty shout waved away for the visitors.

Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union flexed their muscle with Julian Carranza netting a hat-trick in a 6-0 away win over struggling DC United.

Philadelphia were in a ruthless mood although it was scoreless until Mikael Uhre got free and squeezed in the opener in the 37th minute.

Daniel Gazdag netted a penalty won by Uhre on half-time, before Carranza scored three goals inside 27 second-half minutes capitalizing on some inexplicable passing from the United defence. Cory Burke curled in the sixth in the 79th minute.

Reigning MLS Cup champions LAFC went down 2-1 at San Jose Earthquakes but became the first side to book their playoffs spot by virtue of other results.

Colorado Rapids drew 1-1 with Houston Dynamo, who found a late equaliser from Sebastian Ferreira, while Vancouver Whitecaps could only draw 1-1 at Real Salt Lake, locking in LAFC.

Kei Kamara moved into outright third in the MLS goal scoring charts with his 135th career league goal as Montreal defeated New England 4-0.

Matt Miazga marked his return to the MLS with a goal in his second game for FC Cincinnati as they drew 1-1 at his former club New York Red Bulls.

Minnesota United boosted their playoffs' hopes with a 2-1 win over Austin thanks to Franco Fragapane's 62nd-minute winner.

Reigning MLS Cup winners New York City continued their recent slump after suffering a third straight loss, going down 3-1 at home to playoff hopefuls Charlotte FC.

Charlotte's win moves them up to 10th in the Eastern Conference, with the visitors scoring twice in the final quarter of an hour to claim victory.

The defeat means City have only managed one point from their past four games and sit third in the east with 42 points from 25 games.

Karol Swiderski had put Charlotte ahead in the fourth minute despite goalkeeper Sean Johnson's best efforts on the line, but City levelled before the half hour mark via Maxime Chanot's 30-yard strike into the top corner.

City's Anton Tinnerholm struck the crossbar from range before Charlotte found an avenue to victory with Swiderski's clever back-heel for Brandt Bronico to restore their lead in the 77th minute.

The visitors won an injury time penalty after video review which ex-Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs coolly converted to seal all three points.

Domenico Criscito lashed in a spectacular 75th-minute equaliser to earn Toronto a 2-2 draw with New England Revolution.

Filippo Bernadeschi had put Toronto ahead with a 31st-minute spotkick, but the Revs replied with goals either side of half-time from Tom McNamara and Justin Rennicks.

But Criscito intervened when Toronto took a corner short to Michael Bradley who lobbed to the edge of the box towards the former Italy international, who rifled in a left-foot volley.

Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union were beaten 1-0 by FC Dallas with US international Jesus Ferreira scoring the only goal in the 34th minute.

Paul Arriolo broke down the right flank and passed centrally for Ferreira, who showed good skill to create space inside the box and fire a low strike past Union goalkeeper Andre Blake.

New York Red Bulls reinforced their status as playoffs contenders with a 2-1 win at struggling Atlanta United while Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Colorado Rapids 2-1.

Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini's recent absences from the Los Angeles FC squad due to fitness reasons is "pretty normal", according to head coach Steve Cherundolo.

Recent high-profile signings Bale and Chiellini sat out Tuesday's 1-0 win over D.C. United, having previously also missed the 5-0 victory over Charlotte FC last weekend.

Cherundolo confirmed the pair, who have each featured four times since officially arriving at the club in June, have not been called upon for precautionary measures.

The LAFC coach will continue to play it safe when it comes to selecting the experienced duo, with Bale having yet to make his first start for the MLS side.

"Gareth hasn't been 100 per cent," Cherundolo said. "We are just kind of moving along. I think this is pretty normal – aches and pains in the middle of a pre-season for a player.

"Trying to get your body in a position where you can play 90 minutes week in, week out in the middle of a season is difficult and sometimes there are little mini-setbacks.

"That's where we currently are with both of them. But it is purely precautionary."

Substitute Mahala Opoku scored the only goal of the game against D.C. United as LAFC extended their club-record winning streak to seven matches.

Cherundolo's charges are top of the overall MLS standings and return to action on Saturday with a road game at San Jose Earthquakes.

Gonzalo Higuain would be delighted if Lionel Messi were to join Inter Miami, though the former Real Madrid striker has no inside information.

Messi has previously been linked with a switch to Major League Soccer, with a move across the Atlantic having been mooted as a potential option once the 35-year-old leaves Paris Saint-Germain, who he joined from Barcelona in August 2021.

He signed a two-year deal, with an option for a third, at PSG. While his first season in France ultimately proved underwhelming, Messi started the new campaign with a double and an assist in a 5-0 rout of Clermont, before playing the full match in a 5-2 victory over Montpellier on Saturday.

Asked if his former Argentina team-mate would be open to joining Miami, which with its Hispanic population would seem an ideal destination for Messi, Higuain said in a news conference: "With Leo I haven't spoken lately.

"He has a contract in Paris and I do not know whether he will eventually come here. I already had the opportunity to play alongside him for nine years."

 

Asked if Messi's arrival would mean Higuain, whose deal with Miami runs out at the end of the 2022 MLS season, would stay on in Florida, the 34-year-old added: "Well, I do not know, I do not know.

"If that happens, we will see what decision I will make. In December I will let you guys know my decision but now you have to be patient.

"I do not close any door, so we will see what happens. We will also see if he finally joins us, although I do not have any certainty about that."

Cristian Arango will be getting treated to dinner by his Los Angeles FC team-mate Kwadwo Opoku after the latter's winner against D.C. United.

Opoku – commonly known as Mahala – came off the bench to net his sixth MLS goal of the season on Tuesday to see off Wayne Rooney's team 1-0 in California.

That brought up a seventh straight league win for LAFC, who are well on course to win The Supporters' Shield.

Mahala's goal, the 15th scored by an LAFC substitute this season, came just five minutes after he entered the fray at Banc of California Stadium, with the hosts' leading scorer Arango turning provider.

Arango could have gone for goal himself after latching onto Carlos Vela's throughball, but instead squared for Mahala, who took a touch to steady himself before slotting into an open net.

When asked about Arango's assist, Mahala told LAFC's official broadcaster KCOP 13: "That's a great one, it's a team effort, as long as the team gets the three points, that's the most important thing. I need to buy him dinner!"

As they close in on the playoffs, LAFC look well set to go on and break the MLS regular-season points record, set by the New England Revolution last year.

"For me this is the best team I've played for," said Ilie Sanchez, who had spent the previous five seasons competing at the top end of MLS with Sporting Kansas City.

"The quality that we have in our squad is so broad. Every player that is out on the field is performing, doing a great job and the coaching staff are managing the situation perfectly. We need to improve more and more towards the playoffs."

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