FC Dallas' new hero, FC Cincinnati's late exploits & more from Matchday 14 | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Sometimes geography isn't fair.

How else to explain why large swathes of North America – mainly the eastern parts – risk missing out on peak MLS chaos like Saturday's nightcap matches out on the West Coast?

Unless you're an insomniac or the type of clever night owl who's learned to set your clock for fixtures like these, you might not have been awake for some of the league’s wildest spectacles of the year so far.

No worries. That's why we're here.

FC Dallas

Slammin' Sammy stuns San Jose

We simply must start in San Jose, where the Cinderella Earthquakes are suddenly riding a two-game losing streak and winless in May thanks to FC Dallas' breathless 3-2 comeback win at PayPal Park.

Twice the Texans surged ahead, and twice did the Quakes respond to equalize. Then Sam Sarver did his thing.

Kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Lore. Legend. History. Heritage. Whichever term you prefer, FCD's supersub entered himself in it with his unforgettably unhinged celebration(s) in front of San Jose's supporters' section.

From suburban Cleveland to the Columbus Crew academy to Indiana University before finally breaking through in Dallas via their MLS NEXT Pro side, North Texas SC, it's been some road for Sarver. And here he is, a legit threat for a rising FCD with his blazing speed and clutch, chaotic charisma.

WATCH: FC Dallas stun San Jose with stoppage-time winner

FC Cincinnati

Cincy's late, late show

A common social-media shorthand for a game like Quakes-Dallas is #MLSAfterDark, a hashtag already well in effect at that point due to the pulsating proceedings at Snapdragon Stadium.

When the clock hit 90:00, San Diego FC and FC Cincinnati had already treated us to a fun one. Swapping goals like haymakers and drawing a couple of top-shelf saves from goalkeepers Roman Celentano and Duran Ferree, the two sides were deadlocked at 2-2 and both had ample reason to accept a point apiece after a track meet of a match. It would have been sufficient!

Nah – they still had enough juice left for some injury-time insanity.

Marcus Ingvartsen appeared to have won it for the hosts with a terrific top-corner strike in the 96th minute, his second of the night, only for Cincy to race right down to the other end immediately.

There, Tom Barlow bagged HIS brace via a superb layoff from Ayoub Jabbari in the 98th minute, brokering a 3-3 draw in which we, the spectators, were the real winners.

Wednesday’s loss to Inter Miami, by the way, is FCC’s only defeat in eight matches over the past month-plus.

HIGHLIGHTS: San Diego FC vs. FC Cincinnati | May 16, 2026

Inter Miami CF

Nu breakthrough

Speaking of which… five games into their residency at their gorgeous new home, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami finally have their first victory at Nu Stadium, a comfortable 2-0 win over a tired-looking Portland Timbers side on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire.

As is often the case, the Herons hopped on Messi’s back in this one. The GOAT scored the opener himself, then crafted the second, swiveling through a forest of defenders with the ball glued to his foot before serving up a close-range tap-in for Germán Berterame.

With an absurd 11 goal contributions (5g/6a) in his last four matches, Messi sure looks ready for 2026 FIFA World Cup duty with Argentina, doesn’t he?

Meanwhile, IMCF have climbed into second in the Eastern Conference, breathing down the necks of leaders Nashville SC despite all those dropped points at home.

There’s still a measure of drama around the Herons, however.

During Sunday’s match, La Familia, their collective of supporters groups, reportedly expressed frustration with a perceived lack of recognition by the team’s stars, staying subdued for most of the game before dialing up the volume late, including a song in Spanish in which they intoned, “Players, respect your fans and acknowledge your people.”

WATCH: Lionel Messi goes BEAST MODE for Inter Miami in first Nu Stadium win

Columbus Crew

Rydström out in Columbus

The Columbus Crew’s unremarkable 1-1 draw at bottom-dwelling Philadelphia turns out to have been the last straw for general manager Issa Tall and the rest of the Crew brain trust. On Sunday, they relieved head coach Henrik Rydström of his duties after just 16 games in charge (all competitions), and only three victories out of 14 league matches.

It’s the fourth coaching change of the year in MLS, the Ohioans joining Orlando City, Inter Miami and CF Montréal in turning the page. A thoughtful, charismatic manager with a solid track record in his native Sweden, Rydström struggled to find the formula at a club with a proud history of both success and slick attacking soccer.

“Culturally, it did not click,” Tall told The Athletic on Sunday, adding that he would not abide “lower expectations” at the three-time MLS Cup presented by Audi champions.

“With Henrik, we ran a great process, in my opinion. Talking and meeting with him multiple times, going through the data, background checks and references. Then he came here, and there was just a disconnect.”

Assistant coach Laurent Courtois, who had a spell in charge of Montréal, is taking the reins on an interim basis; he’s widely respected, and Tall sounds inclined to give him some run. But might the Crew – and other MLS clubs, for that matter – watch and see which managers might pop up on the international market after this summer’s World Cup?

HIGHLIGHTS: Philadelphia Union vs. Columbus Crew | May 16, 2026

Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC have life

Yes. Read that sentence again; it’s correct.

The team on track to break several MLS records for ineptitude this season, who were described as hitting “rock bottom” in a New York Times headline a few weeks ago as they stumbled through a 0W-7L-1D stretch across all competitions in which they conceded 28 goals and scored just four, took six points from six with wins over the LA Galaxy and Austin FC, and are no longer adrift at the bottom of the overall table.

And these were no fluke results: Sporting KC were worthy winners in both cases, superior in most statistical areas, including the expected-goals tallies. What’s more, Saturday’s 2-1 win at ATX was the first positive result of any kind for the Midwesterners at Q2 Stadium, where they were 0W-5L-0D all-time coming into the weekend, but left jubilant after absolute bangers from Manu García and Stephen Afrifa paced a furious late comeback.

“A week ago, obviously we were in a bad place,” said head coach Raphaël Wicky afterwards, “and the boys show up twice like that with two really, really brave and good performances.”

Afrifa was even more bullish.

“All the guys know that we're a lot better than our performances have shown,” said the Canadian international. “These two results are very massive in us turning the season around.”

SKC’s grim underlying numbers suggest that kind of talk may be premature. Still, their supporters will undoubtedly enjoy a different vibe this week after so much doom and gloom lately.

With a relatively new sporting director driving a profound overhaul of both the roster and the club’s technical infrastructure after literal decades under Peter Vermes, everyone and their grandmother knew the side formerly known as the Wiz were in for a transitional year; maybe that won’t be quite as painful as we thought.

WATCH: García, Afrifa's late goals spark Sporting Kansas City comeback victory

Around the grounds

Hany Mukhtar, take a bow.

The beating heart of Nashville SC from the moment they entered MLS, Mukhtar reached (and quickly passed) the 100-goal mark for his club in style, thumping home a hat trick in the Coyotes’ 3-2 home win over flatlining LAFC in the back half of a Sunday Night Soccer doubleheader. 

Two were textbook free-kick strikes hit around the wall with vicious swerve and dip, and the other was a clinical cap to a lovely sequence of fluid pass-and-move footy. Those three points nudge Nashville ahead of Vancouver and San Jose into first place in the Supporters’ Shield race.

Surely a Hany statue will be unveiled in front of GEODIS Park someday, right? It’s just a question of when and how tall.

Hat trick hero! Hany Mukhtar puts on goal-scoring clinic as Nashville top LAFC

While Nashville dealt them a reality check with a 3-0 midweek drubbing, the New England Revolution responded with yet another win at the weekend, beating Minnesota United, 2-1, on the back of a Luca Langoni daisy-cutter to stay just a step back of Miami in the table.

It’s the Revs’ seventh win in their last nine league matches, a sturdy platform from which they can attack the back half of the season post-World Cup. We’re intrigued to see how they look come July.

WATCH: Carles Gil stars in another Revs home win

Look, we had our tongue at least partially in cheek when we coined THE ZAVIER GOZO AGENDA™ in a previous edition of this column, but a few weeks later, the concept of Real Salt Lake’s teenage phenom making an incredible late run onto the USMNT’s World Cup roster has got legitimate legs. It’s even on the mind of The Athletic’s journalistic heavyweight, Paul Tenorio!

Gozo just keeps cooking. On Saturday, he scooped home the equalizer in RSL’s 2-1 comeback win over Rocky Mountain Cup rivals Colorado, his 10th goal contribution of the year.

Could Mauricio Pochettino actually make a shock call like that for the host nation? We’ll find out in a matter of days: The Yanks’ roster drops on May 26.

WATCH: Sergi Solans plays hero for Real Salt Lake in Rocky Mountain Cup win