MLS Power Rankings: Nashville SC, Inter Miami Move Up After Matchday 22 | OneFootball

The first week of July is in the books, and what a week it was in MLS.

From an outstanding performance from Lionel Messi fresh off Inter Miami CF’s run at the FIFA Club World Cup, to some thrilling moments in Nashville and even the LA Galaxy’s second win of the season, it had nearly everything.

Meanwhile, the summer transfer window continued to approach, and these final games before it opens are the last opportunities for teams to assess whether or not they need to make midseason adjustments.

Here are Sports Illustrated’s latest MLS Power Rankings following Matchday 22.

MLS Power Rankings After Matchday 22: Clubs 30-16

30. St. Louis CITY SC (Previous: 28)29. D.C. United (Previous: 29)28. CF Montréal (Previous: 27)27. LA Galaxy (Previous: 30)26. Atlanta United (Previous: 25)25. Real Salt Lake (Previous: 26)24. FC Dallas (Previous: 23)23. New York Red Bulls (Previous: 21)22. Sporting Kansas City (Previous: 24)21. Toronto FC (Previous: 20)20. New England Revolution (Previous: 18)19. Houston Dynamo FC (Previous: 22)18. Colorado Rapids (Previous: 17)17. Portland Timbers (Previous: 19)16. Austin FC (Previous: 15)

15. Charlotte FC (Previous: 16)

Wilfried Zaha continued to struggle with Charlotte FC against the Chicago Fire this weekend. / Talia Sprague-Imagn Images

Charlotte FC can probably count themselves lucky after this week, having secured a point in a 2–2 draw with Orlando City SC, despite holding just 33 percent possession. Yet, even though they move up in the rankings, it’s not all bright spots, as Wilfried Zaha continued to look agitated in his play.

It’s four games winless now for head coach Dean Smith’s side, and they let a 2–0 lead slip away this week, so clearly there’s a lot of work to be done if they want to return to the free-flowing, counter-attacking form they showed earlier this season.

14. Seattle Sounders FC (Previous: 14)

Much of the attention, as it should, will be on the status of goalkeeper Stefan Frei from Seattle Sounders FC’s weekend, after his head collided with an attacker’s knee and he had to be taken off the pitch in an ambulance.

13. Chicago Fire FC (Previous: 12)

The Chicago Fire became the latest victims of the Kévin Denkey and Evaner show in Cincinnati, allowing both stars to score in a 2–1 loss. At the same time, Philip Zinckernagel netted his ninth goal of the season in the losing effort.

It’s the fourth loss in five games for Chicago as they drop to ninth in the Eastern Conference, slightly above the MLS Cup Playoff cutoff line. However, the base of their success with Zinkernagel, Hugo Cuypers and Jonathan Bamba remains, setting them up nicely for a boost from the summer transfer window.

12. LAFC (Previous: 11)

LAFC will have to wait to play their first game since the departure of Olivier Giroud, after this week’s matchup against Austin FC was postponed due to inclement weather in Austin and across Texas.

11. New York City FC (Previous: 10)

New York City FC welcomed Alonso Martínez back into their lineup after his stint with Costa Rica at the Concacaf Gold Cup, and despite not scoring, he contributed to their 3–1 win over Toronto FC.

While toppling a TFC side that has struggled and is in flux after escaping the Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi contracts should have been expected, they went about it in a balanced and methodical way.

Hannes Wolf, Mitja Ilenič and Kevin O'Toole scored for the Pigeons, and each came with contributions from the fullbacks, who pushed up into attack, most notably Ilenič and O’Toole, who came on as a substitute for Michael Risa late in the second half.

There’s a strong baseline for head coach Pascal Jansen’s team, and connections to a new No. 10 could help them elevate that final product heading into the rest of the summer and the run to the postseason.

10. Orlando City SC (Previous: 10)

Marco Pasalic continued his standout campaign in Orlando City's draw with Chicago. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Orlando City SC will likely rue the two dropped points against the Chicago Fire this week, but their ability to fight back in the second half from a 2–0 deficit to secure a draw is commendable.

At the same time, the performance saw the continued run of form for Ramiro Enrique, who scored his seventh goal since the beginning of May, as well as Marco Pašalič’s continued influence, following his 10th goal of the season.

Head coach Oscar Pareja’s side will also get a boost for their next match, as fullback Alex Freeman, one of the team’s best players this season, returns from USMNT duty after losing in the Gold Cup final.

9. San Jose Earthquakes (Previous: 9)

The San Jose Earthquakes are playing some okay soccer, but can’t seem to get themselves a win, picking up their fifth draw in their last nine games with a 1–1 result against the New York Red Bulls this weekend.

Head coach Bruce Arena’s side did manage well to see out a draw after DeJuan Jones was sent off to a red card in the 64th minute, but struggled in the lead-up to get much from their attacking players, who seemed so potent earlier in the season.

They won’t have much of a turnaround now, as they face Austin FC in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday, before facing a testing Minnesota United side in their return to MLS play next weekend.

8. Columbus Crew SC (Previous: 5)

Columbus Crew SC put together a strong performance on the road against Seattle, but couldn't manage to find a way to a win, as they struggled to break down Seattle’s defensive setup in the central channels.

In particular, Seattle forced Columbus to play through their wide players, and seemingly managed to do so, leaving the high-powered trio of Diego Rossi, Jacen Russell-Rowe, and Daniel Gazdag without many options centrally.

The draw was probably a fair result in this one, but snapped the Crew’s three-game win streak while extending their unbeaten run to four games.

7. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Previous: 4)

Oh no, Vancouver Whitecaps FC. That wasn’t what you were supposed to do.

While the LA Galaxy didn’t have their traditional clash with LAFC on July 4, they certainly gave their fans a reason to celebrate, putting up a 3–0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps as the once-Cinderella story of MLS and the Concacaf Champions Cup suffered a third loss in four games.

June was a month to forget for the Whitecaps. They lost four of six games in all competitions, including the 5–0 loss to Cruz Azul in the Concacaf Champions Cup final. However, they will hope that the returns of Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter from international duty can help them regain form.

The next task, though, is to avoid an upset in the Canadian Championship quarterfinals against Canadian Premier League side, Valour FC. The second leg of the tie takes place on Wednesday at BC Place, tied 1–1 after the opening match in Winnipeg, with no away goals rule.

6. Inter Miami CF (Previous: 8)

Lionel Messi scored twice for the third time in three games for Inter Miami in a win over CF Montréal. / Courtesy of Inter Miami CF

If there were any concerns that Inter Miami would need to adjust to MLS after their run to the FIFA Club World Cup Round of 16, those can be put to rest. Led by Lionel Messi in his first MLS match as a 38-year-old, the Herons dominated the struggling CF Montréal to the tune of a 4–1 win.

Yet, Messi stole the show. After making an early mistake, which led to Montréal’s opening goal, the Argentine set up Tadeo Allende for the equalizer, before scoring two exceptional solo goals to help his side secure all three points.

Messi also became the first player to score a brace in three straight matches since Thierry Henry did it in 2012 with the New York Red Bulls. Meanwhile, Miami ended the weekend on 32 points and sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with four games in hand on the leaders, FC Cincinnati.

5. Nashville SC (Previous: 7)

The vibes are good in Nashville.

Led by Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge, the Coyotes defeated the Philadelphia Union this weekend with an emphatic 1–0 win. The winning goal, scored by Mukhtar on a penalty, came in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time, after they had fought with 10 men for nearly 30 minutes following Jonathan Perez’s red card.

The goal also marked the latest in Nashville SC's history, while the three points helped Nashville leapfrog the Union in the standings to second place in the Eastern Conference, only a single point behind the top spot.

Head coach BJ Callaghan has this Nashville team in stellar form right now, and with four straight wins and 14 games undefeated, they can probably start dreaming of a long playoff run.

4. FC Cincinnati (Previous: 6)

Is there anything that can be done to shut down the duo of Evander and Kévin Denkey?

Each of them scored this weekend as the Blue and Orange downed the Chicago Fire 2–1, bringing Evander’s total to 12 goals and seven assists this season, and Denkey’s to 12 goals.

The victory also marked their fourth in a row, and kept them atop the Supporters’ Shield standings with 43 points. Outside of the attacking duo, head coach Pat Noonan’s team should also be happy with the play of DeAndre Yedlin and Pavel Bucha. At the same time, center back Matt Miazga has started to return to form after a lengthy injury absence.

With some sustained success now, expectations are rising for Cincinnati this season.

3. Philadelphia Union (Previous: 3)

The Philadelphia Union got Tai Baribo back in their squad this week, but struggled to take advantage of a 10-man Nashville SC side for nearly 30 minutes, eventually falling 1–0.

While 15-year-old Cavan Sullivan looked relatively comfortable in his first start, the week marked the second straight game where Philadelphia struggled to control the tempo of play against a well-coached and organized opponent.

The Union have plenty of good moments this season so far and has still offered a lot of confidence heading into the rest of the summer, but finding a way to win against top teams continues to be a problem.

Getting Baribo back, and soon the return of Quinn Sullivan from USMNT duty will help, but this Union side might need a reinforcement in the summer transfer window.

2. Minnesota United (Previous: 3 )

Minnesota United’s early-season trade with Inter Miami for Julian Gressel has paid off in spades, with its latest chapter coming this weekend off a near-perfect set-piece delivery in a 2–1 win over FC Dallas at home.

However, the most significant difference for Minnesota this time out was the 46 percent possession they ended the game with, a significantly greater amount of control than they have had in most wins this season, which usually hovers around 35 percent.

Now with striker Tani Oluwaseyi and first-choice goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair back in the squad, Minnesota can start charging towards the top of the table through the rest of the summer.

1. San Diego FC (Previous: 1)

Milan Iloski has scored 10 goals in less than 471 minutes with San Diego FC this season. / Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images

It takes quite the effort in a loss to stay atop the weekly power rankings, but that’s exactly what San Diego FC provided in their 4–3 defeat against the Houston Dynamo.

While Milan Iloski continued his stellar goalscoring run with his 10th goal in just 471 minutes this season, the defensive issues crept up throughout the night, most notably on the direct play from Houston that ended up in Lawrence Ennali’s 1–1 goal.

With the loss coming in the 10th minute of second half stoppage time from Ezequiel Ponce, there will be a stinging feeling for the Chrome and Azul. However, a little bit of adversity could go a long way for the club, which hasn’t had many hiccups in its expansion season.

Next week, they’ll look to return to winning ways as they face the Chicago Fire.