What We Learned: FC Cincinnati's Brazilian stars, Matt Freese denies Charlotte | OneFootball

By Joseph Lowery

Between late winners, results with major Audi MLS Cup Playoffs implications, and the Golden Boot presented by Audi race taking a new turn, this past weekend’s slate had it all.

Let's explore some of the most interesting things we learned during Matchday 35. If you want to read up on other key moments in detail, check out Charlie Boehm's latest column.

Onwards.

1. Matt Freese steps up

“Penalties are my thing.”

This summer, that’s what Matt Freese said after making three saves in a penalty shootout against Costa Rica to send the USMNT through to the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup semifinals.

Freese stayed true to his word in New York City FC’s 2-0 win over Charlotte FC on Saturday, saving a Wilfried Zaha penalty kick to keep a clean sheet.

Fresh off signing a contract extension with NYCFC, Freese’s performance was just the latest in a string of impressive outings this year.

According to FBref, he has saved more goals than expected (4.7) than all but four other goalkeepers in MLS this year. Between Freese’s excellence and a stout group of defenders in Pascal Jansen’s 4-4-2 setup, NYCFC have the sixth-best defensive record in the league based on FBref’s non-penalty xG metric. They're now fourth in the Eastern Conference, by the way.

NYCFC ended Charlotte's dream of setting the league’s win-streak record on Saturday (10), and could just crush a few more dreams come the postseason – especially if Freese keeps riding this wave.

2. Denis Bouanga is an all-time MLS great

For the first time in MLS history, a player has scored at least 20 goals in three straight seasons. That player – as you might have guessed from this section’s header! – is LAFC forward Denis Bouanga. After his latest hat trick in Sunday's 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake, the Gabon international is now on 22 goals this year, up front 20 in each of his first two full seasons in California.

On a weekend when LAFC clinched a playoff spot, Bouanga was near unplayable on the left wing of Steve Cherundolo’s 4-3-3 setup. Look at how effortlessly Bouanga and Son Heung-Min combine on his first goal against RSL, with Son giving the two opposing center backs more than a little something to think about en route to notching an assist:

In the seven games since Son debuted for LAFC, Bouanga has scored a staggering nine goals. It’s abundantly clear that the South Korean superstar has helped Bouanga take his game to another level and make history along the way.

3. Evander shines, Brenner matures

You know what? I’ll be brave and say it: Evander is really, really good at soccer.

The Brazilian's trio of assists fueled FC Cincinnati’s 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy on Saturday and should go down as one of the great assist hat-tricks in league history. Feast your eyes:

Fresh off rescuing all three points for Cincy via a late winner in their 2-1 win over Nashville, Evander wasted no time turning the tide in Carson. On the back of Evander’s latest magical outing, the Orange & Blue registered their 18th win of the season and became just the second team in league history to win at least that many games in three-straight seasons, joining the 1997-99 D.C. United.

That Evander already seems to have developed impressive chemistry with Brenner is a massive plus for Pat Noonan’s team. Noonan complimented the Brazilian striker postgame: "I think we're seeing the best version of him… making the right passes, the right movements to help our team attack, to help our team defend."

On their day, Cincy are terrifying in the final third. They have their No. 10 and on-loan striker (plus Kévin Denkey) to thank for it.

4. FC Dallas surge

Quick: Guess how many games FC Dallas have lost since Lucho Acosta was transferred to Fluminense at the beginning of August. The answer is zero. They’ve tallied three wins and three draws since moving on from the Argentine No. 10, including last weekend's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

As good a player as Acosta was throughout his MLS career, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Dallas have improved without him. In Acosta’s absence, head coach Eric Quill has set up his team to defend deep and play in transition. According to American Soccer Analysis, no MLS team has hit fewer passes per game than Dallas since their first game of the post-Lucho era.

Happy to absorb pressure in their half instead of trying to find their mercurial attacking midfielder with stop-start possessions, Dallas have been a top-half defensive team based on xG allowed per game since Acosta departed. It’s a small sample, sure, but there are signs of life in Frisco.

Currently sitting in the West’s final playoff spot, FC Dallas’ late-season surge might be enough to see them make the postseason.

5. Eastern Conference playoff field narrows

And then there were 10.

With the New England Revolution eliminated from postseason contention following their 1-0 loss at the Philadelphia Union, only 10 teams remain to fight for the nine playoff spots in the East.

Zooming in, four of those teams have already locked in a place in the postseason – Philly, Cincy, Charlotte and NYCFC. That leaves six teams jostling for a spot above the cut-off line.

Here’s the race as it stands:

With both Wild Card and automatic spots up for grabs among the group of 10 remaining teams, the home stretch will be intense.

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