Inter Miami Faces Struggles After Toronto Loss

The midweek draw in Philadelphia suddenly looks like the least of Inter Miami’s problems. A 3-3 against a surging Union side felt acceptable for a team expected to steamroll the league. Toronto at home, though? That was supposed to be routine. It wasn’t.

Robin Fraser’s Toronto FC arrived at Nu Stadium looking like a team in limbo, their big swing on Josh Sargent yet to truly pay off. On Saturday night, they found both structure and bite.

They kept things tight early. Toronto sat in, stayed compact, and let Miami have the ball without ever really suffering. The Herons probed but rarely pierced. By halftime, Miami had possession and territory; Toronto had calm and control.

The game changed around the hour.

Sensing Miami’s midfield lacked drive without the running power of Yannick Bright, Toronto pushed the lines a little higher. The spaces opened, the tempo lifted, and suddenly the visitors looked the sharper side. In the 59th minute, Sargent finally delivered the moment Toronto have been waiting for, finishing to silence the home crowd and reward that extra ambition.

Three minutes later, the shock turned into a real problem. Derrick Etienne arrived with a deserved second, punishing Miami again and giving Toronto a 2-0 cushion that felt fully earned. Miami were stretched, ragged, and short of ideas.

Lionel Messi’s late strike offered a flicker of hope, but not a rescue act. Toronto saw out a 2-1 win that leaves Miami, for all their star power, staring at uncomfortable questions.

In Vancouver, the questions have been different. Life after Sebastian Berhalter has been awkward for the Whitecaps, who have spent weeks searching for someone to replicate his energy and intelligence in the middle of the pitch. The answer still isn’t perfect, but on Saturday night against Dallas, it looked a lot closer.

Andres Cubas anchored the midfield, snapping into challenges and locking down the defensive side. That gave Oliver Larraz, in just his eighth start of the season, the platform to roam and hint at a solution to the Berhalter-sized gap.

From there, Vancouver cut loose.

Brian White, the U.S. international, did what he does best, scoring twice to lead the onslaught. Thomas Muller added craft and incision, supplying an assist as the Whitecaps tore through Dallas with ruthless efficiency. By the final whistle, the scoreboard read 5-0, a statement win and a reminder that even in a “weird period,” this team can still overwhelm opponents.

Nashville, meanwhile, look like they have an answer for everything.

They handled Miami, Messi and all, a week ago. They ground out a 1-0 win over a relentless New York Red Bulls side on Wednesday. Columbus came next on Saturday night, a different kind of test: less star power than the East’s elite, but a drilled, savvy group that rarely beats itself.

Hany Mukhtar struck first, as he so often does. Just before the half-hour mark, he found the breakthrough, and it felt like Nashville had once again set the tone.

Columbus refused to fold. The Crew hit back with two goals midway through the second half, flipping the script and leaving Nashville looking suddenly flat, almost resigned. The unbeaten aura wobbled.

Then came stoppage time.

In the 93rd minute, left back Reed Baker-Whiting surged forward and grabbed the equalizer, dragging Nashville back from the brink. Two minutes later, the other fullback took over. Andy Najar produced a finish any striker would envy: a sharp pivot, a clean strike, drilled into the bottom corner for the winner.

From down and out to delirium in a blink. The victory pushed Nashville to 49 points from 21 games — the best start in MLS history. Right now, they don’t just look good. They look inevitable.

St. Louis CITY walked into their own storm hours before kickoff.

Roughly five hours before they faced Houston, news broke that the club had traded Eduard Lowen, unwilling to enter extension talks before season’s end. It’s exactly the kind of move that can fracture a locker room or derail a campaign, especially coming so soon after another key departure.

Two weeks earlier, St. Louis had lost Marcel Hartel and responded by going on the road and beating San Jose. This time, against a surging Houston side, they did it again.

They bent but didn’t break, and as the game ticked toward a stalemate, an unlikely hero stepped forward. In the 85th minute, center back Dante Polvara rose to the moment and delivered the winner, a gut-punch to Houston and a cathartic release for a team under scrutiny.

The roster questions will keep coming. So will the calls for reinforcements. But St. Louis keep answering the only way that really matters: on the pitch.

In Orlando, the story has been Antoine Griezmann’s brilliance without the usual numbers to show for it.

Since arriving in MLS, the Orlando City playmaker has looked every bit the star: inventive, elusive, constantly a step ahead. The data backs it up. Just over two chances created per 90 minutes. Expected assists at 0.4 per 90 over the last nine games — the best mark in the league.

Yet the goals and assists haven’t always followed. Griezmann has never been defined purely by raw output, but in this league, with this skill set, everyone knows he should be filling the stat sheet.

Against Real Salt Lake, he did.

With RSL still trying to cope without Zavier Gozo, Orlando’s No. 10 took control. Griezmann scored twice, finally marrying the underlying numbers with the scoreboard, and powered a 2-1 win that felt like a warning shot to the rest of MLS.

The creativity has been there for weeks. Now the production is catching up.