The 2021 Major League Soccer season is moving fast and there’s already a number of sides separating themselves from the rest of the field.
The Seattle Sounders and New England Revolution are in control of their respective conferences, with the former unbeaten through their first seven matches this season. Meanwhile, the Revolution continued their perfect form at home on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls.
Sporting KC is really finding its footing thanks to star striker Alan Pulido, and Peter Vermes’ group moved up to second in the West after a win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
Both the Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati earned their first wins of the season in Week 6, despite both clubs still sitting at the bottom of the MLS table.
Let’s rewind it back to the weekend that was Week 6 around MLS.
WEEKEND AWARDS
GAME OF THE WEEK - Seattle Sounders vs. Atlanta United
The Sounders continue to be one of three teams to remain unbeaten to start the 2021 MLS season, but Atlanta had plenty of reason to be happy with the result of this game.
Gabriel Heinze’s side has been looking for more cohesion after bringing in several new faces this year and they’re starting to click after a few weeks of up-and-down play.
Meanwhile, Josef Martinez bagged the equalizer for Atlanta, which could be the spark the Venezuelan needs to regain his elite form of season’s past.
WEEKEND MVP - Lucas Zelarayan (Columbus Crew)
It’s impressive when someone scores one free kick goal in a match, but what about two? Zelarayan single-handedly carried the Crew back from an early 1-0 deficit against NYCFC and gave Columbus all three points in this one.
A truly stellar performance from the Argentine, who continues to be the playmaker that Caleb Porter’s side needs if they want to repeat as MLS Cup champions in 2021.
SATURDAY STUNNER - Chicago Fire
The Fire earned their first win of the season against Inter Miami after a completely dominating showing by Chicago.
Miami was held to just one shot on target all match compared to Chicago’s 20 shots (seven on goal) and it might be the positive step the Fire need to climb their way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race.
FANTASTIC FINISHES
Each week, we’ll close out the rewind by showcasing the three best goals from the weekend that was in MLS, and the opening weekend did not disappoint in this department at all.
LUCAS ZELARAYAN vs. New York City FC
We could’ve picked either free kick of his over the weekend, but Zelarayan’s second-half stoppage time finish truly capped off an incredible performance against NYCFC. A curling effort from just outside the penalty area left NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson with nothing to do but watch the ball fly into his net.
ALAN PULIDO vs. San Jose Earthquakes
The Mexican star is really finding his groove with Sporting KC and they’ve now climbed to second place in the West. Pulido is going to be a threat all season if he continues at this pace.
DIEGO ROSSI vs. Colorado Rapids
Although it was Carlos Vela that really sparked LAFC in the attack this weekend, Rossi was the recipient of a tremendous set up by the Mexico star. Rossi’s finish at the end of the sequence wasn’t too shabby either.