A weekend of new beginnings in Major League Soccer saw expansion sides Minnesota and Atlanta United come up short in their debut matches

If you’d have been given a glimpse into coach Adrian Heath’s nightmares on the eve of Minnesota United’s Major League Soccer debut, tossing and turning in his downtown hotel room, premonitions of Fanendo Adi’s stoppage-time goal would have featured prominently.



The Portland Timbers forward took his time lining up the kill shot. His team already led 3-1 when Adi dribbled around Minnesota goalkeeper John Alvbage in front of the Timbers Army end. The Nigerian took another touch to allow a pair of United defenders to slip-slide themselves out of position, then coolly rolled Portland’s fourth goal down the middle of an empty net.

Adi added insult to injury two minutes later, galloping regally past a series of exhausted opponents before setting the final score at 5-1.

Minnesota United claim unwanted MLS record after 5-1 debut loss at Portland Read more

The theme of MLS’ opening weekend was new beginnings – expansion debuts and new stadium curtain raisers. The optimism of spring ruled the day.

“No team has won or lost yet,” league commissioner Don Garber said in a phone interview last week as a way of explaining the high spirits.

That changed Friday night. As Minnesota found out at Providence Park, a blank page doesn’t necessarily guarantee an uplifting opening chapter. Examples abounded, from the Pacific Northwest to the Deep South.

“I do think it was a closer game than 5-1,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said afterward, and to some degree, he had a point. For a fleeting moment there, in the wake of Christian Ramirez’s 79th-minute goal for Minnesota that made it 2-1, it appeared as though Portland might capitulate. Instead, the hosts rallied with three unanswered goals to provide early ammunition to those who have feared that MNUFC could be among the worst expansion teams in MLS history.

Heath railed against that idea to anyone who would listen in the week leading up to the opener. Yet besides the temporary flurry that preceded Ramirez’s goal, Minnesota very much looked like a team that will struggle to adjust in its first season since jumping up from the minor-league NASL.

“We knew today was going to be really, really tough,” Heath said. “I’m sure that the narrative will be that it’s the harsh realities of the league. And it is to an extent. But I think the (score) doesn’t really reflect how the game went.

“We knew this was a work in progress and we know that now.”

For 75 minutes, at least, fellow expansion team Atlanta United looked far closer to a finished product.

Bobby Dodd Stadium was packed and raucous. Atlanta did more than enough to earn the game’s opening goal, netted by Yamil Asad in the 25th minute. Miguel Almiron missed the exclamation point by about a foot later on, not quite getting enough lift on the breakaway chip that would have made it 2-0.

Then the Red Bulls answered with two late goals to send the home crowd to the exits as 2-1 losers rather than exhilarated. Welcome to MLS, boys.

Nowhere did the mixed-emotion nature of kickoff weekend manifest itself more obviously than in Orlando.

Orlando City unveiled its gleaming new stadium to a national-television audience with a sellout crowd of 25,527 and a 1-0 win over New York City FC – excitement that was immediately tempered by the “pretty serious” leg injury suffered by Kaka early in the first half.

Orlando’s new venue already looks to be one of the very best in the league. If its star attraction is out for a significant chunk of time, though, it’s unlikely OCSC will be filling it with playoff soccer this fall.

• With the not-insignificant caveats of sample size and quality of opponent, Portland lived up to its billing as one of the most fearsome attacks in the league on Friday night.

With new Designated Player signing Sebastian Blanco making a nuisance of himself on the wing and fellow newcomer David Guzman causing turnovers in the defensive portion of midfield, the already explosive Timbers front line looks more multidimensional in 2017.

“If they aren’t the best, they’re one of the best,” Heath said of Portland’s attack. “They’ve got a little bit of everything.”

The Timbers were even able to emphatically close out a match, which has been something of a nagging problem during Porter’s tenure. With the allowance that he’d rather his team had closed down the game at 2-0, even the coach admitted that they were a sight to behold over the final 10 minutes.

“To wake up and score three goals, it shows with this group that when they want to score and want to play aggressive, it’s scary,” Porter said.

• Clint Dempsey is officially back.

The Sounders and US men’s national team star hadn’t played in a competitive game prior to Saturday since last August, when he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in the aftermath of an emotional home win over rival Portland. Dempsey returned to the scoresheet, too, pulling a goal back for Seattle in the 58th minute of its 2-1 loss at the Houston.

Perhaps even more encouraging for Sounders and USMNT supporters: Dempsey started and played all 90 minutes despite previous words of caution from club brass about easing him back into the fold.

• While perhaps lacking in stars with immediate name recognition, there’s a case to be made that MLS as a whole added more talent during this offseason than ever before. The Targeted Allocation Money rule change was designed to improve the league’s middle class, and the demographic shift is becoming evident.

The improved quality wasn’t always obvious on opening weekend – see: Columbus-Chicago, San Jose-Montreal and Vancouver-Philadelphia – but it should be over the course of the league’s marathon regular season.

“I think so. I really do,” Garber said when asked whether this offseason represented the most significant addition of talent in league history. “I suspect that next year, I might be getting asked that same question.”

• Goal of the week honors to San Jose’s Anibal Godoy. The ‘Quakes midfielder forced the Montreal giveaway then finished it himself with an inch-perfect chip over Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush. Bonus points as the game-winner as the only goal in an otherwise forgettable 1-0 draw.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest San Jose’s Anibal Godoy delivered the goal of the week.

First-runner-up goes to Romell Quioto of the Houston Dynamo, whose curling shot from outside of the box helped slay the defending MLS Cup champs.

• Stat of the week: 7.5. It had been seven-and-a-half years since FC Dallas last defeated the Galaxy in Carson, Calif., a feat FCD pulled off on Saturday afternoon despite being on the wrong side of a highly questionable penalty-kick decision.

Dallas’ 2-1 win over Los Angeles should provide some encouragement that even without injured playmaker Mauro Diaz, it remains one of the teams to beat in the Western Conference.