A fun 2017 MLS season continued last weekend as the Galaxy bested the Earthquakes in a thriller, FC Dallas and the Dynamo played the first draw in nine days and the first scoreless draw in a month, Atlanta’s quick three-goal spurt was enough to overcome New York City FC, and so much more.

We start, though, with the most dominant performance of them all:

Most Impressive

Toronto FC

When Toronto first started assembling superstars in 2014, results were hard to come by. They came a little easier in 2015 when they swapped out Jermain Defoe for Jozy Altidore and Matias Laba for Sebastian Giovinco.

The team generally went as Giovinco went, though a league-worst defense pulled them down to the 6-seed. That got rectified in 2016 with Drew Moor and Steven Beitashour. The final piece, so said Giovinco in the 2016/17 offseason, was a player like Victor Vazquez. And while Vazquez has been great, the final piece is actually this team’s new immense depth.

Oftentimes when teams go on runs like this, it’s because they find a particularly well-working lineup. That’s what happened to DC United last year, and we asked questions like, “Well, can they win without Luciano Acosta? Patrick Mullins?”

With Toronto, we know. They win without Giovinco, without Altidore, without Bradley, without Vazquez, without Giovinco and Altidore, without Drew Moor. Maybe they can’t win without all those guys (see the Ottawa game), but they shouldn’t have to.

The Red Bulls won six of their final eight games in 2016, drawing the other two. Colorado also had a 6–0–2 stretch. But New York’s stretch was over 56 days, and Colorado’s over a more-impressive 39 days.

Toronto’s current 7–0–1 run has been over 35 days, with a bunch of different lineups.

They hiccoughed in Ottawa in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semis with a lineup that was basically “Toronto FC 2 plus Raheem Edwards and Tosaint Ricketts.” If Toronto can kill Columbus 5–0 at home without Giovinco and Altidore, they can certainly overturn a 2–1 deficit at home against Ottawa with whichever lineup.

And while upsets are fun, this is the kind of depth that can beat Mexican clubs in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Most Disappointing

Sporting Kansas City

Sporting KC were on their way to joining Toronto FC and FC Dallas in the upper echelon of the league after their first nine games of 2017. Five games later, however, they look just as vulnerable on the road as any other merely decent MLS team, with losses to Minnesota, Vancouver, and now Colorado.

But this is probably just a blip. Several weeks ago — in reference to SKC’s epic 1–0 win in Portland — I talked about how soccer is often as much about how you play when you need to score as it is about actually scoring goals. Colorado scored a somewhat fluky goal in the 11th minute and then went about doing what they did best last year: securing a 1–0 game.

How did SKC respond? Pretty well, all things considered. They flooded the Colorado end with passes and shots around the box both in the first half:

Green arrows are completed passes or shots on goal, red arrows are shots not on goal, and yellow arrows are shots that led to a pass.

And the second half:

For reference, here’s Atlanta’s dominant first half against New York City:

The expected goals stat-loving crowd will wonder how on Earth SKC didn’t win this game, and they’ll be right to question. The how, and the underrated Colorado commentators mentioned this, had to do with the final touch. In Dom Dwyer’s absence, Latif Blessing twice missed wide open opportunities from the penalty spot area. Gerso Fernandes flubbed a one-timer in front of goal. Jimmy Medranda curled a great free kick just wide. Seth Sinovic hit the post late. Graham Zusi even chipped one over Tim Howard, only for Bobby Burling to send it away at the last second.

It was a hard luck game for SKC. But those are usually the most disappointing.

Result No One Wanted to See, Even DC United fans

Vancouver 0–1 DC United

As a DC fan, I was ready to concede this game (and the season). Going into BC Place and beating a resurgent, exciting, young Vancouver team didn’t feel right, and that’s without even taking into account Jose Francisco Ortiz’s penalty-winning flop.

Instead of focusing on the shenanigans of the second half, let’s look at how Vancouver, with a decisive talent and form advantage, weren’t able to put even one dagger into DC before halftime.

Around the 20th minute, Vancouver hit the crossbar twice and put Fredy Montero in prime scoring position in the span of about two minutes. Spurred on by Montero, a wave of applause started in the crowd as if a goal were imminent.

Alas, the next ten minutes were ultimately frustrating for the Whitecaps. Vancouver completed about 251 passes in DC’s half over the whole game. For a prorated chunk of 10 minutes, you would expect the Caps to complete about 29 passes. Instead, they completed just 17.

But maybe that isn’t so bad. Game state indicates that Vancouver should see a bump in offensive numbers once DC got their undeserved lead. But in the first twenty minutes of the game, those that led to the prime chances, Vancouver completed 38 attacking-half passes. That’s more in line with that 17 figure, but you would hope that the Whitecaps would really pour on the pressure after that flurry.

That didn’t happen. While DC did a good job slowing down the pace, playing very deliberately in the few instances they got the ball, Vancouver may have been a victim of their own aggressiveness. Of the five final-third fouls they committed all game, three of them were in that spell between the 21st and 31st minute. And, in true Ben Olsen fashion, DC probably got away with a few offense-killing fouls. For example, Opta counts Taylor Kemp’s dispossession of Alphonso Davies at 26:21 as a recovery after a Jared Jeffrey “interception,” but Davies was only intercepted because he got a little bit tripped up by Jeffrey.

DC held onto a scoreless first half, scored a dumb goal in the second, and somehow held off the soccer karma gods at the death. Along with the 3–1 win in Atlanta, DC now hold two of the most improbable road wins of the early MLS season, which sandwich one of the worst homestands in DC United history.

I just can’t quit you, DC.

Least Valuable to his Team

Jermaine Jones

Jermaine Jones is undeniably a good soccer player. No one will ever forget his goal against Portugal in the World Cup, or his game-winning assist to Chris Wondolowski that wasn’t.

He was a real difference-maker in New England too. He turned the Revs from a solid playoff team into an MLS Cup contender. The Revs will probably miss the playoffs for the second year running since his departure.

To hammer home that notion, here’s that 2014 New England season before and after Jermaine Jones:

Before: 9–12–3, -5 GD

After: 8–1–1, +10 GD

Three years later, here’s the Galaxy with and without Jermaine Jones:

LA with JJJ: 2–4–2*, -6 GD

Without: 3–1–1*, +6 GD

*-He left the game against Chicago in the 43rd minute, with the Galaxy down 2–0. LA came back to tie that game.

LA has now gone into three consecutive nationally-televised road games in difficult places to play and won all three.

Thousands of words have been spilled on why Jones isn’t the best fit for the Galaxy, but the consensus seems to be that he’s one freelancer too many for that midfield. That doesn’t mean he’s done being a useful soccer player. He would be an upgrade over Marcelo Sarvas in DC, for example, as Chris Durkin prepares for the show. But he probably is done being a useful Galaxy player.

Most Cathartic Moment

Heath raises his hands in victory towards the Wonderwall-singing supporters

Of course, Minnesota vs. Orlando was Adrian Heath’s revenge game. But this was also the game that cemented why this MN United team will work in the long-term.

People have been panning Minnesota’s start to their MLS life, calling the front office “unambitious” in comparison with Atlanta. And it wasn’t a crazy criticism as Minnesota fans themselves had been fretting the front office’s word-of-mouth marketing strategy. A beatdown in a snowstorm in front of 40,000 isn’t the greatest start to a “word-of-mouth” campaign.

But slowly and surely, the crowds have rebounded and the atmosphere has been intense. After hovering around 17,500 for four games, 19,000 people saw a great but disappointing game against LA. And 19,000 returned to see Christian Ramirez do his best Cam Newton impression after his 55th-minute game winner: