1) FC Dallas is king of the West
FC Dallas has had road issues of late. Sporting KC is rock solid at home.
Not tonight.
The top team in the Western Conference asserted its dominance with a 3-1 victory, marked by a moment of brilliance from Michael Barrios 23 minutes in. And then another 62 minutes in. And then another 74 minutes in.
There it is!
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 29, 2018
Michael Barrios opens the scoring in #SKCvDAL. https://t.co/RJYbO3BalD
The defense bunkered in from there. Matt Hedges is playing at the top of his game, and had another fantastic night. FC Dallas didn’t have a clean sheet this month until tonight, and they earned it...until they didn’t. That’s when Dallas stepped up. With the game level shortly after halftime, Barrios got his second of the game and second of the season on an lol from Tim Meila, and his third/third on a turn and shoot. The second half wasn’t always pretty, but it got the job done, and that’s what the best teams do. With its road woes shut down - temporarily, at least - the team to beat is clear.
2) Josef Martinez showing no signs of stopping
The Venezuelan is having one of the most historic seasons in MLS seasons, plain and simple, full-stop. Now with 24 goals in 23 matches after another brace in a 2-1 win for Atlanta over Montreal on the road, Martinez is scoring in every way possible.
On his first tonight, he smartly backed off a tempting through-ball knowing he was offside, drifting back while a teammate chased. Sure enough, he returned to a legal position and snuck behind the center-backs with a brilliant little step back at the moment the cross was delivered, and easily dispatched the chance. It was the perfect display of superior striker senses, understanding not only his position on the field relative to everyone else, but how to anticipate opponent movement to be in the proper place.
The Golden Boot leader is at it again 😏
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) July 28, 2018
Make that 23 for @JosefMartinez17 pic.twitter.com/OEx6MHYqLr
His second goal was as messy as they come, tapping home a scrum in the Montreal box after hilariously poor defending from the hosts. It was one of those that makes you think “of course it’s that guy again...of course.” When a guy is having such a stunning year, there’s plenty of talent and always just a little luck. With just three goals needed to tie the single season goalscoring record and 11 matches to do it, this season feels like the Martinez Show.
3) Is Toronto FC back? Can they make a run?
Toronto FC is back, right? A 3-0 clobbering of the Chicago Fire has Sebastian Giovinco and company at 22 points, and the Italian grabbed a goal alongside Jozy Altidore and Jonathan Osorio to put the Canadian club clean through. With the result, they’ve won two straight, both against Chicago and by a combined 5-1 score. It’s tough to get a bead on if they’re truly put together given both results have come against the same opponent, but just six points back of a playoff spot, they’re most certainly not out of it should things turn around for real.
“We’ve got four in a row now,” Gregory van der Wiel said after the game, referencing the pair of MLS results bracketed in between two Canadian Cup wins against Ottawa FC. “The team is in a good way.” They are...if it’s for real.
