Early goal puts Montreal on course for win
Expansion team Austin FC blanked in its first match
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Mason Toye scored in the third minute and Montreal led the rest of the way in its 4-2 win over Toronto on Saturday in the season opener for both teams.
On the counter-attack, Zachary Brault-Guillard ran up the middle of the field before passing to Toye, who put away a first-timer to open the scoring. Romell Quioto won a foot-race to a long clearance by Joel Waterman and slipped in a top-netter to make it 2-0 in the 24th minute.
Toronto’s Marco Delgado converted a penalty kick in the 45th, but Victor Wanyama bounced a header, off a corner kick by Mustafa Kizza, into the net in the 54th minute and Djordje Mihailovic, racing down the middle, took a pass by Erik Hurtado and beat a defender before blasting a right-footer from point-blank range to make it 4-1 in the 71st.
Richie Laryea’s rolling side-netter in the 88th minute capped the scoring.
.LAFC 2, AUSTIN FC 0: In Los Angeles, Corey Baird scored in the 61st minute, and Los Angeles FC sent expansion Austin FC to a defeat in the inaugural match for Major League Soccer’s 27th team.
Jose Cifuentes added a goal into an open net in the 91st minute for LAFC, which improved to 4-0-0 in season openers in franchise history.
Austin FC put on a creditable performance against one of MLS’ top clubs, but the first major league sports franchise in Texas’ capital city officially joined North America’s top soccer league with a lively, narrow loss to one of the model franchises of the current MLS expansion boom.
ATLANTA UNITED 0, ORLANDO CITY 0: In Orlando, Fla, Brad Guzan had three saves to help Atlanta United to a scoreless tie with Orlando City in the season opener for both teams.
Atlanta had 59.7% possession and 88% passing accuracy.
Guzan made a diving one-handed stop of a shot by Alexandre Pato in the the 72nd minute. Pato, a 31-year old making his MLS debut, left the game in the 80th after suffering an apparent knee injury. Pato was a member of the Brazilian teams that won Olympic bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012 and was inducted into the A.C. Milan Hall of Fame in 2017 after a scoring 51 goals in 117 Serie A matches for the franchise.
Atlanta’s Josef Martinez came on in place of Lisandro Lopez in 75th minute. The 27-year old Martinez, who scored 77 combined goals in his first three MLS seasons, missed most of his fourth after suffering a season-ending torn right ACL in the 2020 opener at Nashville on March 18.
DC UNITED 2, NEW YORK CITY FC 1: In Washington, Brendan Daniel Hines-Ike and Russell Canouse each scored goals late in the first half to lead DC United over New York City FC.
Hines-Ike scored in the 39th minute with an assist from Júnior Moreno. Canouse scored five minutes later on an assist from Julian Gressel, helping end NYCFC’s four-game undefeated steak in the series.
SPORTING KC 2, RED BULLS 1: In Harrison, N.J., Gadi Kinda and Daniel Salloi each scored second-half goals and Sporting Kansas City beat New York.
The Red Bulls’ Caden Clark, a 17-year-old on the radar of European clubs, scored from the center of the 18-yard box to the top right corner of the net in the 48th minute.
FC DALLAS 0, RAPIDS 0: In Frisco, Texas, Jimmy Maurer made six saves to help FC Dallas secure a point in the season opener for both teams.
Maurer’s last big save of the night came late in the game when he denied former teammate Michael Barrios, who took a pass running down the right. Maurer closed on the rushing Barrios and got wide to deflect the ball out of play.
FIRE 2, REVOLUTION 2: In Chicago, Robert Beric had a goal and an assist and Chicago tied New England in the Fire’s first game at Soldier Field in more than 15 years.
Beric opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Six minutes later, Luka Stojanovic gave the Fire a 2-0 lead.
NASHVILLE SC 2, FC CINCINNATI 2: In Nashville, Tenn., Randall Leal had a goal and an assist to help Nashville rally for a tie in the first MLS meeting between the former USL rivals.
Leal crossed to Jhonder Cádiz, who finished from close range to bring Nashville within 2-1 in the 20th minute. In the 64th minute, Leal tied it at 2 with a long-range curler just above the outstretched reach of Przemyslaw Tyton.
Luciano Acosta and Brenner scored for Cincinnati.