We knew the defending champions would look worse than they will in April, when Joseph Paintsil returns from injury, and even worse than they will in August when Riqui Puig gets healthy, but a 2-0 loss to expansion side San Diego? That’s surprisingly bad.
How exactly did St. Louis fail to score? It took some superb work by the woodwork, offside flag, and goalkeeper Zack Steffen to keep City out and somehow turn a good performance by the home side into a 0-0 draw.
Don’t ask Charlotte how they got a 2-2 draw in Seattle. It doesn’t matter if it was ugly, or that they could have easily lost by multiple goals. They hung around, somehow, and then worked a Sounders own goal to steal a point. Take it and run, boys.
The Caps went winless in their last seven to end the 2024 regular season, putting a damper on a previously encouraging season and blowing the Cascadia Cup, so rolling the Timbers 4-1 to kick off 2025 goes a very long way. Jayden Nelson is going to live in Portland’s nightmares for what he did to them on Sunday.
Austin are betting on Owen Wolff making a big leap this season and he showed signs that he might do just that, putting his mark all over a 1-0 win over SKC.
Being asked to go to Cincinnati to open the season is no small task and the Red Bulls had some moments, but they looked slow in a 1-0 loss.
The Lions played better than the scoreline indicated in a 4-2 loss to Philly, but that’s not going to make them feel good. Certainly not when Oscar Pareja’s team has made a habit of getting off to slow starts to the season.
The Pigeons held a 2-1 lead against a Miami side that had been down to 10 men for more than an hour, so giving up a stoppage-time equalizer was especially painful. Going down to Miami and walking away with a point is a job well done normally, but not in those circumstances.
The Union couldn’t catch a break last season so they’ll cherish their 4-2 win over Orlando. Getting some production from the front line is encouraging, but the defense needs to lock things down.
Dallas already have as many road wins as they had all of last season after beating Houston 2-1. They pressed and forced the Dynamo to make plays, then pounced on their rivals’ mistakes. It won’t be that easy as opponents get sharper with time, but getting an away win on the first matchday is everything for this club.
The Gregg Berhalter era got off to a good start as Brian Gutiérrez scored twice in the first 22 minutes, but the Fire looked a long way from getting a hold of their new manager’s system. They were a mess and gifted the Crew chance after chance en route to a 4-2 loss. Berhalter’s going to need more than 90 minutes to get things going in Chicago.
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It’s a shame that Montréal didn’t leave Atlanta with at least a point for how well they played, but they gifted the home side a goal and that was enough to sink them 3-2. Still, CFM have to feel good about how they played, especially in possession.
Not sure you could draw up a worse season opener than going down to 10 men after just 11 minutes against your Cascadia rival. Portland was in no man’s land in their 4-1 loss to Vancouver.
Hopefully, the Rapids didn’t use up all their good luck in the first week of the season because they got battered in St. Louis and somehow walked away with a scoreless draw.
Edvard Tagseth looked bright in his Nashville debut and the Coyotes held down the center of the pitch well, but there was little going forward in a scoreless draw with New England.
RSL can tell themselves that the Quakes finished especially well, or that they had plenty of chances of their own that they’d finish on another day, but there’s no polishing a 4-0 loss. The squad is undermanned and looked like a mess in the opener.
The Dynamo changed goalkeeper and center-backs in the offseason so it’s no surprise that they struggled in their first game together, but Houston couldn’t have expected them to be quite the disaster they were. It cost them a 2-1 loss to Dallas.
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Look who’s on top of the Supporters’ Shield standings! Bruce Arena couldn’t have gotten off to a better start in San Jose, where the Quakes rocked RSL 4-0. The roster still needs some work, but there’s nobody better at turning a team into more than the sum of its parts than Arena and that was on full display on Saturday.
Anders Dreyer wrote himself into the SDFC record books with not just the first goal in club history, but the first two. And for those to be the only two goals in a 2-0 win over the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy? The man should have a parade in his name through the city.
The Reds went down to D.C. and were clearly the better side. Unfortunately, they only managed a 2-2 draw, but an away point is valuable and if they can sign a striker, TFC might be able to get into the hunt for a playoff spot.
Christian Benteke was back to his goal-scoring ways, and Boris Enow and Hosei Kijima looked bright as D.C. drew Toronto 2-2, but they were clearly second-best at home against a team that missed the playoffs a year ago.
SKC lost to Austin 1-0, but it was actually a fairly encouraging performance. The attack they spent so much time fortifying in the winter was dormant, but their new signings started on the bench, while their undermanned defense held up. If the back line is indeed as competent as they looked in Texas then there’s a path to competitiveness this season.
The Revs made it through the first half-hour of their season without going down to 10 men, so that was already an improvement on last year, then they held on for a well-earned 0-0 draw in Nashville. Success.
