Robert Lewandowski made his first real mark in MLS in his third appearance for the Chicago Fire. Elsewhere, Thomas Müller scored on a penalty kick against Heung-Min Son. Two other Germans also found the back of the net.
Robert Lewandowski had undoubtedly imagined his start in Chicago differently. His new club lost its first two matches—in the 2-3 loss in Miami, the Polish striker came on as a substitute without recording a point, and in the 1-3 loss in New York, he didn’t enter the game until after halftime. But the 37-year-old had simply been saving his first big performance for later: On Saturday evening, the Chicago Fire fell behind at home in the 18th minute, before Lewandowski single-handedly turned the match around.
Two minutes after the 0–1, Lewandowski received the ball in a central position just outside the penalty area, held it up in his familiar style, and then placed the ball precisely into the lower left corner (20th minute). After the break, Chicago dominated and pressed for the winning goal, which Lewandowski would ultimately score. Following a fine pass out to the left side, the new signing was already fully integrated into the team’s attacking play and coolly finished past goalkeeper Kahlina into the lower left corner (68th minute).
Werner records two points—but no points for his team
Lewandowski’s old friend Thomas Müller also took center stage in the top-of-the-table clash between his Vancouver Whitecaps and Los Angeles FC. In front of over 40,000 spectators, Vancouver—despite their dominance—initially fell behind when Heung-Min Son scored for the visitors just before halftime (37th minute). After the break, the Canadians pressed forward and were awarded a penalty following a foul on Müller. The fouled player took the penalty himself and gave goalkeeper Hugo Lloris no chance (76th minute).
Following the draw, the Whitecaps and LAFC remain tied at the top of the Western Conference standings with 34 points each.
Elsewhere, Marco Reus played the full match for LA Galaxy but could not go beyond a scoreless draw in their home game against FC Dallas. His compatriot Marcel Hartel secured at least one point for St. Louis City SC in front of their home crowd against Real Salt Lake with his equalizer just before the final quarter of an hour.
The San Jose Earthquakes had also harbored legitimate hopes of earning a point, but even taking the lead twice wasn’t enough to secure a result against FC Cincinnati. Former national team player Timo Werner was efficient, setting up the 1-0 goal and scoring the 2-1 goal himself. But starting in the 80th minute, the uncontested home team managed to score three more goals. San Jose thus remains third in the Western Conference behind Vancouver and LAFC.
13 days after the World Cup final: Super sub Messi misses
Just 13 days after Argentina’s loss in the World Cup final, Lionel Messi also returned to MLS action on Saturday. In Inter Miami’s 2-2 (2-1) draw against the Columbus Crew, he entered the game in the second half after a relatively short break but missed two chances to secure the win. Columbus equalized shortly before the end through Spaniard Brais Mendez (84’.
For Miami, second in the East behind Nashville, it marked the end of a winning streak—Luis Suárez and company had previously won six straight games.
