MLS REVIEW 19 Sep 2026: Two stoppage-time goals turn 2-2 into 4-2 for New England, and the model's surest call survives

Our model liked the home side at Gillette Stadium, at Stade Saputo and at Levi's Stadium, and picked Charlotte FC to win at Audi Field. Its firmest call anywhere on the card was New England Revolution at home to Orlando City SC, and that was the only one of the three home leans that came good. It very nearly did not. New England led by two goals, were pulled back to 2-2 by a penalty in the 88th minute, and then scored twice in stoppage time to win 4-2.

Carles Gil put New England in front in the 19th minute and Peyton Miller made it two in the 59th. Iván Angulo pulled one back for Orlando City in the 62nd, and when Miller handled in his own box, Martín Ojeda converted the penalty in the 88th to level it. Miller scored again in the third minute of stoppage time, Gil added the fourth in the sixth, and each man finished the night with two. Gil's second was his twelfth goal of the season, a career best; Miller, who comes from West Hartford, Connecticut, matched his own best of seven. Antoine Griezmann did not play for Orlando, ruled out by injury.

San Jose Earthquakes and LAFC finished 2-2 at Levi's Stadium, and the model did not see that coming either: it had a narrow lean to San Jose, and on our own books the draw registers as an upset. Son Heung-min put LAFC ahead in the 34th minute and Denis Bouanga doubled the lead in the 53rd, by which point the visitors were a man short, Aaron Long having been sent off in the first half for a last-man foul. Bouanga's goal was his 79th in the regular season for LAFC, one more than Carlos Vela managed. Timo Werner came on for San Jose in the 62nd minute and crossed for Preston Judd, another substitute, to head one back in the 70th, and Reid Roberts beat Hugo Lloris from distance in the eighth minute of stoppage time to level it.

CF Montréal and Columbus Crew met days after each had booked a place in a cup final on the same October date, and it was the visitors who took the league night. Mohamed Farsi, a Montrealer, ran clear down the left and drove low past Sebastian Breza in the 57th minute; Brais Méndez curled a free kick under the bar in the 68th. In between, Prince Owusu had the ball in the Columbus net, only for the goal to be ruled out on review for an offside against Fabian Herbers in the build-up. Columbus won 2-0, and Montréal have now gone nine home league matches without a win. The model had leaned to Montréal, so this one also registers as an upset by our own reckoning. Laurent Courtois, Columbus's interim head coach, was working at the ground of the club that dismissed him in March 2025.

The model's one away pick was Charlotte FC at D.C. United, and it was right. Ashley Westwood, captain and back from suspension, struck from long range in the 22nd minute; Lucas Bartlett headed D.C. United level from a Keisuke Kurokawa free kick in the 47th; and Allan Saint-Maximin cut inside from the left and finished from a tight angle in the 71st. Charlotte won 2-1. It was Saint-Maximin's first goal in MLS, after five assists, and Kristijan Kahlina protected it with ten saves, a personal best; D.C. United took 34 shots and had a single goal to show for them. Dean Smith, whose fiftieth win it was as Charlotte's head coach, said of his match-winner: "He produces magic moments doesn't he." So the model ended the night with its away pick and its firmest home call correct, and the two tight home leans wrong.