MLS REVIEW 27 Sep 2026: Real Salt Lake snaps a 13-match winless run and Columbus beats Messi as our model goes 5-for-10

MLS played a full Saturday card on 27 September, ten matches in all, and our model had a rough day of it -- getting only five right, with two of the misses draws against a favourite and two more genuine upsets, including Real Salt Lake ending the league's longest single-season winless streak and Columbus beating Inter Miami.

Austin FC and San Diego FC drew 3-3 after San Diego led 3-0 inside the hour. Anibal Godoy, a Mikkel Desler own goal and Marcus Ingvartsen had San Diego three up by the 64th minute, before Brandon Vazquez and a Christian Ramirez brace pulled Austin level by the 86th. San Diego had led 3-0 before the collapse. Our consensus had favoured Austin; the draw split the difference.

FC Dallas beat LAFC 1-0. Osaze Urhoghide headed in a Joaquin Valiente corner in the 34th minute for the only goal, and goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois -- making his 100th MLS appearance -- kept Dallas's second straight clean sheet, including a VAR-overturned LAFC equaliser in the second half. Our consensus had favoured Dallas.

Houston Dynamo were reduced to ten men in first-half stoppage time when Hector Herrera was sent off for violent conduct, and Sporting Kansas City made it count. Andre Luiz opened the scoring in the 27th minute and set up Calvin Harris for a second right on the stroke of half-time. It was the first red card shown to a Sporting Kansas City opponent in 37 matches. Our consensus had strongly favoured Houston, making this the day's biggest upset by our own numbers.

Nashville SC beat Toronto FC 2-0, with Hany Mukhtar scoring both goals in the first half to reach 100 career MLS goals, the 16th player in league history to do so. Backup goalkeeper Joe Willis, playing his first match of the year, kept the clean sheet. Our consensus had favoured Nashville.

Seattle Sounders beat Minnesota United 3-1. Jordan Morris and Hassani Dotson scored either side of the half-hour mark, Anthony Markanich pulled one back for Minnesota just after half-time, and substitute Paul Arriola settled it late on. The win was head coach Brian Schmetzer's 150th in MLS regular-season play. Our consensus had favoured Seattle.

Real Salt Lake beat New England Revolution 3-0, a result our consensus had not expected. Aiden Hezarkhani scored inside two minutes, and Sergi Solans added two more in the second half, ending a 13-match single-season winless run for the club.

LA Galaxy came from two goals down to beat Colorado Rapids 3-2. Donovan Phillip and Paxten Aaronson had the Rapids 2-0 up inside 39 minutes, before a Reggie Cannon own goal, a Joao Klauss finish and a Justin Haak strike turned it around in the second half. Our consensus had favoured LA Galaxy; the comeback matched it.

San Jose Earthquakes beat Portland Timbers 3-1, with Preston Judd scoring twice either side of an Eduard Lowen goal to put the game away inside 29 minutes. David Da Costa's late reply was a consolation. Our consensus had favoured San Jose.

Vancouver Whitecaps and D.C. United shared six goals in a 3-3 draw that Vancouver led twice and could not hold. D.C.'s Kimito Nono scored either side of goals from Brian White, Bruno Caicedo and Thomas Muller for Vancouver, equalising for a second time in the 80th minute. Our consensus had favoured Vancouver; the draw split the difference.

Columbus Crew beat Inter Miami 2-1, a result our consensus had not expected. Josef Martinez converted a penalty for his first Columbus goal, Lionel Messi equalised with a free kick to extend his league-leading goal tally to 21, and substitute Jamal Thiare scored the winner deep into stoppage time. Thiare said afterwards, "I want to just help my team... I'm so happy, and I would like to say this for the fans: they continue to come every night. We need them, and we know what we can do with them."