MLS has returned and matchday one is now behind us with quite a bit of excitement along the way. Three teams didn't play as El Trafico between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC was rescheduled to July 4 due to weather in California and the Chicago Fire also didn't feature as one team will have a bye each week due to the league now having 29 teams after St. Louis City SC joined the league. Rising star Thiago Almada went nuts for Atlanta United to defeat San Jose in stoppage time while Seattle and Philadelphia were the top-scoring teams hanging up four goals each.
Welcome to MLS By The Numbers, where we'll go through some key stats to recap the weekend, possible trends around the league, and other things that are fun to talk about.
Let's get counting:
99': Time on the clock for Thiago Almada game-winner
Almada didn't have the only late winner in the league over the weekend but the 21-year-old did the unimaginable, both scoring Atlanta's equalizing goal in the 92nd minute before one-upping himself by winning the match. It was a performance that shows just what Almada means to the Five Stripes. Fresh off of winning the World Cup with Argentina and the MLS Young Player of the Year Award, Almada can go down as one of the most talented young players to come through the league and he's set for quite a European move in the near future.
Not to be forgotten, D.C. United also kicked off their season with a victory powered by another 21-year-old, Theodore Ku-DiPietro, who helped the team come back to defeat Toronto F.C. Ku-DiPietrio assisted Christian Benteke's goal in the 90th minute before scoring the go-ahead goal in the 98th minute. Wayne Rooney has pushed a youth movement at the club and the early returns are good. Ku-DiPetro was one of the club's best performers in USL with Loudun United and got his chance at the top level while 16-year-old center back Matai Akinmboni also started the match. D.C. still have a long way to go but the early returns are that they will be fun to watch.
Ted Ku-Dipietro wins it for @dcunited in the 98th minute with his first-ever MLS goal. 😱 pic.twitter.com/nlOMtg1chH
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 26, 2023
34: Minutes played by Lorenzo Insigne before injury
The most expensive player in MLS, everything Insigne does will be watched and while he was good last season scoring six goals and assisting two more, he also logged fewer than 1000 league minutes for Toronto FC while they finished second from the bottom in the Eastern Conference. The club have high expectations for Insigne and without at minimum making the playoffs, this is a move that could end as a failure for them as well.
There were concerns coming in about how many minutes he could play after being so important to Napoli for years so getting a leg injury in the first match of the season is concerning. Bob Bradley didn't have much to say after the match on the injury stating that he "felt something in the lower leg [and] couldn't continue."
If this injury is a serious one, Toronto's season could be up in smoke before it even gets going.
1: Games it took for St. Louis City SC to win
Facing an Austin FC side that finished second in the west last season, few outside of St. Louis believed that the club would win their opening match in the league but that's all they needed. From Tim Parker scoring their first-ever MLS goal from a corner in the 24th minute to the team fighting back to answer back-to-back Austin goals, St. Louis were impressive. They even provided my moment of the week although Kipp Keller may want to look away.
Keller seemingly passed the ball to former Austin midfielder Jared Stroud for no reason and Stroud made no mistake putting it into the back of the net. Keller may have forgotten that Stroud is no longer his teammate but it was quite a moment to watch.
Right place 📍 Right time ⏰ pic.twitter.com/PcGpxe74Fg
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) February 27, 2023
After that goal Joao Klauss did what he does in making hard finishes look easy to put the club ahead for the victory.
.@stlCITYsc GAME WINNER! 🔥
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 26, 2023
João Klauss with a beautiful turn and finish in the 86th minute to make history for #AllForCITY pic.twitter.com/15QqFqtzAg
31: Goals scored with one taking the cake
Since it would be unfair to split both of Almada's goals, here are both of them that powered Atlanta to the win. These were also more than enough for Almada to secure my player of the week vote, finishing the first off the crossbar with the second a free kick like his national teammate Lionel Messi:
Thiago Almada is HIM! 👀
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 26, 2023
The 21-year-old scored a 93rd-minute banger and a 99th-minute free kick to will @ATLUTD to victory. pic.twitter.com/2I3B2mzeu7