Major League Soccer fans have seen their favorite teams play for a couple of weeks now, and things promise to get even better when the next batch of games begin.
Inter Miami, Seattle Sounders, St. Louis SC, and New England are the only teams in the league with two wins after two matches, with St. Louis' case being quite interesting, as they are enjoying their maiden season in the league and won their matches with equally woeful performances by their rivals' defenders, who gifted the team with similar goals in consecutive weeks. Now, it will be interesting to see if the expansion team can carry on with their momentum and add a third win in a row.
Speaking of the defending champions, Los Angeles FC will come into this game after a busy week, which saw them win their first match of the campaign while also making a trip to face Alajuelense in the CONCACAF Champions League. Needless to say, fans will be waiting to see if it the amount of games played during their first weeks of action does not carry a negative effect on their options to win one more title.
Here are the main issues to keep an eye on for the third week of action in the North American league.
How to watch Matchweek 3 in the 2023 MLS season?
Fans in the U.S. and Canada will be able to watch select games on regular TV networks. The first one of those will be Charlotte vs Atlanta United, which will get things going on Matchweek 3. Another match set to be available on TV will be Nashville vs CF Montreal. Added to that, four more matches will be streamed free of charge on Apple TV. The rest of this week's matches will be available to be streamed in over 100 countries via MLS Season Pass.
Here is the full list of games for this weekend.
Top news of the week in Major League Soccer
Five MLS teams make debut in CONCACAF Champions League with mixed results
The start of the continental tournament for MLS clubs did not bring many good news. Austin FC were slammed in Haiti with a 3-0 defeat against Violette AC, while Orlando City were able to earn a goalless draw against 20202 CCL winners Tigres UANL in Mexico. Earlier on Tuesday, Philadelphia Union returned from their trip to El Salvador with a goalless draw as well. The best result for a Major League Soccer club came via the Vancouver Whitecaps, who defeated Real España 5-0 on Wednesday.
The last game of the continental competition featuring a Major League Soccer team took place on Thursday, and defending MLS champions LAFC claimed a convincing three-nil win away from home against Alajuelense. The return leg, which should not represent any problems for the black and gold, will be held next week.
Robert Taylor earns Goal of the Matchday with effort vs Philadelphia
There was hardly any debate on who the winner of the best goal of the week should have been, as Robert Taylor's stunner against Philadelphia Union was hard to overlook.
The right-footed shot by the Finnish international earned quite a bit of praise, and some have even gone as far as to consider it a perfect contender for the Goal of the Season. Taylor's goal helped seal Inter Miami's second win of the season in their 2-0 victory over the Union last Saturday.
Have a look at Taylor's golazo (Image might be geo-restricted).
Goal of the Year contender?!?
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 8, 2023
Robert Taylor's banger wins the AT&T 5G Goal of the Matchday. https://t.co/9wmusurnKh pic.twitter.com/YjUFsMbegY
Portland Timbers agree two-year extension for Aljaz Ivacic
Coming off his best year in the MLS, Slovenian goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic has been rewarded with a contract extension by the Portland Timbers. The 29-year-old shot-stopper kept clean sheet last season, in what turned out to be the right move for the franchise after handing him first-choice duties. Ivacic is yet to play this season after picking up an injury during the team's preseason, but it will not take too long for Giovanni Savarese to hand him the No. 1 spot back as soon as he recovers.
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