Toronto FC

Major League Soccer has become synonym to having some of the biggest soccer stars in the world and the list of their most valuable players shows just how much the league has grown in value over the past decades.

What’s better than late-night soccer on the Fourth of July? With a few games remaining before the summer break, MLS treated its fans to a midweek smattering of entertaining fixtures for Matchday 23, including one of the league’s great rivalries at one of the nation’s most storied venues. 

Toronto FC parted ways with head coach and sporting director Bob Bradley on Monday after a 3W-7L-10D start to the 2023 MLS season.

Toronto also relieved assistant coach and technical director Mike Sorber of his duties and named Terry Dunfield as the interim head coach.

The Reds are in 14th place in the 15-team Eastern Conference through 20 matches. Only Inter Miami (17) and the New York Red Bulls (17) have scored fewer goals in the East than Toronto (18).

MLS is now past the halfway point in its season, and the summer break for the new Leagues Cup is quickly approaching. Players are missing important games thanks to international play, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but as we saw on Saturday night, some teams’ struggles are other sides’ gains, so let’s see what we learned on MLS Matchday 21.

5 takeaways from MLS Matchday 21

#1. Philly loves a 4+ goal win

What’s the saying about guarantees in life? Death, taxes and the Union scoring 4+ goals against weak opposition? It's not? Well, maybe it should be. 

What is form but a spell to be broken? What are records but standards to be rewritten? Comfort and predictability have no home in MLS, especially not during Matchday 15. Across the league, teams and players alike found ways to buck their trends of frustration while others gave frustration a chance.

The latest Salary Guide has been released by the MLS Players Association (MLSPA), revealing the highest paid MLS players 2023. There could be a change when the Secondary Transfer Window opens from July 5 to Aug. 2, but for now 31-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri has reclaimed the top spot after Lorenzo Insigne's record 2022 salary of $14 million was almost cut in half (the Italian has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 17 all-time league appearances).

CF Montreal announced Wednesday that the visitors' section at Stade Saputo will be closed for Saturday's match against Toronto FC following a fight between the teams' supporters in Toronto on Tuesday night.

Videos circulating on social media showed a small group of supporters exchanging punches in the nosebleed seats at BMO Field during Montreal's 2-1 win in the Canadian Championship quarterfinals.