Poco a poco, Alan Pulido comienza a sepultar los malos recuerdos de la lesión que no lo dejó jugar en todo 2022 y cambiarlos por sonrisas. Ante Vancouver Whitecaps, el delantero mexicano del Sporting Kansas City marcó su segundo gol en la MLS y su tercero en la temporada 2023.
Pulido abrió la cuenta para SKC y lo hizo con un bello cabezazo.
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.
In a word, forgettable. Following one of the most exciting matchdays of the MLS season, the league’s first foray into midweek play definitely did not live up to the billing, but there were still a few moments that caught our attention. Despite MLS Matchday 13 being promoted as a continuation of Rivalry Week, there were few games that truly fit that description, and it showed both on the field and in the scorelines.
Shock results rocked the boat in MLS Matchweek 11, with upsets happening from Seattle to Miami and San Jose to Charlotte. Frontrunners have emerged in both the league standings and the MVP race as several big names set the scoresheets alight and dazzled in front of packed crowds.
Given the limelight on Sunday afternoon to show viewers why they'd gone winless through the opening 10 matches of the MLS season, Sporting Kansas City disappointed everyone who was looking for more of the same by beating the Seattle Sounders 2-1 at Lumen Field.
Matchups at the top and bottom of the table make for some interesting reading. The two best teams in the East faced off in Foxborough, while Kansas City played host to both the NFL Draft and a struggling Montréal side to varying degrees of success. In the West, dropped points from Seattle, St. Louis, and San Jose only gave more life to LAFC on their week off.
Veinte meses después, Alan Pulido se reencontró con el gol.
El delantero mexicano anotó en la victoria 3-0 del Sporting Kansas City sobre Tulsa Athletic en la U.S. Open Cup y terminó con una larguísima y maldita sequía de alegrías.
Pulido llegó al equipo estadounidense proveniente de Chivas, en 2019, a cambio de 9,5 millones de dólares y su aporte en principio no fue menor: 15 goles y ocho asistencias en 36 apariciones. Sin embargo, una serie de molestias y una operación de rodilla a principios de 2022 lo borraron de escena.
The league table is finally taking shape as the top teams separate themselves from the pack while the league's cellar dwellers cling to every point that will hopefully save their seasons. There were several struggling teams that earned massive wins while some top teams slipped up, making for another thoroughly entertaining matchweek.
A week on from international matches and MLS has returned to full strength. The superstars have reappeared, replacing the excuses that swam in their wake and results are once again indicative of each team’s true ability.
Life under new manager Wilfried Nancy left a bit to be desired for the Crew. The former CF Montréal boss saw his new side secure just four points from its first four matches, but back-to-back dominant displays have given this marriage a new outlook.
A grain of salt. Perhaps the perfect idiom for MLS Matchweek 5. As teams traversed the FIFA-recognized international break, it became abundantly clear that some squads were better at handling life without their superstars than others. This imbalance made for some surprising results, but overall, a thoroughly entertaining week of games.