What We Learned: FC Cincinnati take Shield lead, LA Galaxy show life | OneFootball

By Joseph Lowery

Lionel Messi changing games, a 100th-minute winner and so much more – this past weekend’s MLS slate had it all.

Let's explore some of the most interesting things we learned during Matchday 22. And if you want to read up on other key moments in detail, check out Matt Doyle’s latest column.

Onwards.

1. FC Cincinnati keep finding ways to win

We have a new leader in the Supporters’ Shield race, folks. After their 2-1 win over Chicago Fire FC and the rest of the weekend’s results, FC Cincinnati have hopped into first on 42 points with a 2.0 points-per-game average.

Their attack is still lagging when it comes to creating reliable and consistent chances (they haven’t created more than 1.4 xG in a single game since that midweek 3-3 draw with FC Dallas that marked Lucho Acosta’s return to Cincinnati). That worries me. But with Evander extending his goal contribution streak to three games, Cincy didn’t need chance after chance in the final third. The Brazilian star kept delivering with a goal and an assist.

It’s not just Evander’s jaw-dropping showings that are sending FC Cincinnati into the winner’s column – it’s also their improved defensive work. Up to and including that high-scoring draw with Dallas, Pat Noonan’s team allowed 1.79 xG per game (26th in MLS, according to American Soccer Analysis). In their five games since that draw and Noonan’s postgame presser where he noted “there were guys that were nowhere close in the second half,” Cincinnati have allowed a third-best 1.08 xG per game.

With an attacking game-changer and a defense that’s finding its footing (even with Obinna Nwobodo’s recent quad injury), FC Cincinnati are surging at the right time.

2. Pep Biel continues to produce

It’s like clockwork: Charlotte FC need Pep Biel to pull out a moment of magic, and the Spaniard does exactly that.

Biel’s goal got Charlotte on the scoresheet in their 2-2 draw with Orlando City on Saturday, helping him become the fastest player in club history to reach 20 goal contributions. Between last season and this one, it took Biel just 29 games, a whole eight games fewer than Karol Swiderski. For good measure, the No. 10 added an assist for Charlotte's second goal of the game.

Biel was excellent over the weekend, timing yet another quality performance when Charlotte needed him most. Saturday's draw snapped a three-game losing streak, though head coach Dean Smith will regret that his team shipped two unanswered goals to turn three points into one.

Even with Charlotte outside of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs picture looking in, Biel’s presence makes them a team that must be taken seriously. Only three players have registered more non-penalty goal contributions than Biel’s 16 – Messi (18), Evander (19) and Anders Dreyer (20). Among players with at least 750 minutes this year, just Messi, Dreyer, Luis Suárez and Josef Martínez have tallied more non-penalty expected goals plus expected assisted goals per 90 minutes, according to FBref.

Biel is a one-man wrecking crew, and Charlotte FC’s recent announcement that his loan has been extended through the rest of the season is welcome news for everyone in the Carolinas.

3. Lawrence Ennali is the truth

After tearing his ACL early into his Houston Dynamo FC career last season, winger Lawrence Ennali made his first start of his MLS career on Saturday and was awesome.

The 23-year-old German played as the left-sided width provider in the attacking line of Ben Olsen’s 3-2-5 attacking shape. He made quick work of San Diego FC’s backline throughout the first half of what turned out to be a jam-packed 4-3 win at the expansion club. We saw flashes of Ennali’s one-v-one dribbling and playmaking ability after he arrived as a U22 Initiative signing from Poland last July… then he did his knee.

Those attacking skills were on full display against San Diego, and they weren’t the only qualities. Along with his savvy on the ball in tighter confines, Ennali showed off literal game-changing speed to get Houston on the board in the 36th minute:

Only the LA Galaxy’s Emiro Garcés has registered a faster top speed in MLS this season than Ennali, according to Sportec’s data. As Calen Carr, who knows a thing or two about recovering from a torn ACL and playing for the Dynamo, pointed out on social media, pulling off that kind of run and goal in your first start back from an ACL tear is downright absurd.

Ennali’s ceiling is crazy high, which helps raise Houston’s.

4. LA Galaxy have building blocks

The Galaxy claimed their second win of the season in a 3-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Friday night.

Of course, the result doesn't change LA's 2025 outlook a ton: they would have to pull off a crazy finish to even sniff the playoffs. But performances, both collective and individual, still matter as next season approaches and as Riqui Puig gets closer to his return from a torn ACL.

Against Vancouver, the Galaxy put in an effective team-wide performance on the defensive end – the sort that's been oh-so-rare for them in 2025. LA held the (admittedly short-handed) Whitecaps to just six shots and their second-lowest xG tally of the season, according to FBref.

It wasn’t just the Galaxy’s defensive work that impressed, but also the play of midfielder Marco Reus and striker Matheus Nascimento. Nascimento, a U22 Initiative signing, has quietly bagged two goals in his last four games, while Reus has bagged eight goal contributions in his last eight games. The 36-year-old has been a regular starter since May and looks more assured after injuries limited him earlier this year.

If Reus and Nascimento are anything to go by, there are building blocks for the Galaxy as they look towards 2026.

5. Atlanta United are in trouble

Want to guess how many games Atlanta United have won this season? Go ahead.

Four.

The Five Stripes have won just twice since April, and after Saturday’s 0-0 draw at D.C. United, they’ve picked up just one point in their last four outings. Things were already tough for Atlanta, and the road forward looks increasingly difficult. I’ll let the numbers do the talking.

Sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference on 18 points, Atlanta United average 0.9 points per game. Chicago, sitting ninth in the East as the final Wild Card team should the postseason begin today, are averaging 1.4 points per game. That puts the Fire on pace to end the season with 48 points. For Atlanta to surpass the Fire’s projected end-of-season point total, they would need to collect 31 points over their final 14 regular-season games.

For those of you who have stuck through this exercise, this means Atlanta need to play at a better-than-MLS-record 2.21 points per game pace between now and the end of the season. Inter Miami didn’t even average that en route to setting the league's single-season points record last year.

I'll gladly be proven wrong, but the Five Stripes postseason hopes are in trouble, y’all.