Two Rescues at the Death

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2026

Wednesday night in MLS ran on stoppage time. Two games were rescued at the death — one in Miami, one in New York — and both conferences came out the other side rearranged: Atlanta United eliminated, Portland dragged to the edge of the West’s playoff line, Minnesota still breathing, and Inter Miami still chasing New England with a trip to Foxborough waiting on Sunday. Eight games, and barely a dull one among them. Here is the whole night, game by game — and it starts where the noise was loudest, at Nu Stadium.

Inter Miami 2, FC Cincinnati 2 — rescued at the death

For an hour, nothing would go in — Lionel Messi picked up a yellow card in the 44th minute and was held scoreless — and then Luis Suárez broke it open. Casemiro found him inside the left side of the box in the 61st minute, Suárez took a touch and curled home his 16th goal of the season; the assist was Casemiro’s first since joining the club this summer.

Cincinnati flipped the game in six minutes. Kenji Mboma Dem levelled in the 80th, and when Samuel Gidi finished a fast break in the 86th — his first MLS goal — the visitors led, and Miami’s grip on the East’s second seed was slipping in real time.

Riquelme Fillipi had been on the pitch for seven minutes. Brought on in the 83rd, the Brazilian winger took Rodrigo De Paul’s pass down the left in the 90th minute, cut inside his defender and slotted home the equalizer — his first goal in Inter Miami colors, and De Paul’s 16th assist of the season, the most on the team. Evander still had a stoppage-time look at a winner for Cincinnati, deflected away by Ian Fray, and 2–2 is how it closed: Miami third in the East on 56 points, two behind New England with two matches to play — and Sunday’s trip to New England now carrying the second seed with it. Cincinnati, on 43, head to Philadelphia on Saturday still chasing their own place.

New York City FC 2, Atlanta United 1 — Traoré, 90+5

Atlanta came to Citi Field knowing anything but a win ended their season, and they played like it — 19 shots to New York City’s 11. What they never found was the finish. Nicolás Fernández Mercau bent home a free kick in the 70th minute, his 16th goal of the season, and City were twenty minutes from closing it out.

Breel Embolo refused. In the 88th minute, after Fafa Picault’s curled effort came back off the post, Embolo headed in the equalizer — his fourth goal in his first ten MLS matches — and Atlanta had their lifeline. It lasted seven minutes. Bénie Traoré had been introduced in the 90th minute; five minutes into stoppage time he took Kevin O’Toole’s pass and drove the winner in from outside the box — the 23-year-old’s second goal in 17 appearances. Behind him, Matt Freese’s five saves made it stand. City’s first win in six tries at Citi Field this season keeps them in the hunt for the East’s final playoff spot with two to play. Atlanta are out.

St. Louis CITY 2, Portland Timbers 3 — three in six, then ten men

For 41 minutes at Energizer Park, nothing. Then Portland scored three times in six minutes either side of half-time. Kristoffer Velde opened it in the 42nd, set up by Cole Bassett; David Da Costa doubled it three minutes into first-half stoppage time; and three minutes after the restart Velde struck again, this time from Da Costa’s pass — a brace and an assist for the Norwegian, and 3–0 on the road.

St. Louis refused the ending. Daniel Edelman’s header pulled one back in the 58th, and when Rafael Navarro turned in Jeong Sang-Bin’s effort in the first minute of stoppage time — Navarro’s ninth goal of the season, created by a half-time substitute — it was 3–2 and the place was shaking. Then Kamal Miller took a second yellow card at 90+6′, and Portland closed out the last minutes with ten men, James Pantemis’s four saves the final barrier.

The win — Portland’s second straight, and only their third in 16 on the road this season — lifts the Timbers to 40 points, two points off the West’s final playoff spot with two matches to play. St. Louis stay third on 51, but that is three straight defeats now, straight after a 19-match unbeaten run that tied the single-season league record.

Chicago Fire 2, Orlando City 2 — Griezmann’s night, undone

Antoine Griezmann had a hand in both Orlando goals inside 35 minutes at Soldier Field. He set up Iván Angulo’s sixth-minute opener, then scored a trademark one of his own in the 35th — a left-footed strike from outside the box, curled into the top corner. It was his sixth goal across a five-game scoring streak, Orlando were 2–0 up and cruising, and a win would have put their playoff place within touching distance.

Chicago’s answer came off the bench. Jonathan Bamba, on at half-time, headed in Leonardo Barroso’s cross in the 57th — then turned provider twelve minutes later, feeding Maren Haile-Selassie for the equalizer, and even had a stoppage-time look at winning it himself. The draw keeps Chicago fourth in the East on 52 points. Orlando stay seventh on 43 — unbeaten in five, but a lead that had the night in their hands will have to be defended again.

Charlotte FC 4, CF Montréal 0 — a hat trick off the bench

The night’s only rout took an hour to arrive. Idan Toklomati headed Charlotte in front in the 7th minute off a Saint-Maximin cross, and 1–0 is where it stayed until the bench changed the game. Liel Abada came on in the 65th minute — and scored in the 67th, the 79th and the 83rd: a hat trick in sixteen minutes, set up in turn by Diani, Toklomati and Pep Biel. A tight game at Bank of America Stadium became a statement — 4–0, and the loudest individual line of the night belonged to a substitute.

New England Revolution 3, Red Bull New York 2 — the blown lead that wasn’t

Dor Turgeman scored in the 9th minute, from Carles Gil, and again in the 46th, from Luca Langoni — and at 2–0, New England were cruising toward the win that would keep them second in the East. The Red Bulls declined the script. Cade Cowell pulled one back in the 51st, and Julian Hall levelled in the 64th — one minute after Emil Forsberg, who assisted it, had come off the bench.

New England’s answer arrived in the 83rd: Dániel Gazdag’s winner, created by Peyton Miller, restored the lead for good. The Revolution hold second in the East on 58 points — which is precisely why Miami’s draw stings, and why Sunday in Foxborough is suddenly the biggest game left on the calendar.

Toronto FC 2, D.C. United 1 — Sargent makes one, scores one

D.C. struck first at BMO Field — Andre Dozzell in the 29th minute, from Silvan Hefti’s pass — and Toronto spent the next half hour chasing the game. Jonathan Osorio levelled it in the 64th, the goal standing after a VAR review, with Josh Sargent providing the assist. Then Sargent finished the job himself: an 86th-minute winner, right-footed from the centre of the box. One made, one scored — the striker decided it both ways.

Minnesota United 3, Sporting Kansas City 1 — three in sixteen to stay alive

Minnesota were losing at home to the West’s bottom side with 18 minutes left, and their season was going with it. Taylor Calheira’s 31st-minute strike — his fifth of the season — had Kansas City in front at Allianz Field, and it stayed that way until the 72nd minute.

Then the Loons scored three times in sixteen minutes. Anthony Markanich headed in Joaquín Pereyra’s corner for the equalizer — a defender’s ninth goal of the season. Four minutes later Mauricio Gonzalez took Nectarios Triantis’s pass, shifted it onto his left foot and drilled in the go-ahead goal. Kelvin Yeboah sealed it in the 88th from Tomás Chancalay’s cross — his team-leading 18th goal of the season, a club single-season record.

The win keeps Minnesota’s playoff hopes alive with two matches to play and a trip to LAFC next. Kansas City, bottom of the West on 22 points, lose a fourth straight.

When the noise settled: in the East, New England second on 58, Miami third on 56, Chicago fourth on 52, Atlanta eliminated and Orlando still waiting to punch their ticket. In the West, St. Louis stay third despite a third straight defeat, Portland sit two points off the last playoff spot, and Minnesota are still alive. Two matches left for the clubs that matter — and the biggest of them is Sunday in Foxborough.