LOS ANGELES (AP) - Corey Baird scored in the 61st minute, and Los Angeles FC sent expansion Austin FC to a 2-0 defeat Saturday in the inaugural match for Major League Soccer’s 27th team.
Jose Cifuentes added a goal into an open net in the 91st minute for LAFC, which improved to 4-0-0 in season openers in franchise history.
Austin FC put on a creditable performance against one of MLS’ top clubs, but the first major league sports franchise in Texas’ capital city officially joined North America’s top soccer league with a lively, narrow loss to one of the model franchises of the current MLS expansion boom.
LAFC played without top goal scorer Diego Rossi, and then lost former league MVP Carlos Vela to an early injury.
CF MONTREAL 4, TORONTO FC 2
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Mason Toye scored in the third minute and Montreal led the rest of the way in the season opener for both teams.
On the counterattack, Zachary Brault-Guillard ran up the middle of the field before passing to Toye, who put away a first-timer to open the scoring. Romell Quioto won a foot-race to a long clearance by Joel Waterman and slipped in a top-netter to make it 2-0 in the 24th minute.
Toronto’s Marco Delgado converted a penalty kick in the 45th but Victor Wanyama bounced a header, off a corner kick by Mustafa Kizza, into the net in the 54th minute and Djordje Mihailovic made it 4-1 in the 71st. Richie Laryea’s rolling side-netter in the 88th minute capped the scoring.
Formerly known as the Montreal Impact, re-branded CF Montreal is playing its home games at Fort Lauderdale because of travel restrictions by the Canadian government during the coronavirus pandemic.
DC UNITED 2, NEW YORK CITY FC 1
WASHINGTON (AP) - Brendan Daniel Hines-Ike and Russell Canouse each scored goals late in the first half to lead DC United over New York City FC.
Hines-Ike scored in the 39th minute with an assist from Júnior Moreno. Canouse scored five minutes later on an assist from Julian Gressel, helping end NYCFC’s four-game undefeated steak in the series.
Valentin Castellanos scored in the 15th minute for NYCFC, but was also shown a yellow card in the 74th. DC United goalkeeper Chris Seitz made his third save, stopping Castellanos’s right-footed shot from the right side of the box in the 85th.
SPORTING KC 2, RED BULLS 1
HARRISON, N.J. (AP) - Gadi Kinda and Daniel Salloi each scored second-half goals and Sporting Kansas City beat New York.
Kinda scored off a penalty kick in the 59th minute. Salloi fired his right-footed shot from close range to the center of the goal a minute later.
The Red Bulls’ Caden Clark, a 17-year-old on the radar of European clubs, scored from the center of the 18-yard box to the top right corner of the net in the 48th minute.
FC DALLAS 0, RAPIDS 0
FRISCO, Texas (AP) - Jimmy Maurer made six saves to help FC Dallas secure a point in the season opener for both teams.
It’s the 12th consecutive year Dallas has earned at least a point in its season-opening contest - with seven wins and five draws. Dallas hasn’t lost an opener since 2009, when the Chicago Fire won 3-1.
Maurer’s last big save of the night came late in the game when he denied former teammate Michael Barrios, who took a pass running down the right. Maurer closed on the rushing Barrios and got wide to deflect the ball out of play.
William Yarbrough made four saves for the Rapids.
ATLANTA UNITED 0, ORLANDO CITY 0
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Brad Guzan had three saves to help Atlanta United to a season-opening tie with Orlando City.
Guzan made a diving one-handed stop of a shot by Alexandre Pato in the the 72nd minute. Pato, a 31-year old making his MLS debut, left the game in the 80th after suffering an apparent knee injury.
Atlanta’s Josef Martinez came on in place of Lisandro Lopez in 75th minute. The 27-year old Martinez, who scored 77 combined goals in his first three MLS seasons, missed most of his fourth after suffering a season-ending torn right ACL in the 2020 opener at Nashville on March 18.
FIRE 2, REVOLUTION 2
CHICAGO (AP) - Robert Berić had a goal and an assist and Chicago tied New England in the Fire’s first game at Soldier Field in more than 15 years.
Berić opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Six minutes later, Luka Stojanovic gave the Fire a 2-0 lead.
The Revolution cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 14th minute when Adam Buksa headed in Carles Gil’s corner. They tied it on Gustavo Bou’s finish off Tajon Buchanan’s pass in the 27th minute.
NASHVILLE SC 2, FC CINCINNATI 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Randall Leal had a goal and an assist to help Nashville rally for a 2-2 tie in the first MLS meeting between the former USL rivals.
Leal crossed to Jhonder Cádiz, who finished from close range to bring Nashville within 2-1 in the 20th minute. In the 64th minute, Leal tied it at 2 with a long-range curler just above the outstretched reach of Przemyslaw Tyton.
Luciano Acosta and Brenner scored for Cincinnati.
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