Americans at home: MLS is BACK vol 4 - MLS was BACK

MLS was and, indeed, still is back! Here’s how the Americans in the tournament fared in the semi-finals.

Ebobisse strikes first at sunset

As the sun set in Orlando, the Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union met in a fateful semi-final match. The game would feature a pair of Americans getting on the board with Jeremy Ebobisse putting his team ahead in the 13th minute. It was a nice finish with an even nicer scenery to light up the goal.

After the Timbers went ahead 2-0, Andrew Wooten checked into the game for Philly and gave his team a glimmer of hope with his own goal in the 85th.

Aside from the goal scorers, other Americans featured in the match with Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie going the full 90 while Alejandro Bedoya collected a yellow card.

Orlando to the final

Possibly the most improbable thing about the MLS is BACK tournament is that it worked as well as it did, but the second most improbable thing is that Orlando is good actually. To that end, the team beat Minnesota United 3-1 to advance to the finals thanks to Nani deciding to takeover the game.

In addition to the two goals from the former Manchester United man, Benji Michel added a goal of his own at the death. Chris Mueller also got the start and logged 67 minutes in the match.

For the Loons, it was tough going. The team dominated in terms of crosses (they had 38 crosses, its a lot of crosses) and shots. Chase Gaspar added 10 crosses of his own and Ethan Finlay had three shots. Mason Toye came in as a sub and scored a goal in the 83rd minute, but would not find the net again as Minnesota was eliminated. Oddly, his goal did not come off of one of the 38 crosses, but rather a fantastic through-ball.