What We Learned: Cincy's stars show out, Austin show their potential

If the 2025 MLS season were a racetrack, we’ve already navigated through the first turn and are officially picking up speed on the straightaway.

After six weekends of action, trophy favorites are starting to emerge, teams are hitting the panic button near the bottom of the standings, and two coaches have been unseated.

Today, we’re looking back at the latest slate of MLS matches to examine some of the most interesting things we’ve learned so far this year. We’ve got game-changers in Cincinnati, promising signs out West, and so much more. Oh, and if you want to read up on the rest of Matchday 6 in detail, check out Matt Doyle’s weekly column.

Let’s dive in.

“If not for Roman [Celentano] and Evander, this is a different result. I think those two won us the game tonight,” FC Cincinnati manager Pat Noonan said after his team’s nervy 2-1 win over Nashville SC on Saturday.

Noonan didn’t mince words postgame. He called the match “wild” and “too chaotic for my liking”. And you know what? He was exactly right. Cincinnati were outplayed between the boxes for stretches of their road clash and were out-created in the final third. Really, it was the performances of goalkeeper Celentano and star attacking midfielder Evander that turned the tide in Cincy’s favor.

Celentano, who’s been a rock-solid shot-stopper in each of his three full seasons in net for Cincy, made a penalty save on Hany Mukhtar in the second half. Then, he came up with a crucial double-save less than 60 seconds later to keep his team level. Of course, the reason Cincy had pulled level in the first place was Evander’s incredible free kick just minutes before halftime. This, folks, is what you pay eight figures for:

Cincy didn’t beat Nashville with precision or extended control of the match. Rather, they claimed three points thanks to their elite individual talent. Between Evander’s dazzling display, Celentano’s elite goalkeeping and a late penalty kick winner from Kévin Denkey, Cincy proved they have the strength to brute force wins.

That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the Eastern Conference.

I have so much time for a team that knows exactly who they are, plays to their strengths and does it with ruthless conviction. That describes Nico Estévez’s Austin FC team to the letter right now.

Now on a three-game winning streak, Austin have toppled LAFC, San Diego FC, and St. Louis CITY SC this month. Notably, they’ve done so while collecting less than 37 percent of the ball in all three games, according to FBref. After taking first-half leads in each of those wins, Austin haven’t overextended themselves. They haven’t tried to control games with the ball. They haven’t tried to squeeze the opposition with a high press.

Instead, Austin have played to their strengths: defending in a deeper block and attacking in transition through Brandon Vazquez and Myrto Uzuni up top and the speed of Osman Bukari on the wing. It’s a simple recipe, but one that’s proving incredibly difficult to stop for Austin FC’s Western Conference foes.

There will come a time when they have to play from behind and break down a deeper block themselves, of course. But in matches where the game state is in their favor – or in even game state situations – Austin's specific excellence is already a genuine strength. Watch out, Portland Timbers, because you could be the next team to fall at the hands of the Verde & Black on Saturday (7:45 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+; FOX, FOX Deportes).

If you trail against Estévez’s team, you’re in trouble.

The most exciting part about the start of a new season is figuring out which teams are destined to hang out towards the top of the table for the rest of the year. It’s still early, but it sure looks like we’re getting a read on a few of those teams in an otherwise murky Western Conference.

In addition to the Vancouver Whitecaps and Austin FC, who sit in the West’s top two spots, San Diego and Minnesota United are both building strong cases that could end up with them earning home-field advantage come Audi MLS Cup Playoffs time.

San Diego continue to impress despite their attacking injuries. Chucky Lozano only just got back on the field during a 3-2 win over LAFC on Saturday, subbing on for his first minutes since Matchday 2. Striker Marcus Ingvartsen is set to be sidelined for a couple of months, which should impact San Diego’s attacking play. Note I said “should” not “did” because against LAFC, Mikey Varas’ team put together their best chance creation outing of the season. Set-piece and open-play looks were commonplace for a team with the fourth-best xG differential in MLS, according to FBref.

Speaking of xG differential, Minnesota top MLS in that statistic with a whopping +1.05 per 90 minutes based on FBref’s data. They’ve been downright dominant over the last five games, picking up three wins and two draws along the way. On Saturday, in a 2-0 victory over RSL, Eric Ramsay’s two-striker setup enjoyed regular chances in a ruthlessly efficient display. According to MLS Analyst, the Loons nearly tripled Salt Lake’s passes into the box (14 to five) despite having fewer passes in the final third (49 to 73).

Minnesota and San Diego are thriving right now and don’t show signs of stopping.

There have been some high highs and some low lows for Charlotte FC this season.

At their best, they’ve outplayed another Eastern Conference contender in FC Cincinnati, punished Atlanta United on the break, and decimated the San Jose Earthquakes. At their worst, they’ve been almost lifeless. That was the case in a 2-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids over the weekend. Sure, the Rapids deserve credit for putting the screws to Charlotte in the second half on Saturday. But that doesn’t totally account for the lack of attacking threat shown by Dean Smith’s team at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Charlotte failed to generate quality looks in front of goal, managing just 0.6 xG on 10 total shots, according to FBref’s data. With only eight passes into Colorado’s box, Charlotte barely moved the ball into dangerous areas often enough to threaten Zack Steffen’s goal.

There’s attacking progress to be made in Charlotte – they currently rank 15th in MLS in non-penalty xG, according to FBref, and are still searching for their identity on the left side with the addition of Souleyman Doumbia as a more traditional left back, in contrast to Tim Ream’s stay-at-home interpretation of that role.

Charlotte have enough talent to become a well-rounded squad. But they’re not there yet.

In 2024, the San Jose Earthquakes allowed more goals in a single season than any other team in MLS history (78). They also allowed more goals per game than all but the 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny. It was bad, hence Bruce Arena’s arrival. But along with Arena, star goalkeeper Daniel fully returned to the fold after missing all but 12 games with injury last season – and boy, have the Quakes needed him.

Despite Arena’s reputation as a manager who sets a high floor for his teams with a steady defensive setup, the Earthquakes are allowing more chances this year than last year. They conceded 1.53 non-penalty xG per 90 in 2024 compared to 2.07 per 90 this year, according to FBref. Arena has stacked the field with aggressive, attack-minded players, using two traditional strikers and high-flying wide players in every game. That includes San Jose’s 1-1 draw with Seattle on Saturday, where they allowed 26 shots and 2.8 xG.

But while the Earthquakes have allowed more chances than any team in MLS, Daniel is thriving between the sticks. He’s second in MLS this year with 3.3 goals saved above expected, picking up right where he left off in his last healthy season in 2023.

Don’t expect the Quakes to find sustained success by heaping so much pressure on Daniel’s shoulders. They haven’t won a game since March 1, after all. But Daniel is a match-winner in this league. So, while San Jose’s defensive issues haven’t faded, they’re not quite as concerning as last year. Their goalkeeper will keep them in games until Arena finds the right balance further upfield.