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Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Jesper Sorensen. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Winners and losers from the weekend's MLS slate

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated Mar 17, 2025 2:17 PM ET

We're one month into the 2025 Major League Soccer season, and everything is topsy-turvy. The Vancouver Whitecaps are incredible. The LA Galaxy are awful. Tai Baribo is scoring. Olivier Giroud is not.

With nothing quite going to plan (and everything still to play for) here are the biggest winners and losers from MLS Matchday 4.

Winner: Jesper Sorensen, Vancouver Whitecaps coach

The lovable Caps are just the seventh team in league history to kick off a season with four straight wins, but to hear coach Jesper Sorensen tell it, their perfect record only tells half the story.

"Maybe we have a perfect record, but we're not a perfect team at all," Sorensen said after his team's win in Dallas, via Ben Wright of the MLS website. "Everybody is working their butts off and doing everything they can."

It's true—and no one is working harder than Sorensen himself. Vancouver used to be fragile and easily exploitable. In Sorensen's capable hands, the team is fluid, positive and equally capable of absorbing pressure and applying some of its own. Four wins from four games? Not bad for a team many expected to finish dead last in the Western Conference. FC Dallas 0 -1 Vancouver Whitecaps

Loser: Alexey Miranchuk, Atlanta United forward

Atlanta United spent more money than any team during the MLS offseason, bringing in speedy, dangerous attackers like Emmanuel Latte Lath and homecoming hero Miguel Almiron. They're fabulous players in their own right, but they were brought in with a purpose: to help unlock stagnant Designated Player Alexey Miranchuk. Miranchuk is known as a playmaking No. 10, but he spent much of the 2024 season disconnected from the game because Atlanta didn't have the runners to finish his chances. Latte Lath and Almiron were hired to change that.

Atlanta's 2-1 loss to Inter Miami proved that the experiment hasn't quite worked out. Latte Lath and Almiron looked dangerous, but Miranchuk wasn't able to feed them the key passes they needed to break through Miami's defense. Miami won this game thanks to the hard work of Lionel Messi, its playmaking No. 10 while Atlanta lost it because Miranchuk failed to deliver in the same position. Atlanta United 1 - 2 Inter Miami

I think there's still some spacing issues in the attacking third for Atlanta, and I also think if they had to do it all over again, they probably wouldn't have let Bocanegra buy Miranchuk last summer, because a lot of the spacing issues come from him. Net negative player. bsky.app/profile/emmb...

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— Matthew Doyle (@mattdoyle.bsky.social) March 17, 2025 at 8:11 AM

Winner: Peter Vermes, Sporting Kansas City coach

"Winner" might be a bit strong for beleaguered KC coach Peter Vermes; let's call him a "survivor" instead. MLS's longest-tenured head coach had to be feeling the heat when his team found itself 3-0 down to Minnesota United just after halftime. But for the first time in club history, Kansas City fought back—and in doing so, saved Vermes's job. The team earned a gritty 3-3 draw and brought home its first point of the 2025 season.

Loser: Lukasz Szpala, Portland Timbers vs. L.A. Galaxy referee

In the final minutes of injury time, L.A. Galaxy defender Emil Garces lunged into a two-footed tackle inside the penalty box and wiped out Portland's Cristhian Paredes. It was a clear, stone-cold penalty, even from the perspective of Galaxy fans—but Szpala messed up the call and didn't even blow for a foul. Portland coach Phil Neville was furious, and rightfully so. The decision cost his team a win. Szpala's error was so egregious that MLS cut the moment from its official match highlights to spare the referee's blushes. Portland Timbers 1 - 1 L.A. Galaxy

Phil Neville said that the referee told Chara that the foul on Paredes was a "penalty" but he played advantage and allowed Lassiter to get the shot off. "If we're not going to use VAR, we might as well give that money to charity." #RCTID
— Jeremy Peterman (@jeremypeterman.bsky.social) March 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM

Winner: Hugo Cuypers, Chicago Fire striker

Coach Gregg Berhalter had a rough go of things with the U. S. Men's National Team, but he's always been a strong MLS leader—particularly when it comes to growing top strikers. His project this season? Belgian forward Hugo Cuypers. Cuypers managed 10 goals in 31 games in 2024 but under Berhalter's tutelage, he's racked up four in four. Toronto FC 1 - 2 Chicago Fire

Alyssa Clang

Alyssa is a Boston-born Californian with a passion for global sport. She can yell about misplaced soccer passes in five languages and rattle off the turns of Silverstone in her sleep. You can find her dormant Twitter account at @alyssaclang, but honestly, you’re probably better off finding her here

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