The surging Colorado Rapids host an Inter Miami side in flux on Saturday in Commerce City, Colo.

The Rapids (4-3-0, 12 points) posted a 6-2 home rout of the Houston Dynamo last Saturday. Rafael Navarro and Kosi Thompson each scored a brace and Josh Atencio also scored for Colorado. The Rapids also added an own goal from Houston in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

Conversely, just four months after its first MLS Cup title, Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano resigned for personal reasons on Tuesday. The Herons (3-1-3, 12 points) tied the New York Red Bulls 2-2 last Saturday and turned to sporting director Guillermo Hoyos as interim coach.

Hoyos’ relationship with Miami’s star forward Lionel Messi, who leads the team with five goals, dates back more than 20 years to their time together at Barcelona’s La Masia academy.

“Friendship is not negotiated,” said Hoyos about Messi. “There is a friendship there, one that has spanned various years, and one that we share with many players because we have worked together in different countries.

“Yet, that friendship does not mean that we can be right on top of him, constantly hovering over him, every single day. I believe that everything must be respected: his privacy, and everything else.

“One must exercise great prudence, and, above all, proceed quietly, while striving to grow and evolve within this dynamic. For, naturally, all of this is new, and being alongside the greatest player in history is truly an extraordinary experience on the pitch. I am grateful, deeply grateful.”

After its dominant performance, Colorado coach Matt Wells, Navarro, Thompson and Atencio were all named to the Team of the Matchday. The Rapids have scored 19 goals on the season, which is tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps for the most in Major League Soccer.

Colorado’s Dante Sealy scored a goal in a 1-0 U.S. Open Cup match against Union Omaha on Tuesday. The 23-year-old forward is still in search of his first MLS goal in a Rapids’ uniform.

“I had him in my office and told him to focus on the process, the habits — and the goals are only an outcome,” Wells said of Sealy. “If you start focusing on the goals you are in trouble.”

–Field Level Media

CF Montreal will be under new leadership against the visiting New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon.

Montreal (1-6-0, 3 points) parted ways with head coach Marco Donadel after dropping its home opener 2-1 to the Philadelphia Union last weekend. After just over a year in charge, Donadel boasted the worst win percentage of any of the 11 managers in the club’s history.

Philippe Eullaffroy, who directed Montreal’s academy from 2014-20 and rejoined the team this year as an assistant coach, will take the helm as caretaker manager.

“I’m not gonna reinvent the wheel,” Eullaffroy said when asked about his tactical philosophy at his first press conference. “What I want is a very dynamic team playing with a lot of boldness and respect of the game plan.”

He has the unenviable task of rescuing the team from the bottom of the MLS table. Montreal hopes to earn its first home win in considerably speedier fashion than last season, when it was winless at Stade Saputo until June.

The only team Montreal has bested this year in league play are these same New York Red Bulls (3-2-2, 11 points), winning 3-0 on March 8.

That defeat dealt a blow to New York’s early season momentum. After winning their first two matches, the Red Bulls have since won just one of four in MLS play.

Their most recent outing was a 3-1 win Wednesday over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. Head coach Michael Bradley singled out the efforts of academy product Julian Hall, who scored his second brace of the season.

“It’s not just the goals,” noted Bradley, who secured his first win in the competition. “(It was) his ability to lead our press, to set the tone for everybody in terms of how aggressive we can be to step up and go after the other team.”

The 18-year-old has seven goal contributions (five goals, two assists) through seven MLS matches.

Montreal might be without defender Brayan Vera, who did not train on Tuesday, and former Red Bulls midfielder Wiki Carmona, who scored a brace against his old team in their March meeting. Midfielder Hennadii Synchuk has also picked up an apparent injury.

–Field Level Media

Toronto FC will look to build on a seven-week undefeated stretch when they host offensively challenged Austin FC Saturday afternoon.

The Reds (3-2-2, 11 points) reside in sixth place in the Eastern Conference despite conceding more goals (11) and they have scored (10).

Toronto earned points in its past five matches, winning three of those before recording a 1-1 draw at home with FC Cincinnati on April 11. In that match, the Reds were the beneficiary of a red card that gave them a man advantage for the final 19-plus minutes and an own goal by the visitors in the 83rd minute.

Toronto carried that margin into added time when it conceded a goal.

“We’ve given up three goals being up a man in the last two weeks, and that should never happen,” Reds coach Robin Fraser said. “It’s always a positive at least that you’re picking up points.”

Toronto has not lost since falling at Vancouver 3-0 on Feb. 28 and is unbeaten in its past 11 home matches (4-0-7) since June 25, 2025.

“We’re gaining points, and it’s better than last year (when) we weren’t doing that,” Toronto goalkeeper Luka Gavran said.

Austin FC (1-3-3, 6 points), meanwhile, will look to escape a swoon that’s seen them go winless since March 1. The team’s most recent league setback was a 2-1 loss at home to the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 11. Austin’s skid was exacerbated by a 2-1 loss at Louisville City on Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup’s Round of 32.

Austin FC trailed 2-0 in both of those contests and only managed to halve their deficits in each — with the goals in both of the losses coming in the second half on set pieces. Austin has scored five of its nine goals this season (which includes an own goal) from corner kicks or free kicks.

“Even though we didn’t have a good first half, we could score two or three goals [before halftime],” Austin coach Nico Estevez said after the most recent setback. “I think in the second half, we could score like three, four goals also, and it’s unlucky that we didn’t.”

Playmaking midfielder Owen Wolff could return on Saturday for Austin after missing the first seven MLS matches and the U.S. Open contest following sports hernia surgery.

–Field Level Media

The Dynamo signed 16-year-old Houston native Mattheo Dimareli as a homegrown player on Friday.

The Dynamo Academy product signed an MLS Next Pro contract through June 2027 and will join the first team on an MLS contract in July 2027. The forward’s deal is guaranteed through 2027-28 with options in each of the following three seasons through 2030-31.

Dimareli has played in 48 games for Dynamo 2 over the past three seasons, recording seven goals and six assists.

“Mattheo is a promising young attacker who has made an impact in our organization and at the international level with U.S. and Mexico,” Dynamo president of soccer Pat Onstad said. “Our goal is, and will always be, to provide unique, high-level opportunities to the young players in our Club, and Mattheo has made the most of those opportunities, advancing through our pathway system and leaving a strong mark with the first team during training sessions and this year’s preseason.”

Internationally, Dimareli is eligible to represent the U.S., Mexico, Greece or Albania. He has represented the U.S. and Mexico at the U-15, U-16 and U-17 levels.

–Field Level Media