The Philadelphia Union will aim to extend their three-game MLS win streak Wednesday when they host D.C. United, who are showing considerable improvement under coach Wayne Rooney.

The Union (5-4-2, 17 points) started slowly in league play while balancing CONCACAF Champions League commitments. Their league form has improved following their elimination from the CCL as well as the U.S. Open Cup.

They’re also unbeaten in four consecutive MLS games (3-0-1) while playing three of those away from home.

On Saturday, they came from a goal down to hand the Colorado Rapids their first defeat since March 18, with Kai Wagner scoring just before halftime and Julian Carranza adding his fourth goal of the season early in the second half.

It is finally a run of success that was expected from the defending Eastern Conference champions.

“I think if you look at our last three league games now, some decent performances, two of them on the road in hard places to play, and three important wins in league play in a row,” coach Jim Curtin said. “So something for the group to build on.”

D.C. United (4-5-3, 15 points) are playing less in line with 2022, when they finished with an MLS-worst 27 points.

Rooney has built some positive momentum in the first full season of his return. The Black and Red already have put together their first three-game win streak since the end of the 2020 campaign.

Despite missing leading scorer Christian Benteke, and losing another attacker early in Taxi Fountas, they were the better side in a 1-1 draw against visiting Nashville SC on Saturday.

D.C. United trailed after a fluky deflected goal from Nashville’s Alex Muyl, but substitute Theodore Ku-DiPietro’s equalizer rescued a share of the points.

“I thought we were excellent,” Rooney said. “Controlled the game and dominated the game, and it would’ve been very hard to take if we didn’t get anything out of the game.”

Benteke is expected to return but Fountas remains out for D.C. For Philadelphia, leading scorer Mikael Uhre (knee) is questionable after missing Saturday’s game.

–Field Level Media

Two sides stuck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with identical records look to turn things around when the New York Red Bulls visit Toronto FC on Wednesday night.

The Red Bulls (2-4-6, 12 points) have won their first two matches under new head coach Troy Lesesne. Both were 1-0 victories — against D.C. United in U.S. Open Cup action on May 9 and their Hudson River rivals New York City FC in MLS play on Saturday.

Midfielder Omir Fernandez scored the lone goal against New York City, his second tally of the season, which leads the club.

“I think he is undervalued in a lot of ways, almost like an underdog,” Lesesne said. “But I don’t undervalue him, I think he can do big things. He’s got a lot of potential and I hope to see more of those moments.”

Offense has been hard to come by for New York, which has scored eight goals through 12 games, tied for fewest in the league. They’ve been strong at the other end of the pitch, however, conceding only 11 goals.

The Red Bulls will be without several players for the contest; Sean Nealis, Cristian Casseres Jr. and Andres Reyes will miss the match due to yellow card accumulation.

Toronto (2-4-6, 12 points), meanwhile, will try to get back on track after two straight losses in MLS and three straight overall.

The Reds are coming off consecutive setbacks to CF Montreal — 2-0 on Saturday in league play and 2-1 on May 9 in Canadian Championship action. Those defeats were preceded by a 2-0 loss to the New England Revolution on May 6.

They’ve managed just one goal in their past three MLS matches. Saturday against Montreal they struggled to generate offense, with just two shot attempts, neither on target.

“We are going through a tough stretch and the work every day is to keep everybody going with a belief that there are things that we’re doing that are still positive,” coach Bob Bradley said. “We haven’t had much to show for it yet. If we can fight through this stretch, get some more guys healthy, keep improving, there’s a positive light at the end of all this.”

Federico Bernardeschi leads Toronto with three goals but hasn’t scored since April 1, his lone goal in his past 10 MLS matches.

–Field Level Media

Looking to add to newfound success, the Los Angeles Galaxy play at the struggling Columbus Crew on Wednesday night.

The Galaxy (2-6-3, 9 points) moved into a tie with Sporting Kansas City for the fewest points in MLS after a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes to improve to 2-0-2 in their past four games.

“I thought for 90 minutes, it was a very professional performance,” LA coach Greg Vanney said. “It was our best, by far, best defending game of the season.

“I feel like we’re starting to find some rhythm and we’ll continue to try to build off of it.”

The Crew (4-4-3, 15 points) have two losses and two ties in their past four games while squandering their early season home-field dominance.

They won their first three by a combined 12-1 score. However, the Crew have a loss and a pair of draws while being outscored 5-4 in their past three home games, including a 2-2 tie against Orlando City on Saturday after blowing a two-goal lead.

“We have to go through this process to be better,” Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. “We didn’t deserve to win the game because we were not able to manage the moment.”

The result put the Crew in a seven-way tie for sixth in the Eastern Conference.

“We’re young so we’re a bit naive,” defender Mohamed Farsi said. “We try to play, play, play but when you have to kill the game, you have to kill the game, but we’ll be better next time.”

Crew leading scorer Lucas Zelarayan did not play against Orlando. Nancy did not give a clear reason why but indicated he was not 100 percent healthy and with a busy schedule, precaution was taken. Nancy expects Zelarayan to be available Wednesday.

This will be the first meeting between the teams since May 2019.

L.A. will be at a disadvantage, not only because of the travel, but having its match Sunday start 24 hours after the Crew’s game ended. The Galaxy are 0-3-2 on the road this season.

–Field Level Media

Finally back on a winning track, Sporting Kansas City will try to continue their streak in a tough road environment against Los Angeles FC on Wednesday night.

After scoring only three goals during a 10-game winless stretch (0-7-3) to begin the season, Kansas City has scored a total of five times in back-to-back victories. SKC’s last win was a 3-0 home shutout of Minnesota United on Saturday.

“In the first half, I think we played amazing,” said forward Daniel Salloi, who scored one of SKC’s two goals in the opening 22 minutes on Saturday. “I think we did really good things and were combining and we showed our true self or what we can do. …

“I think we’re getting the hang of it, of creating a lot more chances and scoring goals.”

Sporting KC (2-7-3, nine points) was dealt a blow when goalkeeper Tim Melia had to leave the game with a quadriceps injury. Melia was ruled out for Wednesday, meaning Kendall McIntosh or John Pulskamp will start in net.

Los Angeles (6-1-3, 21 points) is also coming off a 3-0 victory, winning at Real Salt Lake on Saturday. While pleased with the result, LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo felt his team’s play was somewhat inconsistent.

“When we did move the ball and connect passes, we were dangerous,” Cherundolo said. “Looking for an improvement Wednesday night, that we can play over 90 minutes at that level, not just for maybe 65 or 70.”

Los Angeles FC is 4-0-0 at home this season and a dominant 54-9-20 at in regular-season home games at BMO Stadium over their five-plus MLS seasons. Sporting Kansas City owns a 2-3-0 all-time record in Los Angeles, making them the only MLS team with more than one regular-season road win over LAFC.

Los Angeles midfielder Kellyn Acosta will miss Wednesday’s game due to an undisclosed injury that he sustained on Saturday. He played just 19 minutes against Real Salt Lake.

LAFC striker Denis Bouanga is on a three-game scoring streak and has nine goals over 10 games this season.

–Field Level Media