Though they sit atop the Major League Soccer standings, FC Cincinnati are winless in their last two matches and looking to return to form when they visit Charlotte FC on Saturday.

Last Saturday, Cincinnati (13-2-5, 44 points) drew the visiting New England Revolution 2-2. Dominique Badji opened the scoring 11 minutes into the game before the Revolution took a 2-1 lead in the 24th minute, thanks in part to an own goal by Badji.

Badji completed his brace in the 55th minute to rescue the draw for Cincinnati.

“It’s just our play in front of goal,” Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said. “I think (that’s) what prevented us from walking away with three points … It’s preventable and you kind of have an idea of how you can eliminate those moments.”

Cincinnati remains without the services of forward Brandon Vazquez, tied for second on the team with four goals, and defender Matt Miazga as both are on international duty with the U.S. men’s national team in the Gold Cup.

Charlotte (6-8-7, 25 points) sits in 10th place after its fourth straight draw, 1-1 at New York City FC Wednesday night. McKinze Gaines opened the scoring with a great goal from outside the box in the 17th minute, but Charlotte was unable to hold the lead until the final whistle and gave up the game-tying goal in the 81st minute.

The four straight draws equal Charlotte’s longest unbeaten streak since entering the league. However, the team has failed to register a win in six straight matches.

Head coach Christian Lattanzio was asked during his Friday press conference whether the team has played its best yet this season.

“No, we have not done it yet,” Lattanzio said. “We need to overcome certain mental obstacles.”

Charlotte will be without forward Enzo Copetti, who is second on the team with four goals, after he sustained an injury and had to be subbed off in the 31st minute Wednesday night. Coupled with the short amount of rest, there will likely be some rotation both up front and in the midfield as Brandt Bronico was on the bench but did not sub in Wednesday night.

–Field Level Media

Philadelphia Union defender Jakob Glesnes and New England Revolution midfielder Carles Gil were added to the MLS All-Star roster by head coach Wayne Rooney on Friday.

Glesnes, 29, was named to the MLS All-Star roster for the second year in a row. He’ll join teammate Jose Andres Martinez in representing the league against English Premier League side Arsenal FC in a match on July 19 at Audi Field in Washington.

Glesnes has recorded one goal in 20 games (all starts) this season. The 2022 Defender of the Year has totaled five goals and five assists in 107 career MLS matches (105 starts) with the Union.

Gil, 30, was named to the MLS All-Star roster for the third time and will join teammate Djordje Petrovic for the exhibition match on July 19.

Gil has a team-leading seven goals to go along with nine assists in 19 league matches (16 starts) this season. The 2021 Landon Donovan MLS MVP has totaled 28 goals and 57 assists in 120 career MLS matches (110 starts).

–Field Level Media

Unbeaten streaks collide when the Columbus Crew host New York City FC on Saturday night.

Both clubs extended their unbeaten runs to seven matches with a midweek draw, but that’s where the similarity ends.

NYCFC (5-7-10, 25 points) rallied for a 1-1 result at Charlotte FC on Wednesday. It was the sixth time this season NYCFC earned a point after trailing in the second half, but the club has been unable to get over the hump with six ties and a win in their past seven matches.

“Our mindset coming into the game was amazing,” New York midfielder Richard Ledezma said. “We have to come down from 1-0, we never stop fighting. Our team is really motivated to get three points at Columbus this weekend.”

Meanwhile the Crew (10-6-5, 35 points) allowed a goal by Josef Martinez in the 90th minute and settled for a 2-2 tie at Inter Miami CF on Tuesday. Columbus is 5-0-2 in its last seven matches.

“It’s disappointing for the players,” Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. “I think that we deserved to win, but the fact that we conceded this goal at the end, obviously, this is like we lost (two) points.”

Handling leads has been a problem for Columbus.

During the unbeaten run, the Crew led Charlotte 3-0 before giving up two quick goals in an eventual 4-2 victory. In the following match, Chicago equalized in the 88th minute before Lucas Zelarayan’s goal in stoppage time gave the Crew a 2-1 win.

NYCFC benefited from a late Crew meltdown as well, earning a 1-1 draw on a 94th-minute goal by Gabriel Segal on June 17.

New York has only one win since April 22.

“I think we’ve got as many positives as what we might perceive as negatives and we have to focus on the positives,” NYCFC coach Nick Cushing said.

The Crew lead MLS with 42 goals scored. They have won five straight at home while outscoring opponents 13-5.

–Field Level Media