With the regular season down to its final few games, Matchday 32 saw the Supporters’ Shield find a new home, delivered a major result in New Jersey, added another chapter to Antoine Griezmann’s remarkable first season in MLS, and plenty more. Let’s run through some of they key stories from around the league over the weekend.

Nashville SC are Supporters’ Shield winners for the first time in club history, and the table tells the whole story. They sealed it with a 2-0 win at CF Montréal on Saturday, with talismanic forwards Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar scoring the goals to secure all three points north of the border.

The result also locks up the East’s top seed and home-field advantage through the playoffs, including an MLS Cup final should they make it that far. B.J. Callaghan’s side now sit on 70 points from 31 games, with three matches left to chase Inter Miami’s single-season record of 74 set in 2024.

“I think for one, two weeks we can be European, celebrate the championship,” star forward Hany Mukhtar said. “But then we have to get back to how the system is here, the playoffs and all that. We need to be ready. We know that it’s a new season in the playoffs, and we will make sure that we are all ready.”

Inter Miami couldn’t follow up their three-game winning run, falling 2-0 to Red Bull New York, and they were thoroughly outplayed. Lionel Messi, back from a midweek trip to Spain to receive a humanitarian award, started on the bench and came on in the second half, but his introduction was not enough to change the Herons’ fortunes.

Not only did Miami suffer defeat, but they were frankly dominated throughout the match. Red Bulls teenage starlet Adri Mehmeti ran the midfield without much resistance from his vastly more experienced Miami counterparts, leaving more questions to remain regarding the defending champions’ ability to control games and avoid conceding scoring chances. At the moment, they do not look strong enough to defend their crown.

Orlando City were held to a 2-2 draw at home by NYCFC, but Antoine Griezmann still made the night memorable. He headed in a Martín Ojeda cross in the first half to pull his side level, and that goal made him the second-fastest player in MLS history to reach 20 goal contributions, doing it in just 15 matches. Only Lionel Messi got there quicker, in 14.

Orlando’s late-season resurgence has powered them into the playoff spots for now, but they are only four points clear of 10th place Columbus Crew — which leads us nicely onto our next port of call.

In the Eastern Conference the Chicago Fire came from behind to dispatch lowly Atlanta United away from home, their first league win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in club history. The victory saw the Fire move to within four points New England in second place, plus they extended their gap in fourth to four points.

Meanwhile, Columbus rebounded from the week’s US Open Cup disappointment with an emphatic win over Toronto, led by two goals from Malte Amundsen. Josh Sargent scored for Toronto late, but the Crew moved to 38 points, two ahead of Toronto on 36 and only one point out of the playoff spots. Charlotte and Philadelphia each had a chance to clinch and failed, however. Charlotte lost at the death in Portland, while the Union suffered defeat to red-hot New England.

In the west, however, the race for the top spot remains well and truly in the balance. Only four points separate Vancouver in first and St. Louis in third. Further down the table, all but Sporting KC remain mathematically alive.

Should the LA Galaxy or Colorado Rapids collapse in the final few weeks, all of Real Salt Lake, San Diego, Portland Timbers, Minnesota United, and Austin are in the hunt for the Wild Card spots.

There are always fireworks when LAFC and the LA Galaxy square off, and we were treated to another barn-burner Sunday evening at BMO Stadium. While the Galaxy raced out to a two-goal lead, LAFC fought back to pull level and nearly scored a winner at the death were it not for a narrow offside decision to rule out the dramatic late goal.

It’s not often the playoff fates of either of these two decorated teams are up in the air, but the shared points did not really help either at the business end of the season. LAFC remain outside of the top-four in the Western Conference and have played one game more than most around them. Meanwhile, the Galaxy are narrowly clinging on to the final Wild Card spot with just a two-point buffer between them and the chasing pack.