MLS Week 22, Mexicans Abroad: What we learned

Uriel Antuna is no Zlatan Ib. Meanwhile, Uriel Antuna is no Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Meanwhile, Marco Fabian and the Philadelphia Union are back to leading the East. Here’s what we learned from Week 22 in Major League Soccer.

Uriel Antuna striker experiment without much success

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the LA Galaxy in their game against Atlanta United. The Galacticos were going to be without three key players due to suspension, including star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and they were going up against arguably one of the toughest home sides in all of Major League Soccer.

As has been the case throughout the season, Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto decided the best course to take without Zlatan would be to put Uriel Antuna up top. The end result this time around was not pretty, and Atlanta earned a comfortable 3-0 win over the five-time champs.

Clearly, Antuna is no Zlatan, and perhaps the thinking behind it all was to have the Galaxy play on the counter through Antuna. The reality is that it might have worked with Minnesota United back in Week 3, but it didn’t work versus Atlanta.

Moving forward now, with Cristian Pavon’s rumored arrival to the Galaxy attack, it will be interesting to see if Antuna’s role changes in any shape or form. For now, however, Schelotto might have to think twice about putting Antuna as striker next time Zlatan misses a game.

Pablo Sisniega injury arrives at an unfortunate time

After getting an unexpected start in Los Angeles FC’s 4-3 win over Atlanta United, Pablo Sisniega was absent this week with a shoulder sprain in LAFC’s 2-0 win over the New England Revolution.

As recently as a few days before the match, LAFC coach Bob Bradley declared that the starting goalkeeper position was to be determined, making the timing of Sisniega’s injury that much more unfortunate.

Obviously, Tyler Miller has the upper hand and it’s likely that Bradley was just incentivizing player competition after Miller’s short stint with the USMNT, but at the end of the day, Sisniega is going to need to earn his place if he wants the number one gig at LAFC.

Marco Fabian is on the rise

Marco Fabian had a near-perfect day as the Philadelphia United thumped ten-man D.C. United 5-1 to help his side stay top of the Eastern Conference standings with 42 points.

Fabian was outstanding, scoring twice and notching an assist in 80 minutes of play. He has scored in three of the Union’s last five matches, and to the surprise of many, the Union keep finding ways to stay relevant at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.