Abada's hat-trick off the bench sends Charlotte into the MLS playoffs as Inter Miami are held
Liel Abada came off the bench to score three times as Charlotte FC beat CF Montréal 4-0 and clinched a playoff place. Inter Miami needed a 90th-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 with FC Cincinnati, and Dániel Gazdag's late goal gave New England a 3-2 win over the Red Bulls.
By TuSport Desk · 29 Oct 2026, 03:50 WAT
Liel Abada scored a hat-trick as Charlotte FC beat CF Montréal 4-0 on Wednesday 28 October, a result that clinched their place in the 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs, AP and MLSsoccer.com report. The win also ended a three-game winless run.
Idan Toklomati headed Charlotte in front on seven minutes from Allan Saint-Maximin's cross. Abada, who came on in the 65th minute according to AP, then scored on 67, 79 and 83 minutes, ESPN's match data shows. Toklomati set up Abada's second goal and Pep Biel his third. AP said it was a career-high for Abada.
Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati drew 2-2 at Nu Stadium. Luis Suárez opened the scoring on 61 minutes after a corner, with Casemiro providing the pass. Cincinnati turned the game around through Kenji Mboma Dem on 80 minutes and Samuel Gidi, who scored from outside the box on a fast break on 86 minutes. Substitute Riquelme Fillipi then equalised on 90 minutes from Rodrigo De Paul's pass. Lionel Messi did not score.
New England Revolution beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2. Dor Turgeman scored on nine minutes and again at the start of the second half, the Red Bulls drew level through Cade Cowell and Julian Hall, and Dániel Gazdag scored the winner from close range on 83 minutes.
New York City FC beat Atlanta United 2-1 at Citi Field. Nicolás Fernández scored a free-kick on 70 minutes, Breel Embolo headed Atlanta level on 88 minutes, and Bénie Traoré won it in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Toronto FC came from behind to beat D.C. United 2-1: Andre Dozzell scored for D.C. on 29 minutes before Jonathan Osorio and Josh Sargent, on 86 minutes, replied.
In the later games, Kristoffer Velde scored twice as Portland Timbers won 3-2 at St. Louis City, with Portland's Kamal Miller sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time. Minnesota United scored three times in the last 18 minutes to beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1, through Anthony Markanich, Mauricio González and Kelvin Yeboah, after Taylor Calheira had put Kansas City ahead.
Real Salt Lake came from behind to win 2-1 at Austin FC with goals from Saba Lobjanidze and Morgan Guilavogui. Columbus Crew won 2-0 at FC Dallas through Gonzalo Tapia and Santiago Rodríguez. Chicago Fire came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Orlando City, after Antoine Griezmann had scored one and set up the other for Orlando, and Nashville SC and Philadelphia Union drew 0-0.
San Jose v Colorado, Seattle v Houston and Vancouver v San Diego kicked off at 03:30 WAT and were still being played when this report was published. The regular season ends on Saturday 7 November.
Sources: apnews.com · www.mlssoccer.com · www.espn.com · www.espn.com
